The Kansas City Chiefs only recently signed tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart four days ago, but they’ve reportedly decided to move on from him with the news that they’ve replaced him with offensive lineman Darryl Williams on the practice squad.
Griffin-Stewart was the original signing to replace linebacker Christian Rozeboom who was taken by the Los Angeles Rams (after the Chiefs had signed him to their practice squad away from L.A.—what goes around comes around). However, the Chiefs apparently feel good about the number of tight ends already in house, because they are now going with another familiar face in that practice squad slot in Williams.
The Chiefs have lost Jody Fortson to injury this year, but the active roster still has four tight ends on it at present. Travis Kelce and Blake Bell are the veterans sitting atop the depth chart while Noah Gray was this year’s fifth-round selection. However, the team also added Daniel Brown shortly before last week’s NFL trade deadline in a rare player-for-player swap with the New York Jets. It was that deal that terminated Laurent Duvernay-Tardif‘s tenure with the team. It should also be noted that former college basketball prospect Mark Vital of Baylor is also on the practice squad already as a tight end.
The Chiefs have made a couple of moves on the practice squad to bring back Darryl Williams and release Nakia Griffin-Stewart.
As for Williams, he’s been around the Chiefs since he was signed as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft. Williams comes with versatility as an interior lineman with starting experience at center and guard in the SEC. However, he was just released to make room for linebacker Shilique Calhoun in October and now the Chiefs have found a way to bring him back. It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see the Chiefs want to continue to invest in Williams next offseason, and signing him now before the stretch run keeps another team from grabbing him—at least for a practice squad and/or perhaps a reserve/futures deal for 2022.