Kristian Fulton had a disappointing first season with the Kansas City Chiefs, and he could be off the team before Week 1. A second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the LSU product had a decent career as a solid starter with the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers before joining the Chiefs in 2025. Brought in to compete with Jaylen Watson for a starting job, Fulton battled injuries throughout the season and only appeared in eight games while making two starts. During his truncated time on the field, the cornerback recorded 16 tackles, 6 passes defended, no interceptions, and an unremarkable 60.4 PFF grade.
Given this disappointing season, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton believes Kristian Fulton will be the odd man out in the Chiefs secondary and that the team should try to trade him before the start of the regular season.
“Assuming rookie first-rounder Mansoor Delane starts on the boundary, Nohl Williams, L’Jarius Sneed, and Fulton will battle for the No. 2 spot,” Moton writes. “A third-round pick from the 2025 draft, Williams has upside. Sneed is back for his second stint in Kansas City and has experience in Steve Spagnuolo’s system. Fulton will likely be the odd man out of the cornerback rotation.”
Chiefs Projected to Trade Kristian Fulton
Kristian Fulton might not be the best cornerback in football, but the Chiefs should probably hold onto him for the time being. While the Chiefs used a top-10 pick on LSU’s Mansoor Delane, they’re not exactly set at the cornerback position. Kansas City lost Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson in the offseason, which means they need as much cornerback depth as they can get. As Moton mentions above, Fulton, Sneed, and Williams are fighting for the starting job opposite Delane, but each player comes with at least one red flag.
Third-round pick Nohl Williams had a promising rookie season, appearing in all 17 games (five starts) while recording seven passes defended, one sack, 48 tackles, four tackles for loss, and a 74.5 PFF grade, the 17th-best mark in the league among 112 eligible cornerbacks. If he continues to develop, he’ll be a main feature in Kansas City’s backfield for years to come. However, that’s a big ‘if’, and the Chiefs would have a remarkably inexperienced cornerback duo if Williams and Delane were starting.
Old friend L’Jarius Sneed, meanwhile, was fantastic during his first stint with the Kansas City Chiefs. However, he was nothing but a disaster with the Tennessee Titans. The former fourth-round pick was one of the worst cornerbacks in football throughout his two injury-plagued seasons in Tennessee, and he’s now entering his age-29 season. Perhaps he can find his old form now that he’s reunited with head coach Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo, but there’s a very real chance his best days are behind him.
Given the pass-happy nature of today’s NFL, cornerback is one of the most important positions in football. Given all the uncertainty in the secondary, Kansas City should hold on to Kristian Fulton and increase their odds of having at least two reliable cornerbacks on the field on every given Sunday.
Main Photo: Denny Medley – Imagn Images
