Chiefs Sign Cornerback Stanford Routt
Added on Feb 21, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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Pass coverage was a liability for the Kansas City Chiefs last season, and on Monday the team took steps to improve with the signing of former Oakland cornerback Stanford Routt to a three year deal. The Raiders released Routt after the 2011 season. Routt will make $11 million this season with a total of $6.5 million of the contract guaranteed.
Routt’s specialty is ‘man to man’ defense and despite being released from the Raiders found himself in demand by a number of teams. Routt said there were plenty of suitors:
“I took visits with Cincinnati, Kansas City and Buffalo, and was in communication with Minnesota, Tennessee, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. I made my decision before taking visits with those teams.”
Routt said Kansas City ‘seemed like the right fit’. He’s also a fan of Chiefs’ head coach Romeo Crennel, who will also serve as the team’s defensive coordinator next season:
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Romeo Crennel with his defensive expertise, so the sky is the limit for us. When you look at that, and combine it with the pieces they have on offense, I don’t see why we can’t win.”
Routt had nothing bad to say about Oakland:
“My first stop in the NFL was great. I don’t like to look backwards. I think that’s an old chapter. It’s time to turn the page. I trust the Kansas City Chiefs to lead us in the right direction.”
Crennel is pleased to have Routt in the fold:
“Stanford has a proven record of success in the NFL. He’s a talented player that has spent seven seasons in the AFC West, so he is familiar with us and our division opponents.”
The Chiefs have made upgrading their defensive backfield a major priority. Routt is likely to start with cornerback Brandon Flowers who signed a five year, $52 million contract extenstion last off season. Kansas City also has safety Eric Berry signed to a long term deal worth $60 million. The acquisition of Routt makes the status of unrestricted free agent Brandon Carr very tenuous–with so much money already allocated to the position its unlikely that Kansas City would break open the checkbook to give Carr the deal he’d require to stay with the team.
