The Kansas City Chiefs had a quiet 2025 free agent class. KC spent most of their available resources re-signing their own pending free agents, which didn’t leave much money to spend on other free agents. One of the exceptions to that was their signing of former Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. Fulton signed a 2 year deal worth $20 million to help solidify the KC cornerback room.
During the 2024 season, the Chiefs struggled with cornerback depth after trading L’Jarius Sneed to the Titans. Jaylon Watson missed 11 games, and the combination of Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson, and Chamarri Conner struggled to give KC reliable options to pair with All-Pro Trent McDuffie. So when Fulton was signed, there was a lot of belief that he would become KC’s No. 2 corner behind McDuffie, with Watson as the third corner and rookie Nohl Williams as a developmental player on the bench.
The Chiefs other cornerbacks have stepped up while Fulton has been out.
Fulton wasn’t 100% in training camp after having offseason knee surgery, and then early in the second regular-season game, he went down with an ankle injury. While he’s been out, the Chiefs have had two different corners really step up in his absence. First and foremost, Jaylon Watson has been lights out and has shown that he absolutely deserves to be KC’s No. 2 corner even when Fulton is fully healthy.
With McDuffie able to play at an All-Pro level in the slot, the Chiefs would certainly be happy to have two strong outside corners that they can play on the outside in three-corner packages, with McDuffie in the slot. So there is still a potentially important role for Fulton when he gets healthy, but his other problem is that KC’s third-round pick, Nohl Williams, has looked really good (especially for a rookie) in his increased playing time with Fulton out. It’s a problem that KC is thrilled to have, but it isn’t great for Fulton.
It is certainly not a bad thing for a team to have four cornerbacks that they are happy to play significant snaps if needed. If the Chiefs were to have a corner go down to injury, having Fulton on the roster keeps them from having the same problem they had last year with players like Joshua Williams and Nazeeh Johnson getting picked on by opposing quarterbacks. However, KC didn’t give Fulton a $20 million deal to be their fourth corner, and Fulton didn’t sign in KC to ride the bench, but that could end up being the case if KC’s other corners stay healthy and Nohl Williams continues to develop and grow as a player.
The other interesting angle with this development is what KC will plan to do with their corners after this season. Jaylen Watson is a pending free agent, and Trent McDuffie is eventually going to need a massive new contract, potentially this next offseason, before he gets to his fifth-year option. With Fulton set to have a $13 million cap hit next year, will that keep them from trying to re-sign Jaylon Watson, especially if Nohl Williams looks like a starting-caliber cornerback? Would the Chiefs be willing to cut Fulton, clearing $5 million in space to try to bring Watson back? It’s definitely something to consider.
Fulton was a limited participant in practice on Thursday, making it seem unlikely he will be playing much even if he is active against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. If he’s not on the field and Jaylon Watson and Nohl Williams continue to look good, the Chiefs’ biggest defensive free agent signing may officially find himself as one of the NFL’s highest-paid fourth cornerbacks.
