The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of moves to make going forward now that their season is essentially over, and one was extending cornerback Jaylon Watson, with the move suggested by Nate Taylor of ESPN.
Watson is definitely worthy of consideration, especially considering that he came into the league as a seventh-round pick back in 2022. He’s now on the final year of his rookie deal, and he’s been one of the more reliable Chiefs in an injury-riddled season. Watson has started every game and played a career-high 809 snaps, which is 97 percent of Kansas City’s defensive snaps to date.
His coverage stats have been outstanding. Watson has yet to surrender a touchdown, plus he’s had a pair of interceptions to go with six pass breakups. Retaining Watson would give the Chiefs stability at cornerback, with two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie manning the other slot. Both corners are young, with McDuffie being just 25, which is an ideal scenario as the Chiefs look to rebuild parts of their defense.
There will be changes in front of them, however. The Chiefs has been mostly excellent this year, but the front seven has failed to supply much of a pass rush this year. The player who’s been targeted by fans and media is defensive tackle Chris Jones, who hasn’t given the Chiefs much production after signing a big contract.
The lack of production definitely affected McDuffie, who’s been targeted frequently in recent weeks. He’s been exposed multiple times when defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has dialed up blitzes that didn’t get home, and it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs address this issue in either the draft or free agency.
Jones’ contract will be under the spotlight this offseason, and the basic numbers aren’t pretty. He just finished the second season of a five-year deal, with the AAV of his contract coming in at just under $32 million, according to Spotrac.
Jones also faced scrutiny for his lack of hustle during a crucial loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a late touchdown run by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, so Chiefs fans can expect to see Jones name popping up frequently as the offseason rumor mill cranks up.
The good news is that the Chiefs will stay strong at cornerback if they extend Watson, and with a revamped pass rush the Kansas City defense could be as dominant as it was in 2024, when it carried the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.