Chiefs Could Have Agreement In Place With S Eric Berry By The Combine

Jason Cole of B/R reports the Chiefs view re-signing S Eric Berry as a priority for them this offseason.

Sources have told Cole that they could have an agreement in place as soon as next week’s NFL Combine.

While the Chiefs are focused on Berry, Cole mentions that they aren’t expected to be big players in the free agent market.

Cole says they could even lose some players such as CB Sean Smith.

The news that the Chiefs are hoping to lock up Berry shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt made it clear that they plan to “do everything we can” to re-sign him a few weeks ago.

“Certainly, Eric is somebody that’s very important to the franchise,” Hunt said, via the Kansas City Star. “Coach (Andy) Reid and his staff think highly of him. They appreciate the leader that he’s become, and obviously personally, he had the amazing year overcoming cancer. We’ll do everything we can to try to bring him back.”

“There’s no way that anybody who is involved in professional sports wouldn’t appreciate what he did this year and overcoming what he did and what it took to do that,” Hunt added. “You just add that to his natural leadership abilities, and he certainly was important to the team.”

Berry, 27, worked his way back from Hodgkin’s lymphoma and managed to produce an impressive 2015 season. He’s now in position to be one of the best available players in the free agent market, which should net him an impressive contract.

In 2015, Berry appeared in all 16 games and recorded 61 tackles, two interceptions, and 10 pass defenses for the Chiefs. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 4 safety out of 88 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2016 Free Agents list.