After trading away one first-round cornerback from the 2022 NFL Draft class, the Kansas City Chiefs signed another in the quest to rebuild the team’s secondary on the fly.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, former Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans cornerback Kaiir Elam has agreed on a contract to play in Kansas City.
It will be his fourth stop for his fifth season after being selected with the 23rd pick in the draft, two picks after former Chiefs, now Los Angeles Rams, cornerback Trent McDuffie.
He will add to the current duo of Chiefs’ outside cornerbacks: Nohl Williams and Kristian Fulton. Elam has rarely aligned in the slot when he’s in formation.
Elam has started 19 games in a career that obviously has not lived up to expectations so far. The soon-to-be 25-year-old has just two interceptions, eight defended passes and four tackles for loss to his name. Buffalo traded Elam to Dallas last offseason after declining in the Bills’ lineup over three seasons.
For Dallas, Elam started seven games for one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses in 2025, leading to the Cowboys waiving him in late November. He finished the season in Tennessee, but didn’t record any starts.
The former Florida Gator will be looking for a fresh start in Kansas City, hoping to recapture the reputation he had as a high-profile draft prospect. This play is a great rep against current Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams, showcasing Elam’s pressing and jamming abilities on top of the effort to finish through the hands.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Elam had standard measurables, coming in 6 feet 1 3/8 inches tall and 191 pounds with arms just under 31 inches long. However, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds, a number that boosted his draft stock considering the physicality he proved to play with.
Since being drafted, there has been little positive momentum in Elam’s career, but he has gained experience that Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt can work off of to improve his performance.
