Former Washington football star Kevin King returns to the NFL

Former Washington Huskies star and second-round pick Kevin King has made his return to the NFL.

Former Washington Huskies cornerback Kevin King hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2021. King took off the 2022 season for personal reasons and then suffered a torn Achilles in an off-season workout just before the start of training camp in 2023.

His return to the NFL was announced on Monday, with the Atlanta Falcons signing the former second-round pick, reuniting King with his position coach at Washington, Jimmy Lake. Details of his new contract have yet to be released.

The Oakland, California native spent four years on Montlake, playing safety during his first two seasons before switching to cornerback for the last two. King was originally considering entering the 2016 NFL draft, but Lake convinced him to return for one more season on Montlake to up this draft stock.

This paid off in multiple ways, as the Huskies made a run to the College Football Playoff thanks to a secondary led by King and Sidney Jones on the outside. Then, the Green Bay Packers took him with the No. 33 pick in the the 2017 draft.

King spent the next five seasons with the Packers, amassing 197 tackles, 7 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. He had his best year in 2019, where he pulled in 5 of his 7 career picks.

Lake and new head coach Raheem Morris appear to have plenty of ideas to help work King into the Atlanta defense across from star cornerback AJ Terrell as they try to retool the team.