The Kansas City Chiefs have attacked their lack of talent on the defensive side of the football this offseason, but there may be a finishing move or two left in the franchise’s plans.
Kansas City lost two starting cornerbacks to the Los Angeles Rams during the spring — Trent McDuffie via a trade and Jaylen Watson in free agency — and also said goodbye to safety Bryan Cook who is now with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs addressed the secondary with the No. 6 overall pick in April’s NFL draft, trading up from No. 9 to select cornerback Mansoor Delane out of LSU.
But that addition, along with the signings of safety Alohi Gilman and cornerback Kader Kohou, isn’t enough to fortify the backend of the defense — at least not if a return to Super Bowl contention is a legitimate goal of the Chiefs in 2026, as the team has indicated with some of its other moves.
In that context, Alex Kennedy of PFN wrote on Monday, June 15 that the Chiefs are among the top destinations for former New Orleans Saints and Washington Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
“When Lattimore has been healthy, he has played at a very high level,” Kennedy wrote. “Before 2025, he was a top-20 cornerback in the NFL in PFN’s CB Impact Score in each of the previous four seasons. Even this past year, he finished as an average starter, ranking No. 36.”
Marshon Lattimore Has Battled Major Injury Issues in Recent Years
GettyCornerback Marshon Lattimore, formerly of the Washington Commanders.
Lattimore is a four-time Pro Bowler who inked a five-year contract with New Orleans worth $97.6 million total in 2021.
The cornerback played four of the five campaigns on that deal, approximately 2.5 seasons for the Saints and 1.5 seasons for the Commanders following a trade that involved a third-round pick, fourth-round pick and sixth-round pick flowing from Washington to New Orleans. The Commanders acquired a fifth-round selection along with Lattimore in November 2024 as part of that deal.
However, as good as Lattimore has been when on the field, injuries plagued his time in Washington. He played in just nine total games in each of the past two campaigns, which ultimately led the Commanders to cut ties with the 30-year-old defensive back in March in the interest of clearing $18.5 million in salary cap space.
Marshon Lattimore Presents Chiefs with Risk-Reward Decision in Free Agency
GettyFormer Washington Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Lattimore has appeared in just 35 games total over the last four years due to health concerns, which could obviously prove problematic for any team (i.e. the Chiefs) that might sign him.
But with limited options at Kansas City’s disposal, the franchise’s best hope of improving its secondary, or roster in general at this point, is with veteran talent in free agency that will come with a risk-reward equation.
Spotrac projects Lattimore’s market value at $8.5 million on a one-year deal, though the longer the summer wears on and he remains available, the more leverage the Chiefs will have in negotiations to bring that price down.
Chiefs Top Landing Spot for $98 Million CB Amid Defensive Reload