The Kansas City Chiefs have seen several veterans leave in NFL free agency, one of them being starting safety Justin Reid — who signed with the New Orleans Saints.
Reid’s new deal with the Saints was for three years, $31.5 million, with a reported $22.5 million guaranteed.
According to the writers and analysts over at Pro Football Network, that’s tremendous value for the Saints. In fact, Reid was deemed to be one of the top five “bargains” of free agency so far.
Pro Football Network Explains Why Justin Reid Signing Was One of ‘Best Contracts’ of 2025 NFL Free Agency
Kansas City could afford to let Reid go on the open market, but that doesn’t mean he was overpaid. Pro Football Network explained why this contract provides such great value in a list shared with Heavy on Chiefs:
Since 2022, the salary cap has increased by $71 million (34%). Yet, despite playing 49 of a possible 51 games over the past three seasons, Justin Reid signed the same contract with the New Orleans Saints that he did three years earlier with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Reid received a fair amount of guaranteed money, but he’s a bargain as the 15th-highest-paid safety by AAV. Since 2022, his 23 passes defensed are tied for sixth-most among safeties. He was also a key piece in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense due to his positional versatility.
Last season, Reid played 56% of his snaps as a deep safety, 26% in the box, and 18% in the slot or at outside cornerback. That flexibility pairs well with new teammate Tyrann Mathieu, another versatile defensive back. Given the lack of depth at cornerback after Paulson Adebo’s departure in free agency, having two reliable safeties should help New Orleans cover potential weaknesses on the perimeter.
At 28, Reid is a strong bet to fulfill this contract given his durability. He played at least 90% of the defensive snaps every season with the Chiefs and has never appeared in fewer than 13 games in any of his seven NFL seasons.
Reid’s contract came in well below his free agent peers. Jevon Holland, Camryn Bynum, and Talanoa Hufanga each signed deals at around $15 million AAV, while Tre’von Moehrig went above that with $17 million annually from the Carolina Panthers. While there’s room to debate where Reid ranks among that group, he shouldn’t be making nearly a third less than his counterparts in average annual salary.
For more free agency analysis like this, check out Pro Football Network’s website.
Chiefs Are Set up Well at Safety Following Justin Reid Departure
Unfortunately for Reid, he was always the most likely big-name departure this offseason due to Kansas City’s strong safety depth. Then once linebacker Nick Bolton re-signed, it pretty much ensured that the Chiefs wouldn’t have the financial room for Reid.
The Chiefs are expected to roll with the youth at safety, likely promoting either 2024 fourth rounder Jaden Hicks or 2023 fourth rounder Chamarri Conner into Reid’s starting job next to Bryan Cook. Or perhaps KC rotates all three recent draft picks in 2025.
Along with Cook, Hicks and Conner, the Chiefs also has 2024 undrafted prospect Christian Roland-Wallace on the roster for depth following his impressive rookie campaign.
Roland-Wallace and Conner both played some nickel CB for Kansas City last season, so it’s unclear exactly how Spagnuolo plans to utilize all of his young and versatile DBs — but he has plenty of talent to work with either way. Especially with cornerback Kristian Fulton joining the secondary on the perimeter.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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