When the Kansas City Chiefs first made the move to sign cornerback Kristian Fulton to a two-year deal, they likely had more in mind than this.
The former in-division rival has contributed little in 2025. The one-time Los Angeles Chargers standout has played in just three games, logging all of 26 defensive snaps. Was that by design, or were external factors working against him?
As it turns out, the answer was a little bit of both all along.
Steve Spagnuolo Explains Kristian Fulton’s Confusing Path in 2025
A combination of injuries, a lack of familiarity, timing and a ramp-up period all led to Fulton’s Chiefs tenure carrying a low profile to this point. Speaking to the media on Thursday, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo explained in greater detail.
According to Spagnuolo, Fulton’s pathway got derailed by minimal availability. Not only that, but the coaching staff didn’t feel comfortable fielding someone who was playing catch-up.
“Well, we’d been trying to get him back out there for a month, or whatever it’s been,” Spagnuolo said. “First, it was the health. Then when we finally got over that hurdle, then it was, when Dave [Merritt] and I talked, is he ready mentally? You’ve got to remember â and I’ve talked to Kristian â he’s been in a tough situation.
“If you guys go all the way back to when we got him in OTAs, he didn’t practice a lot, he was hurt. Got to training camp, he was hurt. He’s really a rookie in the system. There were a couple of weeks there where it was about, does he have it all down now? That took a little. Then we got to the bye week and said, ‘this might be a time we get him out there,’ so that’s what we did.”
During the offseason, a knee procedure held Fulton out of several workouts. Once the 2025-26 campaign kicked off, he suffered an ankle injury that lingered for a while. By the time that passed, he was seemingly a healthy scratch. Now, it seems that the team erred on the side of caution with its Week 10 bye in mind.
Chiefs Balancing Challenge of Reps Down Stretch of Season
In the Chiefs’ Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos, Fulton played nine defensive snaps. That was good for just 15% of those available, trailing fellow corners Chris Roland-Wallace (35, 56%), Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson (62, 100% each).
One player, however, was notably missing. Rookie Nohl Williams was on the field for 22 special teams reps, although he never played on defense. Just one game removed from a career-high 44 snaps and some praise from his coaches, the third-round pick came crashing back down to earth.
Spagnuolo acknowledged the challenge of balancing snaps for everyone.
“We can’t get everybody out there,” Spagnuolo said. “We had some packages for Nohl, but we didn’t really get to them. There are only so many corners out there at one time, especially when we didn’t play Trent as much in nickel. So we’ll see how the reps go this coming week. Both of those guys have probably got to play at some point for us. I thought Kristian did a pretty good job. He had that one that I’m sure he’d like to have that back â that long pass play â but we’re going to need all of these guys down the stretch here.”
Defensive backs coach Dave Merritt echoed a similar sentiment.
“When you look at it, Kristian was brought in here to play,” Merritt said. “I think we all know that. When, all of a sudden, a young man who was brought in here to play, when he’s ready to go, you’re trying to get him in there. You’re trying to get him in the rotation. He had some setbacks early in his career here. He’s ready to go, so we’re going to continue to try to give Nohl some snaps, as well as Kristian, but he was brought in here to play for us.”
Fulton, the veteran who’s also making significantly more than Williams, might get the better end of the bargain.
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