The Kansas City Chiefs have been through quite the overhaul this offseason in the secondary. They traded away star cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams for a first-round pick and additional draft capital.
Then, they lost cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams, and safety Bryan Cook in free agency, replacing them with free agent signees Alohi Gilman and Kader Kohou.
Currently, Kohou is projected to start at cornerback, but the moves paved the way for Nohl Williams to ascend atop the depth chart at corner in Year 2.
Kansas City made a key move to trade up for Williams last offseason, knowing what lied ahead at cornerback. Now, he’s expected to lead the room in 2026, taking a big jump forward.
Given how the offseason has played out, let’s revisit that trade-up last offseason for Williams and see how it’s fared for the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs receive: 2025 third-round pick (No. 85 overall, which they used on Nohl Williams)
New England Patriots receive: 2025 third-round pick (No. 95 overall), 2026 fourth-round pick (Acquired from the Bears, No. 125 overall)
Obviously, the Chiefs traded up for Williams, moving up 10 spots to take the cornerback. The move came after five cornerbacks were selected in the first half of the third round, including Jacob Parrish to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 84.
Williams saw action in all 17 games for the Chiefs, but his role really started to expand at the end of the 2025 season, where he started the final four games in place of an injured Trent McDuffie.
The cornerback ended up playing around 44 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie, while also being a regular on special teams. He made 48 tackles, had seven pass breakups, and recorded four tackles for loss.
He allowed only a 54.3 percent completion rate and an 83.4 passer rating, which was quite good for a rookie. Now, he’s in line for a much bigger role in Year 2.
When looking at it from a value perspective, the Jimmy Johnson trade chart sees the deal as relatively equal in value, especially when considering that the extra asset moved was a future draft pick.
More importantly, Kansas City got their guy, and Nohl Williams flashed well in a limited role last year. This was a pick for the future, as the Chiefs had Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson last season, who are now both gone.
Of course, they’ll need Williams to keep developing, but this one is trending in the right direction for Kansas City, which has had some strong success developing cornerbacks over the past few years.
The Patriots moved back 10 spots and took center Jared Wilson at No. 95 overall.
The pick in hte deal was from the Joe Thuney trade, so it is originally rhe Chicago Bears pick. Now, holding the No. 125 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, we will update once the selection is used by the Patriots.