The Kansas City Chiefs have watched multiple key contributors from their Super Bowl 57-winning run sign multiyear deals elsewhere in free agency, including Juan Thornhill. The Cleveland Browns and Thornhill came to terms on a reported three-year, $21 million contract earlier this week.
Thornhill was as reliable as could be in what turned out to be his final season with the Chiefs. He featured in 16 regular season contests as Kansas City’s starting free safety in the 2022 campaign, and he ranked fourth on the team in snaps played on defense with 1,044. He also logged five total tackles in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 57 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Thornhill was officially introduced as a Browns player on Friday. He later took to Twitter on the day to bid farewell to the Chiefs organization and its fans.
“Chiefs Kingdom!!!” Thornhill said. “What a journey the past four years have been. In 2019, you guys took a chance on a small town kid from Virginia, and immediately embraced me as your own.
“My time in Kansas City has been an absolute rollercoaster, from my rookie year and suffering a season ending injury, to winning our second Super Bowl this past year. … Thank you Chiefs Kingdom!”
Thank you #chiefskingdom ❤️ pic.twitter.com/S3r9b52IWx
— The Chosen Juan👑🙇🏽♂️ (@Juan_Thornhill) March 17, 2023
During his introductory press conference with the Browns, Thornhill took some time to touch on his departure from the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“It is really hard,” Thornhill said. “It is hard because you built those relationships with guys in the locker room, and when you built those relationships, you don’t want to leave, but sometimes it is part of business.
“Some teams can’t bring you back. At the same time, you can see yourself fitting in a different organization and helping them become way better or making it to the Super Bowl and add your skillset to that defense to make us so much better.”
Thornhill played in four seasons with the Chiefs, where he recorded 234 total tackles and eight interceptions in regular season play.
Overall, the Chiefs have made a few moves in free agency to bolster their defense. For one, they reportedly reached an agreement on a deal with safety Mike Edwards, who spent the last four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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