KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs began reworking their injury-depleted defense Tuesday by signing former Denver Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson to a one-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs had not announced the move.
Vickerson will have the opportunity to start right away. The Chiefs lost defensive tackle Mike DeVito for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon in Sunday’s 26-10 loss to Tennessee.
The 31-year-old Vickerson spent the past four seasons in Denver, where the Chiefs visit on Sunday, and was waived just prior to the season. He played well two years ago, making 40 tackles and a pair of sacks, but seemed to regress a bit last season. He began his career in Tennessee and has made 153 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks over seven seasons.
Jaye Howard took the majority of snaps after DeVito left the game. Vance Walker will also have a chance to earn playing time after signing as a free agent in the offseason.
“Howard is an explosive player. His big thing was just making sure that was something that took place on every play,” coach Andy Reid said. “Consistency was the factor. He’s shown us that he can do that throughout his time here. He had a good preseason with us and now will have an opportunity to get in there and play a little bit more.”
The Chiefs are also looking for a linebacker after losing Derrick Johnson to his own ruptured Achilles tendon, working out several potential replacements early this week. Joe Mays, who was signed in the offseason, is on injured reserve following surgery to repair a broken wrist. He carries the designation to return, but that’s unlikely for a while.
“We’ll keep our eyes open to fill those spots,” Reid said. “We’ll look at our practice squad players, we’ll also look in the free agent area and also any other option that’s available.”
James-Michael Johnson and Josh Mauga are the next in line at middle linebacker.
“We thought JMJ was a good, solid linebacker. We felt that he was — at least from what he had shown — had been better in the sub-group, so that’s where we used him a little bit last year and we had started using him in that position this year,” Reid said. “But we do feel like he can step up and if he needs to play more, then he’ll play more.”
Mauga has knowledge of coordinator Bob Sutton’s defense from his time with the Jets.
“Overall a good football player,” Reid said. “That’s why we brought him, to give him that opportunity to play, at that time backup, and now he’s asked to start.”
