Since the Kansas City Chiefs hired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo leading into the 2019 season, the organization has clearly valued the safety position. Specifically, the Chiefs have made an effort to employ a difference maker in that spot continually over Spagnuolo’s seven seasons.
- 2019: Tyrann Mathieu is signed to a three-year $42 million contract that he played out entirely.
- 2022: Justin Reid agrees to a three-year, $31.5 million deal that he played out to its completion.
- 2025: Bryan Cook steps into the top-safety role and earns a three-year, $40.25 million contract from the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason.
With Cook’s departure, the Chiefs looked for experienced safety play elsewhere and signed former Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens defender Alohi Gilman. He signed with Kansas City on a three-year contract
worth $24.75 million, featuring $15 million guaranteed.
Gilman has started 51 games over his six years in the NFL, including the final 12 games of Baltimore’s 2025 season after being traded from the Chargers. He has just five career interceptions, but he has broken up 27 passes and has forced five fumbles in his career.
So the main question — asked by Arrowhead Pride user “jc1306” on The Feed — is, have the Chiefs formed a safety room that’s good enough to get the job done? Considering how valuable Mathieu and Reid were to the championships won in recent franchise history, it’s worth questioning if Gilman’s veteran skillset is enough when accompanied by the unproven talents of Jaden Hicks and Chamarri Conner.
After being selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Hicks has started just four games over two seasons. As a rookie, Hicks managed to collect three interceptions, five passes defended and three tackles for loss. He was not able to replicate those numbers in 2025 — he ended with zero interceptions or tackles for loss — despite playing 43% of the defensive snaps compared to a 31% snap rate in 2024.
During his rookie season, Hicks was used more often as a free safety, according to Pro Football Focus. Nearly 47% of his defensive snaps were aligned deep during the regular season, but that number dropped to 22% in 2025.
It feels like Hicks has been at his best when he is playing over the top, ranging over routes rather than flying to the line of scrimmage. It feels like he is at his best in the back end.
Differently, Conner is also best utilized when he’s able to play top-down. Since he was drafted out of Virginia Tech, it has always stood out to me that Conner is noticeably more comfortable (and confident) making plays when everything is in front of him. When he is in a coverage responsibility that starts him closer to the ball at the snap, forcing him to backpedal and play with his head on a swivel more, it can look ugly.
That has played out throughout his career in Kansas City, yet he has consistently been deployed as the team’s slot defender, regardless of the situation. Conner played 391 snaps in the slot for the Chiefs in 2025, which was nearly three times as many snaps as any other defender in that spot.
The reported signing of former Miami Dolphins slot cornerback Kader Kohou may indicate that Conner won’t be as responsible for that role in 2026, along with the flashes of plays made by young cornerbacks Christian Roland-Wallace and Kevin Knowles last season.
With Hicks and Conner at their best playing from depth, and Gilman primarily playing free safety (64% of career snaps) over his six NFL seasons, the Chiefs could still use the box-safety type, line-of-scrimmage playmaker who can defend the run like a linebacker while also covering tight ends or reading the quarterback’s eyes in a robber role in help defense over the middle.
There is a high-profile safety in this year’s draft that fits that description. There’s no guarantee Ohio State safety Caleb Downs will be available at pick No. 9, but it would also be the next big-time investment in a difference-making safety under Spags.
