KC Chiefs: Prince Tega Wanogho among most promising players on futures contracts
As the K.C. Chiefs and general manager Brett Veach enter a pivotal offseason in the midst of their dynastic run, the team knows that they’ll be tasked with replacing a significant number of players on both sides of the football.
As most teams do, as the 2020 season wound down in late January and early February, the Chiefs were active in signing players to reserve/futures contracts, with the intent of bringing them through offseason work to see if they were able to make a run, ultimately, at the team’s 53-man roster for the 2021 season. A reserve/futures contract essentially defers a player’s salary and roster spot down the road for a team until a new league year begins, as explained in detail here.
Kansas City has signed 11 players to such a contract in the last six weeks or so. Among those players, none are likely to have a significant impact on the product on the field next season Nevertheless, they’re likely to be part of the 90-man roster throughout the offseason. The players who were signed to reserve/futures deals by Veach this year include some familiar names as well as some new ones. Among them include: Gehrig Dieter, wide receiver; Dalton Schoen, wide receiver; Derrick Gore, running back; Sean Culkin, tight end; Jordan Ta’amu, quarterback; and Anthony Gordon, quarterback.
The five most promising K.C. Chiefs players on reserve/futures contracts.
With those six not making our countdown, who are the top five futures contracts most likely to contribute for Kansas City when the 2021 season gets under way?
5. Rodney Clemons, Defensive Back
Former Southern Methodist University safety Rodney Clemons went undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft and spent most of the season on the Chiefs practice squad after signing with the team as a UDFA directly after the draft. He was never placed on the active roster and was never really discussed as a potential option, even when the team was ultra thin in the secondary during Week 2 and 3 of the 2020 season. However, the potential is there for Clemons to battle for a roster spot in 2021.
First, Clemons demonstrated ballhawking abilities at SMU when he registered four interceptions during his senior season. He also possesses the size typically valued in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme at 6’0″ and just over 200 lbs. Finally, Kansas City is likely to see turnover at the position with veteran Daniel Sorensen hitting free agency and the possibility that the team moves on from disappointing 2018 draft pick Armani Watts.
It is certainly still unlikely to see a path for Clemons to the active roster, but Kansas City kept him all the way through 2020 and evidently saw enough to keep him in the fold throughout the offseason, too. So, there is potential.