Former Chiefs rival turned weapon might make them scarier than expected right away

The Kansas City Chiefs are the clear-cut favorites to win their third straight Super Bowl and only got better by signing Samaje Perine to add depth to their running back room.

The Denver Broncos had Perine last season and in the preseason, but chose to release him on roster cutdown day. One of the few flaws in Kansas City's roster was its running back depth, and the veteran Perine should help solidify that.

Getting the former Cincinnati Bengal and Bronco on the field ASAP would be nice considering he's on their active roster, but Perine was just added to the mix. He has to learn the playbook and get himself acclimated. You'd think that'd take time, but Perine might be ready to contribute sooner rather than later.

Samaje Perine might be ready to contribute to Chiefs as soon as Week 1

The lone disadvantage that comes from being the Super Bowl Champions is that you begin the following season hosting the first game of the year. The Chiefs are set to host Thursday Night Football against the always formidable Baltimore Ravens in what should be a thrilling matchup. One of the questions entering the week is how much Perine can play, if at all. Andy Reid gave an encouraging update on that front.

“Yes, absolutely, I think so. I’ve just gotta see with (Samaje) Perine on where he’s at and picking everything up,” said Reid. “I’m not gonna put him in a bad position, obviously, but I think he’s gonna be fine. He’s been in here cranking away, so we’ll see how everything goes.”

It all comes down to Perine's ability to pick up the playbook. He's losing three or four days that he'd get if he played on any of the other 30 NFL teams, so the urgency to learn quickly is high.

Once Perine does learn the playbook, Reid outlined what his role might look like and what he adds to the team.

“We all know what he did to us when he was at Cincinnati with that screenplay, but Samaje, he’s done this over his career, where he’s been a phenomenal third-down back, but he’s also a good runner,” said Reid. “I think that you know that he’s really a good person. That word has traveled around the National Football League on what kind of guy he is, a locker room guy, and so on. We welcome that, but the opportunity to have a guy in here that can do the run game and the passing game, I just think he’s a good, well-rounded football player that’s extremely intelligent, that is a great addition that Brett (Veach) added to it to the team.”

The backfield is Isiah Pacheco's, but Perine could help out on third-down situations and in the passing game. That's what his role has been throughout much of his seven-year NFL career, and there's little reason to expect things to be much different.

In addition to his prowess on the field as a depth back, Perine's reputation as a teammate is something that Andy Reid is clearly excited about adding to the locker room. In all facets, it appears as if the rich got richer thanks to the Broncos with Kansas City adding Perine, and if he's ready to go Week 1, that's just the icing on the cake.