Chiefs may do what Bills couldn't with former first-round pick (and fans will be mad)

Bills Mafia had the chance to laugh at the news that was reported by Mike Garafolo about the Kansas City Chiefs signing cornerback Kaiir Elam, who was a major bust for the Bills to start his career. 

The Bills drafted Elam in the 2022 NFL Draft and had to trade up to get him because they needed to fill a huge need at corner. They saw the Chiefs jump ahead of them for Trent McDuffie, so that put pressure on the Bills to make a move to trade up to get Elam out of the University of Florida.

Elam is arguably one of the worst draft picks that the Bills made in recent memory as he not only struggled to earn true playing time after his rookie season, he couldn’t beat out Christian Benford who was in the same draft class as Elam.

He was a healthy scratch plenty of times and after his struggles continued in man coverage in his third season, the Bills had enough and traded him to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason in 2025. Dallas eventually released Elam in November, and then he finished the season with the Tennessee Titans.

He will now look to revive his career in Kansas City and while Bills fans understand what the Chiefs are getting themselves into, fans also have to realize that the Chiefs have the chance to do what the Bills could not with Elam.

Chiefs have great chance to get best version of Kaiir Elam (and Bills fans would be upset)

It’s no secret that the Chiefs have a major need to improve their secondary. They traded away Trent McDuffie to the Rams, and then lost Jaylen Watson in free agency to the Rams. Signing someone like Elam to a deal is a low-risk/high-reward for the Chiefs.

With Elam heavily struggling early on in his career, he is running out of chances to have stability in his NFL career. Landing in Kansas City, that outside of last season, is in a championship window, is the best move for him simply because of the defensive coordinator he is gaining in Steve Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo is arguably the best defensive coordinator in the league and Elam has the opportunity to grow as a player under Spagnuolo’s scheme. If the Chiefs are able to put Elam in a position to succeed, it may force the Bills to see him have success with a conference rival.