3 Chiefs who will make the roster but don’t deserve it

2. Mike Edwards, S

With the departure of Juan Thornhill in free agency, the Chiefs were in a position this offseason where they needed to figure out the safety room behind Justin Reid, who is the only surefire starter in the group that they brought in for camp.

2022 second-rounder Bryan Cook has assuredly earned the starting job opposite Reid and rookie fourth-round pick Chamarri Conner was one of the preseason stars for the Chiefs. That then leaves veterans Mike Edwards and Deon Bush behind that trio with a host of UDFA signings filling out the depth at the position on the 90-man roster.

When cut day comes, the Chiefs are likely going to keep five safeties on the 53-man roster, which all but assures that Edwards is going to make it into the rotation. But when you look at what we've seen from the former Bucs safety recently, there's not much to indicate he's deserving of that role.

Some might try to argue the same for Bush in that capacity, but the former Bears defensive back actually shined in coverage for the Chiefs last season and could be a great situational and depth piece for Steve Spagnuolo's defense once again. Edwards, on the other hand, has shown some decline in his overall performance in recent years. More notably, there's not an area of the position where he truly stood out last year -- it was average or worse basically across the board.

The Chiefs like to have to have a deep-ish safety room, so Edwards' experience is likely enough to make him part of that. When you look at the body of work, however, his impact certainly doesn't warrant him being a lock for the 53-man roster.