The Kansas City Chiefs‘ secondary will – in all likelihood – face an exodus this spring.
The team is set to lose three corners selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, Nazeeh Johnson, Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams, along with former Cowboy, Eric Scott Jr.
And the Chiefs currently do not have three of their five safeties under contract in 2026 and beyond: starter and former second round pick Bryan Cook, ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Edwards and Deon Bush, who missed the entire year with a torn Achilles suffered back in mid-August.
With the Chiefs currently having the least cap space in the NFL, sitting at over $57 million over the cap heading into the offseason, it seems unlikely that the team will be able to sign any of the departing seven members of the secondary, even with a likely $20 million set to be alleviated with the most-probable release of offensive tackle, Jawaan Taylor this offseason.
So Kansas City will have to look at other methods of filling out the depth portion of the back end of their defense. And it seems like one option may be former Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos safety, Tanner McCalister, who signed a reserve/futures deal with the organization on Wednesday.
Chiefs Sign Ex-Broncos, Browns Defensive Back
“The Chiefs have signed DB Tanner McCalister to a reserve/future deal. McCalister was briefly on the practice squad in mid-December and early January” A to Z Sports’ Charles Goodman reported.
As Goodman mentioned, McCalister was on the Chiefs’ practice squad for the last few games of the season, but was ultimately cut on January 5, where he was subsequently signed to the Broncos’ practice squad, with whom he had previously spent the 2024 season, playing in three games.
The former Ohio State man, who went undrafted in 2023, was first picked up by the Cleveland Browns as a priority UDFA that spring and spent his rookie season on the practice squad.
However, he was elevated to the active roster on three occasions, in all of which he played in a regular season game, and recorded a combined two tackle on the year.
Although McCalister played 19 snaps on defense for Cleveland in 2023 as a rookie, the Dallas, Texas native did not register a single defensive snap for Denver the following season, although he did play 54 on special teams, where he made one tackle.
What Impact Could Tanner McCalister Have in 2026?
McCalister’s lack of pedigree and experience as a purely defensive player will likely not have Chiefs fans foaming at the mouth to see him take the spots of more established names like Bush and Edwards at safety.
But he is still young, currently entering his fourth year in the pros, and Kansas City have a long tradition of developing undrafted or lower-round draft picks in the secondary under defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo.
2024 undrafted free agent, Chris Roland-Wallace, took the starting nickel back spot and never let it go until a back injury prematurely ended his season this past year, whilst the other starting boundary corner next to him, Watson, was a former seventh round pick back in 2022.
McCalister – like almost every reserve/futures contract signee – is little more than a shot in the dark. But for what will quite possibly be a heavily depleted Chiefs secondary this coming year, it is one that the team desperately need to keep taking.
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