Kansas City Chiefs release official 53-man roster for 2024 season
By Calvin Silvers
After months and months of hard work, it was either a day of blessings or sadness for NFL athletes, as the league mandates that every team cut enough players to get below the 53-man threshold for the active roster.
Before dissecting each position, the Kansas City Chiefs made some notable cuts ahead of the season. We knew the wide receiver room would be competitive, and after training camp, we saw Nikko Remigio, Justyn Ross, and Kadarius Toney waived.
The Chiefs landed JuJu Smith-Schuster for a song in free agency shortly before the NFL’s deadline for active roster cuts, meaning seven receivers made the roster in Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman
The chiefs tried their best to make a trade happen with Toney, but ultimately couldn’t get it done. Toney is subject to waivers since he still has another full season on his original rookie deal.
The cornerback position was also a question mark heading into the season, and we now know that Ekow Boye-Doe, Kelvin Joseph and Miles Battle were waived as well. The trade of L’Jarius Sneed this offseason meant Trent McDuffie, Nazeeh Johnson, Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams, Christian Roland-Wallace and Nic Jones made the roster
Some other notable athletes that were waived include former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit but expect to see the Chiefs attempt to bring him back to the practice squad. Kansas City released tight end Irv Smith Jr,. the former Cincinnati Bengal who signed with the Chiefs in March.
However, The Chiefs decided to swing a last-second deal for Peyton Hendershot, who was going to be released by the Dallas Cowboys, and in so doing, they found an athlete with a couple of years left on his rookie deal.
As for running back, the team waived second-year running back Deneric Prince. this clears the way for the Chiefs to carry three running backs on their initial 53-man roster with Isaiah Pacheco, rookie Carson Steele and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
No surprises in the quarterback room with Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz being retained, and 10 offensive linemen in Kingsley Suamataia, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Jawaan Taylor, Mike Caliendo, Wanya Morris, Hunter Nourzad, Ethan Driskell and CJ Hanson will have the task of protecting them.
Defensively, nine defensive linemen made the cut, five linebackers and four safeties. Chiefs open up the season at 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 5 at Arrowhead Stadium.
