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First it was Jerrell Powe, and now it's Kendrick Lewis.
Thanks KC for 4 good years! Now on to the next chapter of my life and my new home Houston Texas!
— Kendrick Lewis (@klewis23) March 21, 2014
Patriots South? More like Chiefs South! Ba-dum-tss!
Who is Kendrick Lewis? Arrowhead Pride responded to the news of Lewis signing with the Texans as follows:
Kendrick Lewis ... Two solid years of play from him. Never quite got over 2012 shoulder injury. About right for a 5th round pick.
— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) March 21, 2014
More on the Texans' newest free safety, courtesy of this free agent report from Adam Teicher of ESPN.com:
Chiefs career: Lewis has started all but three of the 53 games in which he’s played for the Chiefs. A fifth-round pick in 2010, he joined the Chiefs at the same time as Eric Berry and when they had a need at safety. Lewis played well as a rookie, but that was the best season of his NFL career. Lewis was always average at best against the run, but his pass coverage sharply declined over the course of his career. Lewis started off last season playing well, but his game hit a wall in the middle of the season and it never recovered. A shoulder injury caused him to miss seven games in 2012, and though he had surgery at the end of that season, he never quite seemed the same player after that.
Argument for keeping Lewis: This is a difficult one. He has experience, certainly more than Sanders Commings or any rookie the Chiefs might draft to play free safety. He’s still young and could get back to what he was earlier in his career. But that also could be wishful thinking.
Argument for letting Lewis go: The Chiefs allowed one long pass play after another last season, and though Lewis wasn’t solely to blame, he had a big hand in that. His range simply doesn’t appear to be what it was earlier in his career. That was evident on the long Andrew Luck-to-T.Y. Hilton touchdown pass that beat the Chiefs in the playoffs last season. It’s impossible to believe the Chiefs wouldn’t be better off with Commings or a rookie at free safety. They would be getting a younger and probably more productive player at a lesser cost.
"Impossible to believe" his former team wouldn't be better off without him, huh? Well, then. I guess I need to keep my champagne on ice and hold off on bedazzling that Kendrick Lewis jersey. React as you see fit in the Comments below.
UPDATE: Mark Berman has the details on Lewis' deal with the Texans. It's a one-year deal with very little guaranteed money, so the cap implications of Lewis making the team versus being a training camp cut are negligible.
Free agent safety Kendrick Lewis gets a one-year contract from the Texans worth $795,000 which includes $100,000 guaranteed.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 21, 2014