Kansas City Chiefs work out long snapper Drew Scott

Long snapper Drew Scott got a recent workout with the Kansas City Chiefs who are apparently kicking tires on potential competition for James Winchester.

According to Howard Balzer, the Kansas City Chiefs recently hosted a free agent visit and workout with long snapper Drew Scott last Friday in a bit of news that flew under the radar.

Scott is quite familiar with the region as the long snapper for Kansas State from 2014 to 2017. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Scott first entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Oakland Raiders. He was able to stay on with the team through some of training camp but was cut in August well before roster cuts were due.

From there, Scott, who is now 24-years-old, caught on with the Dallas Cowboys last spring and spent the full offseason competing with incumbent veteran L.P. Ladouceur before being cut shortly before the season began when active roster cuts were due. Once again, Scott was unemployed when it counted most.

Now the Chiefs have given him another glimmer of hope heading into the offseason. The Chiefs haven’t signed anyone, but it’s a sign that they might have soured a bit on James Winchester—or are hoping a bit of competition will bring out the best in the position. The Chiefs have endured multiple special teams miscues this year, including some costly mistakes in key games (e.g. the Tennessee Titans debacle).

Winchester has been the Chiefs long snapper since the 2015 NFL season and even signed a five-year contract through the 2022 season back in 2017. It would be a bit surprising to see the Chiefs cut him knowing that there’s a bit of dead cap space (albeit only $200K) involved but if long snapper is a concern then it needs to be addressed.

Perhaps Scott will be a roster addition on a reserve/futures deal when the season is over for the Chiefs. Until then, the Chiefs can only hope any concerns about special teams performance have been ironed out before the postseason begins.