The Chiefs’ secondary enters training camp with more questions than answers, and the biggest one sits right at the top of the depth chart: who lines up at cornerback opposite rookie Mansoor Delane?
Kansas City turned over a major chunk of its defensive back room ahead of the 2026 season. Three of the team’s top four players in snaps from 2025 are gone, with two-time All-Pro Trent McDuffie traded to the Los Angeles Rams, Jaylen Watson joining him there in free agency, and Bryan Cook leaving for his hometown Cincinnati Bengals.
That leaves Delane and 2025 third-round pick Nohl Williams as the projected starters in the base defense. The Chiefs clearly believed Delane was the best corner in this draft class, moving from No. 9 to No. 6 to get him. At LSU, he was targeted just 9.8% of the time across 358 coverage snaps, finishing with 45 tackles, 11 pass breakups and two interceptions while giving up no touchdowns and drawing no penalties.
Williams is still trying to carve out a full-time role after not seeing steady defensive snaps until late last season. Opposing quarterbacks targeted him 19 times over the final five-game stretch, and he allowed 11 catches. He didn’t record an interception in 2025, but his college résumé still matters: he led college football with seven picks before entering the NFL.
There’s also plenty to sort through with the veterans. Kristian Fulton signed a two-year, $20 million deal last offseason, but injuries during training camp and the preseason kept him from winning a job, and he spent Weeks 6-9 as a healthy scratch. He finally got extended run in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos, making his first of only two starts, and finished with two solid outings by allowing two receptions on 10 targets while piling up six pass breakups.
If Fulton stays healthy through camp, he could still make a push to open the season as the top option. That said, nothing is settled yet.
L’Jarius Sneed adds another wrinkle after returning to Kansas City following his release from Tennessee. During his Chiefs run, Spagnuolo got plenty out of him, and Sneed was quietly one of the better corners in football.
But knee trouble followed him late in his Kansas City stint, and he appeared in just 12 games over two seasons with the Titans. Rather than treating him as a direct challenger to Williams, the Chiefs could use him in a hybrid role with snaps at safety, where he started in 2019 at Louisiana Tech.
If he can stay healthy - and that is a big if - Spagnuolo has options.
The slot picture is crowded too, especially after the departures of McDuffie and Cook. According to PFF, Chamarri Conner logged the most snaps in the slot last season at 391, with McDuffie at 134 and Cook at 102. Kansas City responded by adding help there in free agency and the draft.
The biggest free-agent addition was Kader Kohou, who played in 47 games for the Miami Dolphins from 2022-24 before missing 2025 with an ACL injury. In 2024, when he was lined up at cornerback, nearly 69% of his work came in the slot, with the other 31% outside.
He also brings value as a blitzer. The Chiefs then added Oregon cornerback Jadon Canady in the fourth round.
Like Delane on the outside, Canady spent most of his final two college seasons inside.
There are still internal options in the mix as well. Jaden Hicks, Kevin Knowles and Chris Roland-Wallace all saw snaps in the slot during 2025, with Hicks at 98, Knowles at 74 and Roland-Wallace at 56. Roland-Wallace appears to have the clearest chance to press for playing time in his third year, but the best path to starter-level snaps likely belongs to one of the first three names in that group.
At safety, Kansas City addressed Cook’s departure by signing Alohi Gilman to a three-year, $24.75 million contract. Based on how he was used in Baltimore, he looks like the natural fit to replace Cook at free safety. Gilman was open early this offseason about the challenge of learning Spagnuolo’s system, but the hope is that the offseason program and training camp will get him ready to start Week 1.
The other safety spot is less settled. Hicks was expected to take another step after flashing as a rookie in 2024, but he never fully earned Spagnuolo’s trust as a full-time starter last season.
Spagnuolo said in mid-December, “I think if you asked Jaden, he would tell you he’s kind of had an up-and-down season,” Spagnuolo said in mid-December. “But there’s been flashes of good football play there, and we’re going to need him now as we get down the stretch here.
“I’ve brought him in a couple times, and he’s made some mistakes that I thought he would not have made in his second season, but I like the way he gets himself ready for games, and hopefully we get some good play out of him.”
Because the Chiefs added multiple slot options, Conner could slide into a more traditional safety role, which would make Hicks’ path to a starting job even tougher. He still belongs in the conversation, but as camp approaches, the route to meaningful snaps looks cloudy.
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