Chiefs add cornerback depth with Bashaud Breeland

In search of help in the secondary, the Kansas City Chiefs have signed cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

For the all the attention their offense gets, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense needs work and parting ways with safety Eric Berry was only saved by replacing him with Tyrann Mathieu. Some more help is on the way though, as ESPN’s Rob Demovsky was first to report they’ve signed cornerback Bashaud Breeland to a one-year deal.

Breeland went into 2018 free agency as a bit of a commodity, agreeing to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. But an off-field foot injury led to a failed physical, and Breeland didn’t land with the Green Bay Packers until late September.

In seven games for the Packers last year (five starts), over 330 snaps, Breeland had two interceptions (returning one for a touchdown) along with a fumble recovery.

As the slot corner for the Washington Redskins, Pro Football Focus gave Breeland above average grades (68.8 and 74) in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Tabbing someone as a starter-caliber corner is fairly subjective, but Breeland is in that range and it carries value in today’s NFL.

Prior to last year’s abbreviated season with Green Bay, Breeland started 58 games for Washington over his first four seasons and showed some nose for the ball. He at least 69 total tackles (and at least 58 solo tackles) each season from 2014-2016, with seven interceptions and seven forced fumbles over that span. His last season with the Redskins brought a drop in his numbers, over 15 games, but that didn’t stop Carolina from paying up to get him last offseason before the lacerated foot thing surfaced.

Kendall Fuller was acquired in the Alex Smith trade a year ago, and delivered pretty much as expected as the slot corner for the Chiefs last season. So Breeland looks sure to move outside full-time, often responsible for the opposing team’s No. 1 perimeter option, Time will tell if that works, but a cornerback depth chart previously filled out with names like Charvarius Ward, Tremon Smith and D’Montre Wade needed some sort of reinforcement.