The Chiefs may not have found room for Kader Kohou on the season-opening roster, but they handled the situation in a way that kept the door open.
Kansas City brought Kohou back onto the practice squad earlier this week, giving the team another experienced option at cornerback. He brings inside-out versatility, with the ability to work in the slot and also slide to the boundary, and that mattered during camp when he was right in the middle of the battle for the slot job. Along with holdover Chris Roland-Wallace and fourth-round rookie Jadon Canady, Kohou was one of the key names in that competition.
That made the Chiefs’ decision at cuts a calculated one. They had to judge whether Kohou would clear waivers, and they were right to believe he could be available. That allowed them to keep evaluating other parts of the secondary without losing him outright.
The move also made sense because of what Kohou had already done in the NFL. He came into the league with the Miami Dolphins as a priority free agent out of Texas A&M-Commerce and ended up making the active roster anyway.
From there, he became a steady and flexible piece in the secondary, starting 13 games as a rookie and later starting every game in 2023. He added another nine starts in 2024 before an injury wiped out his contract year.
For Brett Veach, the appeal was obvious. Kohou came with just a one-year, $1.8M commitment, so the risk was low and the potential payoff was clear, especially in a secondary that had been reshaped and needed dependable depth in several spots.
In a thinner room, Kohou would look like a bigger part of the puzzle. Instead, Kansas City has assembled more talent than many expected in one offseason.
For now, the Chiefs are leaning on Roland-Wallace as the most likely slot starter and keeping Canady on the roster. L'Jarius Sneed also has the ability to work there, while other defenders can help handle receivers on the outside. Kohou’s path back to the active roster may depend on an injury ahead of him or someone failing to hold the job, but the Chiefs have positioned themselves well by keeping him around.
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