The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back veteran safety Mike Edwards in NFL free agency, as NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported the signing on April 3.

“Reunion: Veteran safety Mike Edwards is signing with the Chiefs on a one-year deal, per source,” Pelissero relayed on X. Adding: “Back with the team he won a Super Bowl with two years ago.”

Shortly after this news was announced, Arrowhead Pride writer Caleb James chimed in, calling it a “sneaky good pickup.” And there’s a reason that this late-offseason acquisition makes so much sense for Kansas City.

The Chiefs no longer have a veteran in the safety room outside of core special teamer Deon Bush — who typically spends the majority of his time on the KC practice squad. With former defensive team leader Justin Reid leaving in free agency and younger draft picks like Jaden Hicks and Chamarri Conner likely replacing him on the field, Edwards gives this unit some much-needed experience.

The former third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first entered the league in 2019, earning a Super Bowl ring with the Bucs before the 2023-24 championship with the Chiefs.

He’s appeared in 83 regular season games over that span, starting 30 of them. Edwards has also logged 12 playoff appearances, starting all 4 postseason outings during the Super Bowl run with KC.

At age 29 in May, Edwards is definitely more of a rotational depth piece, but the Chiefs like players who fit their systems and he’s already familiar with Steve Spagnuolo’s. Edwards has 11 career interceptions (including playoffs), with 1 forced fumble, 5 fumble recoveries, 3.0 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.

He’s spent the majority of his career with Tampa Bay outside of one season with the Chiefs and a portion of the 2024 campaign with the Buffalo Bills.

Along with the aforementioned Hicks, Conner and Bush, Edwards joins 2022 second rounder and starter Bryan Cook and 2024 undrafted standout Christian Roland-Wallace.

It’s unclear exactly how Spagnuolo plans to utilize all these chess pieces in 2025, considering both Conner and Roland-Wallace have spent time at nickelback in the past, but this group has an abundance of two things — youth and versatility.

Edwards brings the latter more so than the former, but his regular season and postseason experience could be invaluable as this young and talented safety room navigates their first campaign without Reid.

It would not be surprising if Chiefs general manager Brett Veach continues to fill out the depth of this unit either in the later rounds of the draft or the UDFA market.