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Chiefs’ latest free agency signing could give an ex-Raiders defender the perfect change of scenery in Kansas City

The Kansas City Chiefs are taking a chance on an edge rusher with low-risk, high-reward potential.

According to his agency, SportsTrust Advisors, the Chiefs have agreed to terms with EDGE rusher Janarius Robinson.

The former fourth-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2021 NFL draft didn’t have many opportunities in his early career. A training camp/preseason injury landed him on injured reserve in August, ending his rookie season prematurely. The following year, he didn’t make it in 53-man roster cuts and wound up on the practice squad in Minnesota. In September, the Philadelphia Eagles signed him from the Vikings practice squad. He’d make it a month in Philly before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

His time with Minnesota and Philadelphia yielded no playing time and no official NFL stats.

Robinson signed a two-year deal with the Raiders in 2023. Over the past two seasons in Las Vegas, he has appeared in 16 games with three starts. In that span, he recorded 13 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Despite injuries to Malcolm Koonce and Maxx Crosby, Robinson played in less than 10 percent of the team’s defensive and special teams snaps in 2024. He was also suspended for three games late in 2024 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Exploring Janarius Robinson’s fit with the Chiefs

This is a typical Brett Veach reclamation project signing, but it’s not the typical former first-round pick he goes after.

Robinson was a really smooth athlete coming out of Florida State. He was listed at 6-foot-4 and 266 pounds in the pre-draft process, recording 25 repetitions on 225 on the bench press, a 34-inch vertical jump, a 121-inch broad jump, a 4.69s 40-yard dash, a 4.46s short shuttle, and a 7.31s three-cone. The Chiefs actually took his former teammate, Joshua Kaindoh, in the same draft year, 10 picks after Robinson went to Minnesota.

The former Seminole had bad luck early in his career, seemingly stunting his growth. He saw his most playing time in 2023 with the Raiders, and last year, he seemingly ended on the wrong foot in Las Vegas. He could also still face another suspension this season from a DUI charge in March of 2024.

While expectations should be that Robinson is no more than a training camp body, his game certainly has some untapped potential. He’s only 25 years old. The Chiefs have seen first-hand what he can do in some very Steve Spagnuolo-esque packages.

Players like Malik Herring and BJ Thompson should certainly feel threatened by his presence, but things would have to go vastly wrong for him to start the season higher up the depth chart than DE5 in Kansas City.