Eric Berry was drafted two general managers ago with Hall of Fame expectations. He grew into stardom before a torn knee and then an ankle sprain and then a form of cancer and most recently a torn Achilles took the luster off the career of an athlete who was once the most popular man in Kansas City.
Now, he is the most awkward fit in town, and perhaps the entire league.
Here we are, then, in the beginning of what will almost certainly be Eric Berrys last offseason with the Chiefs.
This week, at the NFL combine, coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach each expressed varying levels of optimism. Berry will not have offseason surgery and is expected to be ready for offseason workouts, despite a heel injury that robbed most of the 2018 season.
He did not play a full game until the AFC Championship Game. Since signing a six-year, $78 million contract he has played 266 snaps over parts of four games in two years as the games highest-paid safety. This is a once blissful marriage gone very wrong.
The Chiefs have no comfortable way out of the contract. Berry has no better option. The opportunity for Berry to help push the Chiefs into a Super Bowl being played in his hometown just passed without incident.
Much like with teammate Justin Houston, the Chiefs and Berry have let each other down. The Chiefs this was back when John Dorsey was the general manager, but still retained Berry with the franchise tag in 2016 without even making an offer for an extension.
That was a mistake in process, and the result has been even worse. Hypothetically, if Berry would have signed the same contract a year earlier the Chiefs could cut him now and have extra cap space.
As it stands, the Chiefs will have to wait until next year to do what they wish they could do now cut him.
Berry has let the Chiefs down, too. This isnt his fault, but the result is the same. He spent the entire 2018 season in a perpetual day-to-day portal that became a source of dark humor with the fan base and constant frustration within the organization.
Berry started missing practice in training camp, and Reid talked constantly about how good the communication was, but internally there was enough confusion that many thought he might play in the season opener.
As the Chiefs kept on winning without him, a theory emerged: stung from past injuries and buoyed by confidence in the team and the thought of a Super Bowl in his hometown, Berry was intentionally extra cautious to be sure he was there when it mattered most.
And he was.
He played 97 snaps against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game the most of any game in his career, and the first time hed played 100 percent of the defensive snaps since the playoff loss to the Steelers two years earlier.
But his body betrayed him, once more. He made little impact, with six tackles, and most notably was targeted for two of the Patriots biggest plays a fade down the left sideline that set up their last touchdown of regulation, and a simple slant in on third-and-10 during the overtime touchdown drive.
