Chiefs gain undrafted rookie cornerback in trade with Cowboys
General manager Brett Veach didn’t wait until roster cuts to add help in the secondary.
The Chiefs made a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to land undrafted rookie Charvarius Ward, a source confirmed to The Star on Thursday night. The Chiefs officially announced the trade Friday and sent guard Parker Ehinger to Dallas in exchange. The move was first reported by ESPN.
Ward, a product of Middle Tennessee State, has seven tackles in the preseason for the Cowboys. The Chiefs front office views him as in a similar light as rookie corner Tremon Smith, their sixth-round draft pick from this past season who they believe has a high upside.
“He’s a big kid that’s really had a pretty good training camp for them,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Ward during a conference call on Friday. “He’s somebody that will come in and work into that mix there. He’s young, so we’re not bringing him in to be the starter or any of that, but he sure is a nice addition to that group.
“And they needed offensive linemen. They’d been checking on our group, and Parker will go in and do a nice job for them. We appreciate everything he did here and how he fought back from his injury to get himself back to where he is now.”
A rookie starter at left guard in 2016 after being drafted in the fourth round, Ehinger suffered an ACL tear that ended his season after five games. He appeared in just one game last season after returning from the knee injury. Dallas’ offensive line depth took a hit this preseason with Travis Frederick being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Marcus Martin suffering a foot injury.
Ward’s addition to the 90-man roster will likely shake things up when the group is cut down to 53 on Saturday. The Chiefs were expected to keep five corners, and Kendall Fuller, Steven Nelson, Orlando Scandrick and Smith seem to be locks.
While veteran David Amerson’s preseason struggles in man-to-man defense appear to make him a likely candidate to be the odd man out, a source told The Star that Amerson’s departure is not assured. In fact, the addition of Ward offers roster flexibility and opens up the possibility of the team keeping six corners.
Safety Daniel Sorensen’s knee injury will likely put him on IR to start the season, and the Chiefs could keep four safeties to start the season with the expectation that they’ll get Sorensen back at some point during the season.
The addition of Ward, 22, will also give the Chiefs three corners under the age of 25 in Fuller, Smith and Ward, as well as the ability to use a first-round draft pick — which they did not have this past offseason — on another young defensive back.
Brooke Pryor
Brooke Pryor covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 6:20 PM.