The Kansas City Chiefs bolstered their secondary by adding slot cornerback Kader Kohou this offseason, but one insider believes the veteran might find himself on another team to start the season.
Kader Kohou joined the Chiefs on a one-year, $1.8 million contract after spending four seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He was projected to serve as the team’s nickel cornerback, but has been passed on the depth chart and could be trade bait as the season approaches.
Chiefs Could Trade Kader Kohou Rather Than Cut Him
In a mailbag column, SI.com writer Joshua Brisco suggested the Chiefs could consider trading Kohou, who is on the edge of the roster bubble.
“Kohou projects as a pure nickel defender (a slot cornerback, not an outside corner) in the Chiefs’ defense. I could still be convinced that he’s actually the Chiefs’ best bet for a short-term solution at that position, but as training camp has progressed, I wonder if his window is closing,” Brisco wrote.
Brisco added that defensive back Chris Roland-Wallace is likely the team’s top nickel cornerback, moving Kohou to a reserve role at best, while 2026 fourth-round pick Jadon Canady is “the best-case long-term answer at the position.”
That leaves Kohou with few avenues to make the roster, Brisco added.
“Then, in the numbers game of roster building, Kohou wouldn’t provide as much special teams value as Kevin Knowles or Melvin Smith Jr., which is an important role for a backup defensive back,” Brisco wrote. “Add in the potential roster spots for L’Jarius Sneed and Kristian Fulton, who also won’t be forces on special teams, and Kohou’s path continues to narrow.”
Brisco suggested that other teams monitoring the roster bubble could make a call to the Chiefs, who would likely consider trading Kohou rather than releasing him for nothing.
“I think he’s still a capable NFL player, but he may have fallen to the wrong side of the numbers game as the Chiefs built redundancies at cornerback,” Brisco wrote.
Chiefs Excited to See First-Round Cornerback
The Chiefs overhauled their secondary after last season’s disappointing finish, trading away Trent McDuffie before trading up in the first round to land cornerback Mansoor Delane. Though the rookie Delane had a yellow non-contact jersey for much of the lead-up to last week’s preseason opener, he returned to practice in full this week.
Defensive backs coach Dave Merritt said the team is starting to see the speed and athleticism that prompted them to trade up the draft board in the first round to land him.
âSeeing some of the things that we saw on tape coming out of LSU,â Merritt told reporters on Wednesday, via Arrowhead Pride. âHeâs a guy who has sticky coverage, and getting him back in pads and seeing that you can actually tackle people now.â
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo added that Delane has been a good study in practice, learning from the team’s veterans.
âHeâs definitely a competitor. We saw that on tape when we evaluated him,â Spagnuolo said. âBut like a lot of these young guys⦠sometimes youâve got to knock some practice habits out of them. I think Mansoor is learning that. I think heâs embracing it. I think the vets are pushing him toward that. Itâs unfortunate that heâs missed all the time heâs missed, but weâll try to get him caught up here.â
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