Philadelphia Eagles waive former Chiefs cornerback Tremon Smith

The Philadelphia Eagles have waived former Chiefs cornerback Tremon Smith.

The Philadelphia Eagles placed several players on waivers on Sunday, but among the names was a familiar face for Kansas City Chiefs fans in former cornerback Tremon Smith.

Smith was a sixth round pick of the Chiefs back in the 2018 NFL Draft. A small school prospect who turned heads with his top-end speed and return skills, the Chiefs were hoping a late round flyer would return to them a core special teams player in addition to some developmental help on defense.

Smith would turn heads with his speed, to be sure, as special teams coach Dave Toub called him the second fastest player on the team. However, that speed would have a hard time actually finding the field other than return duties and even that only lasted a little over a year.

In 2018, Smith was the team’s primary kick returner with 33 of them for 886 yards, or 26.8 yards/return. In 2019, the team would release him in order to get wide receiver Byron Pringle on the roster, and the Green Bay Packers took advantage and claimed him. He would last only seven games with the Packers before he was set free again, and he ended the year with the Eagles.

The Chiefs did try to experiment with Smith during the preseason a year ago when they played him at running back. It was a short-lived experiment that went nowhere, especially given how crowded the team’s backfield already was, but it was clear the Chiefs were trying to find a way to get that speed on the field.

Now Smith hopes his feet will earn him yet another chance in the NFL to find his place. It only takes one right opportunity to a player to turn heads, but for now Smith is still searching for that chance.