Chiefs rumors: C.J. Spiller re-signs with Kansas City

The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly brought back C.J. Spiller for a third time this year—even though he was never really going anywhere.

The Kansas City Chiefs are using C.J. Spiller as the most flexible part of the active roster, and apparently the veteran running back is just fine with that fact. General manager Brett Veach has clearly been telling Spiller all along that he’ll settle onto the active roster if he lets the Chiefs move him back and forth through multiple releases in the process.

Now it looks like Spiller might have a permanent home on the Chiefs active roster. The Chiefs needed to “lose” a player a couple times in this process before arriving at their latest active roster. Spiller was signed by former GM John Dorsey early this offseason and Veach apparently likes him enough to keep him around. However, Veach also needed the roster spot to pull a few moves related to injuries and finances, so we’ve seen Spiller’s name across the waiver wire a number of times.

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Spiller was first released just before the active roster deadline when the Chiefs needed to put Steven Nelson on the injured reserve/return list. To do so meant that they needed to keep Nelson in an active roster spot past the deadline, so they released Spiller knowing they would bring him right back after Nelson’s slot opened up as he went to IR. It was all a matter of transactional timing.

Spiller was then released last Thursday before the game because the Chiefs were planning on the veteran running back being inactive for the game anyway. The same can be said of offensive lineman Jordan Devey. The Chiefs released both so that both players will not have guaranteed contracts for the rest of the season. This allows the Chiefs to financially get out from under any obligations to Spiller for the rest of the year, if they decide it’s not working out.

For Spiller, he’s been bouncing from team to team enough to know that the Chiefs likely represent his best chance at a real comeback, so rolling with the punches might be inconvenient but it’s still the best long-term play. He’s learned the playbook. He’s known by the front office and coaching staff. It’s likely only a matter of time until he can show what he can do on the field.