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Kansas City Chiefs: Find starter in safety Tyvon Branch

By Khaled Abdallah

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With safety Eric Berry still fighting cancer and the team low on cap space, Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey had to get creative in his bid to find a worthy replacement. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com reported Tuesday that the Chiefs did just by signing former Oakland Raider Tyvon Branch to a one-year deal. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter), the deal is worth $2 million in base pay with another $2 million in incentives. Not bad for a player who, when healthy, can be a difference maker.

That is the question that surrounds Branch, can he finally stay healthy? If recent history is any indication then the answer is a resounding no. Branch has not played more than three games since 2012 and has not played a full season of NFL football since 2011. A string of lower leg injuries have cut his seasons short the last two years running and he has not been able to stay on the field for the Raiders.

In the three years that he was a starter and was able to stay healthy, Branch was a difference maker in the Oakland secondary. He topped 100 tackles in three straight seasons from 2009-2011 and was just 6 tackles short of 100 in 2012 when he only played in 14 games. The Raiders always knew that he was a talented player at the strong safety position and were hoping to pair him with the veteran Charles Woodson to form a dynamic safety duo.

After a few years of no production due to injury, the Raiders cut Branch loose and the Chiefs are the beneficiaries. In Branch the Chiefs get an instant upgrade in the defensive backfield over Ron Parker and they get top level talent at a cut rate price. Branch is a fearsome hitter and with 4.3 speed coming out of college, he has the pace to run down receivers and the power to take down running backs.

Along with his obvious talent, Branch will have a lot to prove in a Chiefs uniform. After being a star for the Raiders and then being cast aside, he will be playing with a chip on his shoulder especially in the two matchups with Oakland. The incentive-based salary will also be another motivation as they are rumored to be solely based on his ability to stay healthy and not hitting certain statistical marks.

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Another positive for the Chiefs is the type of injuries that Branch has suffered from recent years. He did not suffer major knee ligament damage or any soft tissue damage of any kind. In 2013 Branch was placed on injured reserve because of a broken leg and in 2014 was out because of a fractured foot. This is not a player trying to regain confidence in a torn-up ligament but rather an athlete who quite literally suffered some bad breaks.

This is a low risk high reward deal for Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs and if Branch is anything like the player he was when healthy in Oakland, then this will be one of the best deals of the 2015 offseason. With Parker (now a free agent) and Husain Abdullah, the safety position was a tremendous need for the Chiefs and they have done well to fill it with Branch.

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