The average football fan might not have noticed, but Charvarius Ward is hitting his stride going into year three in Kansas City. Remember Parker Ehinger? That’s what the Chiefs traded the Dallas Cowboys in the deal for Ward. What a steal for the Chiefs, as Ward is slowly turning into a solid number one cornerback.
Ward is headed towards a big year
Ward has been in the league since 2018, and he’s been nothing short of a diamond in the rough. Via Pro Football Focus, QBs completed 48% with a 67.3 rating against him, and an overall rating of 62.5. In 2019, PFF has him with an overall grade of 69.5, a completion percentage of 47.2%, and a passer rating of 67.3. Ward was one of only ten cornerbacks to have at least 1,000 snaps in 2019, and of those ten, his numbers are arguably the best.
- Passer Rating: 1st
- Yards Allowed: 3rd
- Reception %: 1st
- Yards/Coverage snap: T-3rd
(All stats via PFF, PFF Chiefs)
He’s only bound to get better
Besides natural development and understanding of schemes, Ward is poised to improve for two reasons. Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill. We saw Ward’s numbers jump after a year of playing alongside Thornhill, and Mathieu in 2019. Juan Thornhill should be expected back to full strength, and I’m leaning towards better. This bolds well for Ward, and the Chiefs defense for the next two seasons, but after? Maybe not.
A payday is coming
Currently, Ward makes the 45th most on the Chiefs, and is 168th among all cornerbacks, via Spotrac.com.
If Ward kept up his pace, he’d be generous to take top-20 money for CB’s. Around 2022, that number will likely be around 12-16 million a year. Juan Thornhill will be a free agent the following year.
If you’re keeping track, the secondary is going to get costly.
Tough spot for Kansas City
Unfortunately, it seems the better Ward gets, the less likely he is to be retained. His deal has been a steal up to this point, and he will be a Restricted Free Agent after the 2020 season. After this offseason, however, it wouldn’t be wise to doubt Brett Veach anytime soon.
