Kansas City Chiefs: Morris Claiborne continues secondary overhaul

The defensive-needy Kansas City Chiefs continue to overhaul last season’s unit. Now veteran cornerback Morris Claiborne will join the team, eventually.

It’s been an offseason of defensive overhauling for the Kansas City Chiefs, and with good reason. In 2018, Andy Reid’s Chiefs finished with the third-highest total points one season in NFL history (565). But the other side of the ball wasn’t nearly as efficient.

Kansas City finished next-to-last in the league in both total yards and passing yards allowed per game. Only five teams in the NFL allowed more rushing yards per game. The club surrendered a whopping 421 points, more than 26 points per contest. And Reid’s defense couldn’t get off the field when it counted most in the AFC title game loss to the New England Patriots.

So earlier this year, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton was let go. Outside linebacker Justin Houston and free safety Eric Berry were released. Outside linebacker Dee Ford was given the franchise tag and then traded to the San Francisco 49ers. Cornerback Steve Nelson signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Veteran defensive end Allen Bailey is now a member of the Atlanta Falcons.

Enter new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who Reid is more than familiar with. He brings the 4-3 scheme to the defending AFC West champions. The offseason pickups include defensive end Frank Clark, Alex Okafor and Emmanuel Ogbah, linebackers Darron Lee and Damien Wilson, safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

And now enter seven-year cornerback Morris Claiborne, late of the New York Jets. Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports! first broke the news on Thursday. FanSided’s Matt Verderame reported that the deal is a maximum one-year, $1.5 million. Yes, one year.

But in the case of Claiborne, that means a maximum of 12 regular-season contests. Earlier this week, the NFL announced that the sixth overall pick in the 2012 by the Dallas Cowboys would be serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Hampered by injuries during the majority of his days in Dallas, the 29-year old defender played and started 15 games in each of his two seasons with the Jets. Still, Claiborne has played in only 77 regular-season contests in seven seasons. That’s added up to only two interceptions over that span.

But it’s also worth noting that he comes off a 2018 campaign in which he totaled career-bests in tackles (57), interceptions (2) and passes defensed (14). Can he carry that kind of play over to his newest employer?