Getty
Baltimore Ravens safety Alohi Gilman.
The Kansas City Chiefs wasted little time replacing star safety Bryan Cook, as the position was the subject of an interesting game of musical chairs within the AFC North Division on the opening day of NFL free agency.
Kansas City inked Alohi Gilman, most recently of the Baltimore Ravens, to a three-year deal late on Monday night, March 9, according to a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
“Safety Alohi Gilman is headed to the Chiefs for three years at $24.75 million, including $15M guaranteed, per source,” Fowler posted to X.
Gilman is a six-year veteran who will play the upcoming season at 29 years old. He spent the first five and a half years of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers before joining the Ravens ahead of Week 6 via a mid-season trade after Baltimore started 1-4.
Pro Football Focus ranked Gilman as the 24th-best safety out of 98 players who saw enough snaps at the position in 2025 to qualify. He played 1,026 snaps and finished the year with 68 combined tackles, six pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Gilman helped Baltimore’s defense turn itself around and play its way back to an 8-8 record heading into Week 18. The Ravens played a road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final week of the campaign for the division crown and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, falling two points shy (26-24) of reaching those goals.
Chiefs Lost Safety Bryan Cook to Big Deal From Bengals
GettySafety Bryan Cook, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gilman replaces Cook, who left Kansas City on Monday after four highly productive years to join the rival Cincinnati Bengals.
Cook inked a three-year deal of his own worth $42.25 million in total, including $18 million in Year 1, according to a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
While Gilman was a quality safety last season, Cook was truly elite. PFF ranked him fourth among all safeties, and he finished the campaign with 85 combined tackles and six pass breakups. He was considerably better in coverage than Gilman, allowing six fewer receptions and 6.2 fewer yards per catch.
Chiefs Lost Top 2 Cornerbacks to Los Angeles Rams in Recent Days
GettyCornerback Trent McDuffie, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cook was represents a big loss for Kansas City, although Gilman’s addition fills the gap to a meaningful degree.
The Chiefs also traded star cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams this offseason for a draft haul, including the No. 29 overall pick in the first round of next month’s draft. Kansas City now owns two first-rounders at Nos. 9 and 29.
Meanwhile, McDuffie signed the league’s richest cornerback contract in L.A., which tallies four years and $124 million. His former teammate in Kansas City’s secondary, cornerback Jaylen Watson, also joined the Rams on Day 1 of free agency via a $51 million deal spanning the next three seasons.
Field Yates of ESPN re-examined the top 10 picks of the upcoming draft following Day 1 of free agency and predicted that Kansas City will attempt to replace McDuffie and Watson, at least in part, with its top 10 selection by taking cornerback Mansoor Delane.
“Delane had an excellent 2025 season at LSU, showcasing strong technique in man coverage and timing on pass breakup opportunities. He finished with two interceptions and 11 passes defensed,” Yates wrote. “Delane did not run a 40-yard dash at the combine, which didn’t help ease some questions in the scouting community about his straight-line speed. But he makes up for any potential lack of speed with fundamentally sound coverage play.”
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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