Everything you need to know about the Chiefs cutting Cairo Santos

The Kansas City Chiefs surprised their fans on Saturday with the release of kicker Cairo Santos. Here’s everything you need to know about the situation.

It’s been a surprising year for the Kansas City Chiefs, to say the least. From the firing of their general manager John Dorsey to the trade up in the first round to secure Patrick Mahomes, those moves are just two examples of an unprecedented offseason and season (so far) for a franchise that’s been the model of consistency and success since Andy Reid first arrived. Yet even on Saturday, the team announced another move that surprised fans and analysts alike with the release of kicker Cairo Santos.

Many have raised their eyebrows at the movement of Santos from injured reserve to the waiver wire, wondering how the Chiefs could just cut ties with the most accurate kicker in franchise history. That’s a hard sell on the surface, but the move makes sense in the right light and if you believe in his replacement. But there are a lot of moving parts here, so we’ll do our best to explain it all.

Here’s everything you need to know about Cairo Santos, Harrison Butker and what general manager Brett Veach is thinking by releasing Santos outright instead of carrying him on the roster—or at least on injured reserve.