Heading into his fourth NFL season, Kansas City Chiefs’ safety Bryan Cook is quietly stepping into a new role. In the wake of veteran safety Justin Reid signing a new three-year, $31.5 million deal with the New Orleans Saints in the offseason, Cook is among those taking on a share of the secondary’s leadership responsibilities.

But don’t expect Cook to do it exactly like Reid did.

“I lead in my own way,” Cook told reporters on Wednesday. “We’ve got a lot of leaders on this team; different faces. But at the end of the day, the chains keep going.”

Reid may be gone, but he is still a presence. Cook keeps in touch with his former teammate and mentor, continuing to learn from him both on and off the field.

“It meant a lot, honestly,” Cook said of his relationship with Reid. “I still talk to him to this day and ask him questions as far as livelihood and how to manage life after football —obviously because he has a lot of businesses [that] he does outside the sport. Then, on the grass, just learning his IQ. He’s been in the league so long, played in different systems as well, so he has a little bit more IQ for certain things. So [I’m] just always asking questions.”

Beyond his evolving role in the secondary, this season carries added weight for Cook: he’s now entering a contract year. After a season-ending ankle injury cut his 2023 campaign short, Cook bounced back in 2024, starting all 17 regular-season games and all three playoff contests. When the smoke cleared, he had recorded 91 total tackles and three interceptions — both career-highs.

One of those interceptions came in Super Bowl LIX, where Cook and the rest of Kansas City’s 2022 draft class experienced their first postseason loss in a tough defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. Even in that disappointment, Cook managed to find a silver lining.

“We took a heartbreaking loss,” Cook noted. “At the same time, we didn’t realize that we accomplished history, too — for the most franchise wins. It’s just understanding what the ultimate goal is and why we do this… It’s all for that bigger goal — and for us to come up short, it was unfortunate.

“But you look at the bright side: I went to three straight in three different years. In the league, that’s all I know. So, for my first postseason loss to be in the Super Bowl? I mean, I’ll take that any day of the week.”

Regardless of what comes next, Cook isn’t taking his time with the Chiefs for granted. He knows how much he’s already been given — and that a new contract would simply be an added blessing.

“It’s been a long career,” he reflected. “I’ve had my ups and downs — mentally, spiritually [and] emotionally. But I have a wife [and] I have kids — and other than them, anything else is kind of just icing on the cake.”