The Kansas City Chiefs officially brought back one of their special teams leaders on Friday, March, 20.

The Chiefs announced they’ve officially re-signed LB Jack Cochrane. It’ll be a one-year deal for Cochrane, with the potential to earn over $1.2 million. Should Cochrane make the 53-man roster, it’ll be his fifth season with the team since joining them as an undrafted free agent out of South Dakota in 2022.

“Chiefs Kingdom, what’s up? It’s Jack Cochrane,” he said, via the Chiefs’ X account. “Just signed back for another year. Super excited to be back in the city. You know, it’s my favorite place in the world. So, excited to get to work and make some cool things happen this year. Go Chiefs!”

Cochrane led the team in special teams snaps in 2025, playing over 81% of the snaps with 342 special teams snaps. It marks the second time during his NFL career that he led the Chiefs in special teams snaps (2023 was the first). He’s never played fewer than 65% of the special teams snaps in a single season in Kansas City since entering the NFL.

While he’s never played more than 160 defensive snaps in a single season, Cochrane showed signs of progress as a depth player in 2025. He played 17 combined defensive snaps in the Chiefs’ blowout wins against the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders in Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2025 NFL season, recording three total tackles and his first career interception. He played a season-high 29 snaps in the Week 15 loss to the Tennessee Titans, recording five total tackles and a fumble recovery. He only allowed a 34.7 passer rating into his coverage in his limited defensive snaps.

Chiefs LB Jack Cochrane has to cut down on the special teams penalties in 2026

Penalties were a big problem for Cochrane in 2025, and he’ll look to continue on the path toward correcting them in 2026. Cochrane’s three penalties on special teams were tied for the second-most on the team behind Joshua Williams, who had four called penalties (one offsetting). Two of his penalties came in the same game, the team’s Week 10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ended up being quite costly.

The good news is that he only had one penalty called on special teams after that mark and vastly improved his performance from Week 9 onward. He’s already on the right track; it’s just a matter of staying consistent and carrying that over to the 2026 NFL season.

Another piece of good news is that Cochrane reduced his missed tackles in 2025, recording only two on special teams after four in 2024.

What does this move mean for the Chiefs’ linebacker room?

The Chiefs, of course, lost Leo Chenal in free agency to the Washington Commanders. Cochrane was the team’s only other free agent at the linebacker position. They’ll actually return everyone else at that position group for 2026.

Realistically speaking, the Chiefs’ linebacker room could be close to set for the 2026 NFL offseason. In 2024, the team carried eight linebackers on the 90-man offseason roster. In 2025, the team carried nine linebackers on the 90-man offseason roster. A draft pick or an undrafted free agent signing could have them set at this spot. I would be surprised to see a substantial investment here, even with Drue Tranquill on a one-year deal at a reduced salary and Nick Bolton’s contract heading into an “out year” following the 2026 NFL season.

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