One day after working out with one of their division rivals, Danny Shelton is headed to Kansas City. The Chiefs are signing the veteran defensive tackle to a one-year deal, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old auditioned for the Raiders Monday, but has landed a contract elsewhere in the AFC West. The former first-rounder had an underwhelming one-year stint with the Giants last season, where he didn’t register any starts and logged a career-low snap share of 29%.
Prior to that, he had a more true-to-form stay in Detroit, where he was a full-time starter. That came one season after he posted a career-high three sacks and 61 tackles with New England in 2019. The journeyman has established himself as a capable run defender over the course of his career, but hasn’t developed into the disruptive presence in the passing game that he was drafted to be.
Shelton — who also worked out for the Panthers this offseason — represents the second recent veteran addition to the Chiefs’ front seven. Kansas City added edge-rusher Carlos Dunlap on a one-year pact worth up to $8M less than two weeks ago. On the defensive interior, Shelton will be joined by the likes of Chris Jones and Derrick Nnadi. He figures to carry a rotational workload given the presence of Jones in particular, but he has demonstrated an ability over the course of his career to log starter’s snaps as well.
With Shelton in the fold, the Chiefs have another capable piece in place as they continue to remodel their defense. They entered the day with more than $9M in cap space, but after Shelton’s performance in 2021, this deal shouldn’t eat too much into that figure.
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