We wondered at some point in each of the past two years whether the Kansas City Chiefs could sign safety Nate Allen, who was a 2010 second round pick by Andy Reid when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Allen, who re-upped in Philly heading into 2014 and signed a multi-year contract with the Oakland Raiders heading into 2015, has been cut by the Raiders so he becomes a free agent.
Nate Allen seems to fit the type of rotational safeties the Chiefs have signed in the past. He was injured last year so he only appeared in five games with Oakland. The Raiders GM is Reggie McKenzie, who spent plenty of time in Green Bay with Chiefs GM John Dorsey. The Chiefs have three of the NFL's top 10 free agent safeties-to-be in Husain Abdullah and Tyvon Branch in addition to Eric Berry. KC could be losing one or more of them.
It would not surprise me if the Chiefs looked into Allen given the ties to Andy Reid, who drafted him, and the light connection to John Dorsey, whose former colleague signed him.
Nate Allen has had plenty of troubles. He's not some superstar who has played his way into a large contract. However, he has the profile of a player the Chiefs might have interest in. If he's looking for a one-year flyer, I would put my trust in John Dorsey to get it right. The same goes for the Chiefs if they decide not to sign Allen -- they have good information on him so I'd trust that too.
While we're here, two other safeties hit the market: former Mizzou safety William Moore was cut by the Falcons and veteran Michael Griffin was cut by the Titans.