According to NFL reporter Field Yates, the Kansas City Chiefs decided to clear a considerable amount of room on the offseason roster—limited to 90 men total—with the release of six players.
The list of players released on Wednesday includes four pass-catchers and two defensive linemen: wide receiver Gehrig Dieter, wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr., tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart, tight end Josh Pederson, defensive tackle, Lorenzo Neal, and defensive end. Jonathan Woodard.
The timing of the roster cuts are not surprising given that the team needs to clear room following the selection of 10 new prospects via the 2022 NFL Draft as well as the signing of even more rookie free agents to go with the inclusion of Lonnie Johnson in a trade with the Houston Texans. The Chiefs already started clearing roster space with the release of wide receiver Chris Finke earlier this week.
The Kansas City Chiefs have cleared considerable space on the offseason roster with the release of six players on Wednesday.
The most established name on the list is Dieter, who has been with the team as a former rookie free agent himself since 2017—Patrick Mahomes’ rookie season. This is not the first time we’ve seen Dieter released from the roster, so it stands to reason that he could easily resurface again at some point in the near future. Dieter has played in 10 total games in his career with two catches for 32 yards in that span of time.
As for the others who were released, Pederson is also a player of note in that he’s the son of Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, who used to be a longtime assistant with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. Both Pederson and Griffin-Stewart were already long shots in an already crowded tight end position going into minicamp.
Woodard was an intriguing pickup on paper as the second-leading sack leader from the CFL last season. Neal is actually a former teammate of new Chiefs pass rusher George Karlaftis at Purdue, while Jennings is a former fourth-round pick of the Seahawks still trying to find a place to land for any length of time. The Chiefs were his seventh different NFL franchise since 2019.