Chiefs safety Justin Reid says the plan in Kansas City is for him — not kicker Harrison Butker — to handle kickoffs.
The new kickoff rule is expected to increase the number of returns and particularly the number of long returns, which means kickers will be counted on to tackle more often. The Chiefs have openly talked about the possibility of using Reid — who has filled in as a kicker when Butker was injured — on kickoffs because as a safety he’s much more capable of tackling a returner than Butker is.
Reid said on Chris Long’s Green Light Podcast that he expects to have the kicking job on kickoffs.
“The advantage for us is that if I’m doing the job — which is what we’re planning on doing — then I can fill that last gap, so it makes it a little bit easier and nobody needs to win two gaps,” Reid said.
Reid said Butker understands that it’s better for him to keep himself healthy for field goals.
“We’re in a great place with it,” Reid said. “Although I know he can make some tackles, I think he’s excited to preserve himself, and we can use him where we really need him, which is those fourth-quarter situations to go nail a 60-yard field goal and win the game. It would be devastating to try and trot a guy out there who’s still nicked up from trying to make a tackle in the second quarter.”
Reid hopes his ability to kick off helps him stay in the NFL a little longer.
“We might have added some time to my career. You might’ve extended my show a couple years,” Reid said. “When I’m done being the starting guy on safety, I can turn into that rotational third safety and also be a kickoff specialist.”