KC Chiefs place Kyle Long on active roster, per report

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially activated Kyle Long to the 53-man roster with a deadline looming on Tuesday of whether to keep him on injured reserve or find a place for him. FanSided’s own Matt Verderame had the report first.

The Chiefs faced a Tuesday deadline after first bringing Long back to practice three weeks ago. Each player who is activated from the Physically Unable to Play list during a regular season is given a three-week window in which he can return to practice. Long, like others from the PUP list, was not taking up an official roster spot during that three-week window.

Once a player is finished with the three-week window, the organization must then make a call about that player’s readiness. If he’s not yet ready to join the active roster, then he will be out for the year and that’s that.

The Chiefs have decided to activate guard/tackle Kyle Long.

On Tuesday, the Chiefs’ activation of Kyle Long spoke to their continued vision for him to be a contributor to this roster at some point, even if he’s not quite healthy. It’s possible that we begin to hear Long’s name bandied about in terms of the competition at right tackle or as security at right guard behind Trey Smith. However, it’s also possible the Chiefs have just decided to carry Long as a still-injured player on the active roster in order to potentially reap the benefits of having him healthy later in the regular season or even beyond.

Long first went down in the preseason with a leg injury that kept him from being able to show the team what he still had left after several injury-riddled seasons in Chicago. Before that, he was a three-time Pro Bowl performer at right guard.

The Chiefs first signed Long before free agency began last offseason after the longtime Chicago Bears lineman had decided to return from a year away from the game after retiring in 2020.