Steven Nelson announced his retirement in June, but he is in contention for a midseason return to NFL action. The veteran corner has a visit lined up with the Chiefs, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Nelson’s agent confirmed the visit will take place tomorrow, and it will open the door to a potential reunion. His playing career started with Kansas City in 2015 and lasted four seasons. Nelson played sparingly as a rookie, but he was a full-time starter after that, something which remained the case through to last season.
The former third-rounder had two-year runs with the Steelers, Eagles and Texans before electing to hang up his cleats. Nelson was on the Raiders’ radar this offseason, but he has been out of the league and has not been connected to any interest until the news of his upcoming Kansas City visit. Landing a deal with the defending champions would give them added depth in the secondary.
The Chiefs dealt away L’Jarius Sneed this offseason, and their CB room took another hit when Jaylen Watson suffered an ankle injury which will likely keep him sidelined for the rest of the campaign. Kansas City has held up well against the run this season, but the team’s secondary has been a relative weak point on defense. That informed the pursuit of Marshon Lattimore ahead of the trade deadline, but the Commanders ultimately won the bidding war for the former Saints Pro Bowler.
Kansas City has Trent McDuffie atop the cornerback depth chart, along with Chamarri Conner, Joshua Williams, Keith Taylor and Christian Roland-Wallace. Nelson could join that group as a depth contributor with plenty of experience at the NFL level (140 combined regular and postseason appearances), although he would of course not face high expectations in the event he were to sign a deal. After posting four interceptions and 12 pass deflections last year, though, Nelson could offer a degree of playmaking if he and the Chiefs were to come to an agreement.
