Chiefs Acquire Kenneth Acker From 49ers
Being set to enter the season without a proven starter opposite Marcus Peters, the Chiefs made a move to acquire some veteran help at cornerback.
Andy Reid announced the team traded a draft pick for 49ers corner Kenneth Acker, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star twee
ts. Acker will join a cornerback corps full of young players like himself, with the Chiefs’ top in-house options being homegrown talents drafted in the past three seasons.
The compensation will be for a seventh-round pick in 2018, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Acker has started more games than any of Kansas City’s other right cornerback options. Opposite the reigning defensive rookie of the year, who plays primarily on the left side, the Chiefs’ options weren’t exactly proven talents. Third-rounders Steven Nelson and Phillip Gaines represent the NFL experience, but Nelson barely played last season and Gaines — a 2014 starter — is returning from a torn ACL. Rookies KeiVarae Russell and D.J. White joined the fray this April as well.
Acker came to the 49ers as a sixth-round pick in 2014 and started 13 games last season. He intercepted three passes, deflected eight and made 63 tackles for the rebuilding team in 2015. He’ll now join one with playoff aspirations.
However, Acker is also coming off a season he finished on IR. A stress fracture in his foot ended his ’15 season, although the former SMU talent still managed to get in 15 games.
Acker was a primary starter for the Jim Tomsula-led Niners, but under new DC Jim O’Neil, his star has fallen a bit. The 6-foot corner came into the weekend behind not only starters Jimmie Ward and Tramaine Brock, but the 24-year-old relocating performer also sat behind rookies Will Redmond and Rashard Robinson — taken in the third and fourth rounds this year, respectively. Per Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, Keith Reaser and Chris Davis are expected to join the rookie corners as the 49ers’ primary backups this season.
This is the third trade in the past four years between these franchises. The 49ers sent Alex Smith to Kansas City in 2013, and the teams exchanged disappointing first-round receivers A.J. Jenkins and Jonathan Baldwin later that year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Eric Berry Will Return To Chiefs On Sunday
Chiefs franchise safety Eric Berry plans to return to the team Sunday, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Berry has yet to sign his $10.86MM franchise tender but it sounds like he will put pen to paper in a couple of days. 
[RELATED: Chiefs’ Tamba Hali Comes Off PUP List]
Heading into the offseason, many viewed a long-term accord between Berry and the Chiefs as a foregone conclusion. However, the two sides did not see eye-to-eye on terms and the July 15th deadline did not spur action as expected. Now, Berry is slated to play out his one-year tender and he’s not thrilled about it.
Earlier this month, ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher told PFR that he does not believe the Chiefs will sign Berry to a long-term deal next offseason.
“It’s difficult to see that at this point. If the Chiefs weren’t willing to satisfy him with a long-term offer this year, why would they do it next year? Perhaps things will change in that regard this season but I don’t think they will,” Teicher said.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chiefs Release Mike Williams, Stevie Brown
The Chiefs have released wide receiver Mike Williams and safety Stevie Brown, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter links).
Kansas City was the third NFL employer for the 29-year-old Williams, who signed with the club in April. He entered the league with the Buccaneers as a fourth-rounder from Syracuse in 2010. After four years in Tampa Bay, which signed him to a long-term deal in 2013 before quickly moving on over off-the-field issues, Williams joined his hometown Bills for a short-lived run in 2014.
Williams, who sat out last season, has accrued 223 receptions and 26 touchdowns in 63 career games (52 starts). The 6-foot-2, 204-pounder racked up 60-plus catches and between 771 and 996 yards in each of his first three seasons, but he has since combined for just 30 receptions.
Brown, like Williams, was out of football in 2015 despite experiencing past success. A seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2010, Brown posted a career year in 2012 as a member of the Giants, with whom he intercepted eight passes. However, he failed to register a pick in each of his other three seasons – one apiece with the Giants, Raiders and Colts. Brown signed with the Chiefs in early April, and he clearly didn’t do enough during his short stint with the club to merit a roster spot.
Despite the respective departures of Williams and Brown, the Chiefs still have no shortage of wideouts and safeties battling for jobs, as Roster Resource shows.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chiefs’ Tamba Hali Comes Off PUP List
Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali is coming off of the PUP list, the team announced. He’ll begin practicing on a limited basis starting tomorrow. 
[RELATED: Chiefs Tweak WR Rod Streater’s Deal]
Hali, 32, re-signed with KC this offseason before the official start of free agency. He has seen his sack totals decline a little over the last two seasons after he piled up a total of 46.5 from 2010 to 2013, but he has continued to be an effective edge defender for the Chiefs. Despite picking up just 12.5 total sacks in 2014 and 2015, Pro Football Focus ranked the veteran 11th out of 110 qualified players at the position in 2015, assigning him solid grades as both a pass rusher and a run defender.
Hali’s new deal pays him $21MM over the next three yeras with $11.5MM fully guaranteed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brad Childress Had Planned To Retire After 2015
- Brad Childress was ready to retire after last season, but the longtime NFL coach had a change of heart after being promoted to Chiefs co-offensive coordinator, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today. Childress was also a candidate to join former Kansas City coach Doug Pederson as the Eagles’ play-caller, but Andy Reid bumped Childress up to OC, where he’ll team with Matt Nagy and run the Chiefs’ offense.
Chiefs Tweak WR Rod Streater’s Deal
The Chiefs have made an adjustment to wide receiver Rod Streater‘s contract, and in doing so, created nearly $4MM in cap space, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Under the terms of the restructure, Streater’s 2016 cap number dropped from $4.8MM to $810K.
[RELATED: Chiefs Claim S Brock Vereen From Patriots]
While details of the reworking aren’t immediately clear, it’s very likely that the Chiefs altered some of Streater’s incentives from “likely to be earned” to “not likely to be earned,” thus lowering his cap charge while keeping the incentives intact. Such designations are based on the prior season’s performance, but because Streater caught only pass for eight yards in 2015, it’s doubtful that his amended incentives were of an individual nature. In other words, any reception-based incentive for Streater would be considered “likely to be earned,” because any total he reaches in 2016 would match or exceed last year’s production.
As such, it’s more probable that the altered incentives were team-based, such as wins, touchdowns, or offensive yards/points. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap explained on a recent podcast, the NFL contractual bargaining agreement contains a highly convoluted rule regarding team incentives, especially when a contract contains several such clauses (as Streater’s reportedly does).
It’s difficult to parse exactly how the Chiefs finagled the language in Streater’s deal without knowing the specifics of the pact, but the net effect is that that Kansas City now has more financial wiggle room with which to work. If Streater does end up meeting his “not likely to be earned” incentives, the Chiefs will see a cap adjustment for the 2017 campaign.
Streater, 28, will certainly have a chance to improve on his 2015 numbers during the upcoming season, as the Chiefs don’t have much in the way of experience in their receiving corps behind Jeremy Maclin. Streater reportedly “looked great” when filling in for an injured Albert Wilson as the club’s No. 3 option in early August, and will compete with Chris Conley, Wilson, DeMarcus Robinson, and De’Anthony Thomas for targets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NFL Suspends Zach Sterup Four Games For PEDs
- To make room for the newest member of their roster, Brock Vereen, the Chiefs released safety Akeem Davis (Twitter link via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star).
- The NFL announced that Chiefs offensive tackle Zach Sterup has been suspended four games for violating the policy on performance-enhancing substances, as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
Chiefs Claim Brock Vereen From Patriots
The Chiefs have claimed safety Brock Vereen off waivers from the Patriots, reports Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link). It appeared Tuesday that Vereen, who turned 24 today, was going to retire. However, Vereen was reinstated from the retirement list shortly after landing on it. The Pats then released him.
Vereen, whom the Bears chose out of Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, partook in all 16 of their games (four starts) as a rookie and posted 30 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. He didn’t appear in a game last year, though, after the Bears waived him in September. Vereen, the brother of Giants running back Shane Vereen, then spent time on the practice squads of the Vikings and Patriots.
A free safety, Vereen will now try to catch on in a Chiefs secondary that’s bereft of its starter, four-time Pro Bowler and current holdout Eric Berry. Along with Vereen, the Chiefs’ depth options include Stevie Brown and Jamell Fleming, as Roster Resource indicates.
Evaluators On Eric Berry
- Eric Berry has yet to report to Chiefs camp and is set to miss most or all of the preseason as he expresses his displeasure with the franchise tag, and Breer talks to several evaluators about why Kansas City is reluctant to hand Berry a long-term extension. “I understand franchising him now and seeing if he gets back to the form he held before,” said one offensive coach. “I think he’s still a top-five safety in the league and the arrow could be pointing up.” Other decision-makers had different opinions. “I think, at this point, he’s solid, not spectacular,” said one AFC executive. For what it’s worth, Chiefs general manager John Dorsey recently expressed optimism that Berry will be present before Week 1.
John Dorsey Expects Eric Berry Back Soon
John Dorsey is confident Eric Berry will show up at some point for the Chiefs‘ training camp in St. Joseph, Mo., which runs through August 18, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.
Dorsey and the Chiefs weren’t able to work out an extension with the two-time All-Pro safety, and Berry is among a few high-profile Chiefs not participating in training camp. Berry’s absence leaves the Chiefs with only Ron Parker back from their strong core of safeties from 2015, a group that included since-retired Husain Abdullah and current Cardinal Tyvon Branch.
Berry has yet to sign his $10.86MM franchise tender and as late as July 26, the 27-year-old defender was not expected to report to camp. Since he hasn’t signed the tender, he’s not obligated to do so, leaving the Chiefs thin at safety.
Here’s more from the Chiefs and their division rivals.
- Nick Foles‘ deal is worth $1.25MM this season, with no signing bonus included, Terez Paylor of the Star reports. However, the fifth-year quarterback will earn a $200K roster bonus if he makes the 53-man team, as he’s expected to. The Chiefs hold a team option for Foles, who would see his price rise significantly if the Chiefs pick it up. At a $10.4MM base, Foles’ 2017 salary seems contingent on him becoming the starter. Since that’s not in the Chiefs’ plans as of now, with Alex Smith signed through 2018, it’s unlikely Kansas City picks up that option.