Ricky Seals-Jones’ stint with the Chiefs never made any sense

The entire Ricky Seals-Jones era in Kansas City—the near single season—never made any sense for the Chiefs.

On Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs released veteran tight end Ricky Seals-Jones in a series of roster moves that officially ended a disappointing single-season showing from beginning to end.

Seals-Jones first joined the Chiefs with a one-year signing last spring that provided competition behind Travis Kelce for backup tight end with a couple holdover candidates. Given his previous production as a pass-catcher, the idea of adding Seals-Jones to the offense was intriguing to many fans and analysts. Despite signing for less than $1 million, hopes were higher than they apparently should have been for Seals-Jones to settle in behind Kelce as another weapon on a dangerous Chiefs offensive unit.

Instead, Seals-Jones never had a preseason within which he could climb the depth chart. However, he also didn’t make a dent against competition once the regular season began. Nick Keizer and Deon Yelder remained firmly in place taking reps for the Chiefs game after game while Seals-Jones sat on the active roster as a healthy scratch. The only games in which Seals-Jones ever once played an official snap were in Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills (2 snaps) and Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons (4 snaps on offense, 5 on special teams).

What made Seals-Jones’ tenure with the Chiefs even more odd was that he lingered on the active roster for almost an entire season as the fourth tight end—yes, fourth—on a team that doesn’t exactly feature even a second tight end. It’s not as if he was adding value as a blocker or starring behind the scenes on special teams somewhere. He was just sitting as security for a position that didn’t make sense. If he was a lineman, it would make much more sense, but instead the Chiefs were rolling healthy and deep all season long at tight end.

Even in stretches where the offensive line was falling apart, the defensive end was taking several hits, or the early season scarcity at cornerback, Seals-Jones was somehow still there collecting one game check after another, providing piece of mind in case something happened to the other two tight ends asked to give 10 snaps.

At this point, what began as such a promising beginning has ended with even more confusion about his lack of use. If the Chiefs liked Seals-Jones so much, why not really try him out on the field? If they didn’t like him, why keep him so long? Nothing about the short Seals-Jones era in K.C. makes any real sense, but at this point, it at least looks like it’s over.