Former Chiefs Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins Lands with Baltimore Ravens
Following an up-and-down but highlight-filled three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver Sammy Watkins has a new team, landing with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Watkins will be on a one-year deal worth $6 million, with $5 million guaranteed.
Watkins' departure is the latest move in a quiet offseason for the Chiefs' wide receiver position. The Chiefs brought back Demarcus Robinson on a one-year deal on Thursday following various pursuits of other free agent pass-catchers who signed elsewhere.
In his three years in Kansas City, while dealing with injury issues that have plagued his career, Watkins caught 129 passes for 1,613 yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season.
Ultimately, though, it will be "Playoff Sammy" that Chiefs fans remember for years to come. In 2019, Watkins caught 14 passes for 288 yards and this touchdown, punching the Chiefs' ticket to Super Bowl LIV.
Following a contract renegotiation that kept Watkins in Kansas City for 2020, Watkins met with the media and discussed how he felt about Kansas City and why he wanted to return for another year.
“Why wouldn’t I come back to one of the best organizations and best teams,” Watkins said. “We just won the Super Bowl. If you look at the team, we haven’t lost [many] players who were active last year. My job and focus were to come back and try to win another Super Bowl.”
Watkins said his one-year, incentive-laden deal was a key part of keeping the group together — a group that he says he found happiness and camaraderie within.
“This is my happy place, so why not take a smaller contract and come out here and play with the guys that I’ve been playing with," Watkins said.
Now, Watkins moves on to another AFC contender where he will play alongside Lamar Jackson in hopes of taking the AFC's top spot away from the team he spent the last three years with.
The Chiefs will travel to Baltimore at some point in the 2021 NFL season.
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