The Kansas City Chiefs have acquired outside linebacker Cameron Thomas from the Arizona Cardinals, as reported by Ian Rapoport via X.
The Chiefs sent a seventh-round pick to add some edge help to their defense, and the Cardinals were able to add some draft capital into their stock for future moves.
Who Is Cameron Thomas
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Thomas is originally from Carlsbad, California, where he grew up and attended Carlsbad High School and then committed to playing football at San Diego State University. He was a redshirted freshman, but even still became a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and second-team Freshman All-American by The Athletic, finishing his first year with 49 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. Thomas finished out his collegiate career with 155 tackles, 21 sacks, and 39 tackles for loss.
Cameron Thomas in the NFL
Thomas was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, being selected as the 87th overall pick. Thomas was with the Cardinals for two seasons, and during that time, he collected 40 total tackles and had three sacks with one fumble recovery.
How Can Cameron Thomas Help the Chiefs
As the Chiefs are currently going through their cuts, they most likely already have in mind their defensive starters, but given the current depth chart, it is clear that they lack depth on the defensive edges and defensive backroom. However, with the addition of Thomas, who can play the outside linebacker position and knows how Steve Spagnuolo, defensive coordinator for the Chiefs, likes to play his defense by having the defensive line move and do their actions, then allowing linebackers or even defensive backs to blitz, this window will give someone like Thomas opportunities to make an impact on the field.
Whenever there are moments in the game when the Chiefs are struggling to apply pressure to the other team, Thomas can get inserted into the edge spot and simply play as a decoy if teams catch on to what he’s trying to do or simply rush the quarterback to give the defensive line an additional rusher and alleviate the back line of the Chiefs defense.
Final Thoughts
This was a calculated move by the Chiefs coaching staff and General Manager Brett Veach, who is known for always staying ready to pull off a trade to help this team be just a little bit better than it was the day before, and this move certainly does that.
Sure, it may not be a league-shattering type of move, but in Spagnuolo’s defensive system, Thomas is going to have an opportunity to thrive and play at his fullest potential because he will be given opportunities to do what he’s done the best throughout his short career up to this point, and that’s rush the passer.
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