Safety Alohi Gilman
A few weeks ago, I mentioned Gilman as a free agent option, so the signing was exciting to hear.
Gilman is a similar-level player to former Chiefs safety Bryan Cook, and Kansas City got him for roughly 60% of the deal Cook signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s a great process in free agency: finding cheap replacements for starters, allowing other positions of need to be addressed.
Gilman isn’t a perfect player, but he’s good in deep coverage. Compared to Cook, he’s a rangier athlete to cover the back end. He’s not as good as Cook at tackling, which leads to a legitimate concern about Gilman against the run. Still, he’s a perfectly good starting safety on a good contract.
That being said, the Chiefs need to add another safety. If Gilman is the top player in the room for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, then that position group isn’t talented enough. Kansas City needs to find a safety who’s more reliable at tackling in the run game.
Fortunately, this is a good draft class of safeties, so the organization will have options through the weekend.