In the 2022 NFL Draft, there was only one pick separating the third and fourth cornerbacks taken in the first round. The Kansas City Chiefs’ selection of cornerback Trent McDuffie at pick No. 21 was soon followed by the Buffalo Bills taking cornerback Kaiir Elam with the 23rd-overall pick.
The two entered the league with their careers in proximity. Four years later, McDuffie is the highest-paid cornerback in the history of football — and Elam is an afterthought free agent, signing with his fourth different team in five seasons.
There was irony in the Chiefs’ pick of McDuffie over Elam, considering the latter projected to be a “better fit” for the Chiefs’ defense and what defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo typically wants at the cornerback position. However, general manager Brett Veach identified McDuffie as a blue-chip talent, backing up his claim by trading up to acquire the future All-Pro.
He was proven correct immediately and often. McDuffie wasted no time establishing himself as one of the top playmakers at this position, while Elam worked to earn the trust of Buffalo’s coaching staff.
Elam didn’t start until Week 3 of his rookie season, then only stayed that high in the lineup for six games before returning to a reserve role for the remainder of the year. There was at least one healthy scratch among the three weeks he was inactive down the stretch.
Elam has four interceptions over the 43 regular-season games and five playoff matches he has played in; three of the four happened in his first year, including a red-zone pick of Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes that helped the Bills edge out Kansas City 24-20 in a Week 6 battle.
As he prepared to take it to another level in his sophomore campaign, Elam suffered an ankle injury during the 2023 training camp that held him out until Week 5, but he was ultimately placed on the Reserve/Injured list after three games due to re-aggravation.
Elam didn’t make another start for Buffalo until November of the 2024 season. Two weeks later, he was inactive once again after not appearing on the injury report against the Chiefs in Week 11. A couple more weeks on the sideline foreshadowed the trade that occurred the following offseason: Elam was sent to the Dallas Cowboys, who ended up being one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses during the 2025 season.
It all leads to his status as an inexpensive, late-stage signing in free agency.
Now, he is truly a “fit” in Kansas City.
With Spagnuolo, the organization has only used either low-risk, one-year contracts or draft picks to employ cornerbacks capable of starting on the outside.
Since 2019, the only two significant outside cornerbacks that were not originally Chiefs were Bashaud Breeland and Mike Hughes. Both signed one-year contracts worth between $2 million and $3 million.
It’s too early to assume Elam will bring similar impact — or to know the details of his contract, apparently — but Kansas City has a strong reputation of getting the most out of a cornerback’s skillset, with credit to defensive backs coach Dave Merritt.
It’s why Elam was never actually a fit for the Chiefs as a first-round target in the draft, despite looking the part on the field. McDuffie’s all-around ability justified the unique pick for Kansas City, but Elam’s value to the team didn’t match the investment he demanded until now.
With the 2026 NFL Draft on the horizon, this topic is worth considering as the mock-draft universe continues predicting cornerbacks for the Chiefs at either pick No. 9 or No. 29.
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