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The Kansas City Chiefs explored trade options with the New York Giants for cornerback James Bradberry, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. But those discussions between the Chiefs and Giants didn’t lead to a trade.
After not finding a trade partner, the Giants are releasing Bradberry, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who was the first to report Bradberry’s release on May 9.
The reason the Giants tried to shop Bradberry and have now cut him comes down to his contract. Bradberry had a $21.8 million cap hit for the 2022 season, per OverTheCap. Bradberry was entering the final year of his three-year, $43.5 million with New York, but the Giants didn’t want to give a new contract to a 29-year-old CB that isn’t matching his contract with strong play. So they cut ties with Bradberry to save $10.1 million in cap space for the 2022 season while suffering $11.7 million in dead money.
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Could Chiefs Still Pursue Bradberry?
Bradberry entered the league as a second-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2016. After being a four-year starter in Carolina for the length of his rookie contract, Bradberry took to free agency in 2020, when he struck the $43.5 million deal with New York.
During the 2020 season, Bradberry earned a 79.8 overall grade by PFF along with his first career Pro Bowl nod. But his grade dropped down to 62.8 in 2021.
Although the Chiefs did draft Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie with the 21st overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, as well as added Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson with Day 3 picks, a team can never have too many good cornerbacks. Because of this, the chance exists that Kansas City could try to sign Bradberry once he is officially released by the Giants.
Adding Bradberry would give McDuffie — who is considered a Day 1 starter in the NFL — ample time to develop along with the other young corners on the team. Bradberry would be slotted in immediately as a starter alongside L’Jarius Sneed in Kansas City’s secondary if he signs with the Chiefs. However, McDuffie could overtake Bradberry rather quickly if he doesn’t excel early on.
Twitter Users Link Chiefs to Bradberry
Twitter users began talking about the Chiefs and Bradberry following the news of Bradberry’s release.
“For the record, if I’m the Chiefs (just my two cents), I’m still pursuing James Bradberry. KC currently has L’Jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton and Trent McDuffie, but not much else beyond late-round picks. Bradberry turns a decent situation into a great one,” Matt Verderame of FanSided wrote.
“Nick mentioned James Bradberry as a possibility here. Would take the #Chiefs cornerback room from good to great. Have to wonder how quickly he wants to sign with a team. K.C. could have more $ for him after an Orlando Brown Jr. extension — July 15th is the deadline there,” Charles Goldman of the Chiefs Wire wrote.
“If the reports are true and the Giants ultimately release James Bradberry, he will be a Chief. There was far too much smoke of a trade between these two franchises with Bradberry in the mix for this not to happen if in fact the Chiefs don’t have to trade anything to get him,” another Twitter user wrote.
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