Justin Reid ready to take control of Chiefs secondary, continue dynasty

Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid is set for a new role in the team’s secondary this season. Already one of the team’s starting safeties, the 26-year-old will be taking on a new leadership role in 2023.

He is excited to take on the new responsibilities.

“I see myself as a play-caller on defense,” Reid told NFL reporter Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston during a June charity event. “I enjoy the X’s and O’s, the checks, really getting everybody situated and put in the best position. Playing different roles, from strong safety to free safety to dime linebacker to sometimes kicker, having confidence in those roles and not having to be out there and think, just being able to play as offenses make shifts and make adjustments rapidly, to play fast at that point, you really start to take the game to a new level.”

His starting safety partner last season, Juan Thornhill, signed a three-year deal with the Cleveland Browns. The Chiefs signed Mike Edwards in the offseason and also drafted Chamarri Conner in the fourth round.

Reid started all 17 games for Kansas City last season, finishing the year with 83 tackles and seven passes defended. In three playoff games, he added 20 tackles — including seven in Super Bowl LVII.

The former Stanford star was fourth on the team in tackles during the regular season.

The season was his first with the Chiefs after being drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He spent his first four years in the NFL with the Texans, starting all but four of the games he played in during that stretch.

Reid signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract in the 2022 offseason to bring him to Kansas City to play with the Chiefs. The safety believes part of the reason he was signed by Kansas City was to be a team leader.

“I think that’s the reason they brought me there is to command the back end,” Reid said. “Not just be a leader by speaking, but to be a leader by example and to help those young guys on the roster develop into the players they’re capable of being.”

The defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs kick off the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 7 at Arrowhead Stadium. The game will be broadcast on NBC in primetime.