Jaylen

Watson

$34 million of it is guaranteed per Mike Garafolo. The Rams now have two of Kansas City’s three main cornerbacks from the 2025 season. Watson had a career-best 74.1 PFF defense grade for the Chiefs in 2025, but Kansas City almost never retains cornerbacks and prefers to keep churning the roster with youth. Watson figures to be one of Los Angeles’ main outside corners in 2026.

Watson is a former seventh-rounder who has started 21 games for the Chiefs over the last two seasons. The 27-year-old corner is expected to be one of the top available free agents on the market next month, and allowed just 35 catches for 447 scoreless yards on 59 targets last season, per PFF. Watson has played exclusively on the outside since entering the league in 2022 and hasn’t allowed a receiving touchdown since 2023.

Fellow cornerback Jaylen Watson is joining him on injured reserve. With nothing left to play for, the Chiefs are packing it in for the year. McDuffie leads the team in pass breakups at six. Watson is one behind him. Down their top two corners, Kansas City will be an easy target for Bo Nix this week. Fantasy managers can feel free to fire Nix up as a QB1 one last time.

McDuffie is listed as DNP for the second straight day. He has been dealing with the knee issue since Week 14 and may not play the rest of this season with the Chiefs eliminated from playoff contention. Fellow CB Jaylen Watson (groin) was also DNP for the second straight day. Both are on the wrong side of questionable with a Christmas game against the Broncos on the horizon.

After practicing in full this week, Watson is good to go for Kansas City’s Divisional Round matchup with the Texans. Watson played nearly every snap of the Chiefs’ first five games before going down with the ankle injury. He had six pass breakups and 21 total tackles through six appearances. Watson’s return will bolster an already-strong Kansas City defense.

Watson injured his ankle in Week 7’s win over the 49ers, and the Chiefs struggled to find decent cornerback play next to Trent McDuffie in his stead. Watson had a 74.2 PFF coverage grade in 221 coverage snaps this season. Andy Reid said he was “in good shape” and said “he has a chance of playing” earlier today. The full practice would certainly seem to suggest he has a good chance of being active on Saturday.

According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, Watson will practice on Friday with the team and may return in time for the start of the Chiefs’ postseason. The third-year corner suffered a broken fibula in late October and was believed to be lost for the season. Now on the mend, the Chiefs will get a major boost to their secondary if Watson is able to return. Before suffering his injury, Watson had allowed just 15 receptions for 192 scoreless yards on 28 targets in six games while earning a PFF coverage grade of 74.2. The Chiefs already have a bye during the Wild Card round of the playoffs, meaning Watson wouldn’t return until the weekend of January 18th, giving him more than two weeks to practice and continue healing.

Fowler said Watson, who suffered the injury in Week 7, “will undergo surgery in the coming days for a broken fibula-tibia (ankle) after tests confirmed the injury.” Fowler added there is an “outside chance he’s back for a late playoff push, source adds, but his season very well could be over.” Losing Warren would be a setback for a Kansas City secondary giving up the ninth lowest drop back EPA in 2024.

Watson will undergo further imaging to determine if this is a season-ending injury. The 26-year-old was a seventh-round pick in 2022, and he’s developed into one of the better young defenders on the Kansas City defense. Even if the injury doesn’t end his 2024 campaign, it’s very unlikely Watson will play anytime soon.

In addition to Thuney, the Chiefs also placed EDGE Charles Omenihu, DT Derrick Nnadi, and DB Jaylen Watson on the PUP list. Thuney suffered what was called a “significant pectoral injury” by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport during last year’s AFC Championship Game against the Ravens and was unable to suit up for the Super Bowl as a result. In addition to Thuney, Omenihu suffered a torn ACL in the Super Bowl and is a likely candidate to open the year on the reserve/PUP list. All players are eligible to return to the roster upon passing a physical.