Everything you need to know about Kansas City Chiefs preseason

The Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to kick off training camp and we’ve got you covered with what to expect and important dates.

It’s almost here. The 2022 regular season will be here in a matter of weeks, and preseason football is just around the corner. The trucks are loaded with equipment ready to head from Arrowhead to St. Joseph, which means Kansas City Chiefs fans will have very real football to watch and very real news to read with very real ramifications in a matter of days.

In order to get you ready for the Chiefs’ preseason, we wanted to provide a primer of sorts to help sort out all the key information that you might want to know. While it’s exciting to think about the season starting again, it’s also possible to forget some details if you’ve not paid attention in a while—or if some key dates have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Hang out with us here in this post as we try our best to keep you covered for a full preseason explainer.

Where and when is training camp for the Chiefs?

The Chiefs are one of only eight NFL teams who travel away from their home stadium for a distant training camp experience. The Chiefs staff and players will travel to St. Joseph, Missouri, and specifically the campus of Missouri Western State University—the team’s 12 preseason spent on this campus.

Rookies report on July and veterans after that. Practices officially begin on Wednesday, July 27, with a closed session that’s privy to season ticket holders only. On Thursday, July 28, fans can attend the first of several practices open to the public. In order to maximize your camp experience, make sure to check out this page for full details, including what positions are signing autographs that day.

When and how exactly do roster cuts work?

Right now, every NFL team is allowed to have 90 players on their offseason roster, which they will carry for much of training camp. However, each team must also eventually release 37 of those players to get down to the final 53 slots allotted for players on a regular-season active roster.

If that sounds like a lot of player movement, it is. The good news here is that the league changed things this preseason to stagger roster cuts after each preseason game. This means the schedule for Brett Veach to pare down his roster will feature the following cut dates:

• August 16: 85-man roster limit
• August 23: 80-man roster limit
• August 30: 53-man roster limit

Basically, teams will cut five players quickly after the first and second preseason games before making tough calls on the final roster after the third and final preseason contests. Speaking of the preseason schedule…

What is the Chiefs’ preseason schedule?

If you’re used to four preseason games, then you might be surprised to find that the league is down to three games in recent years after voting to extend the regular season by a single game to 17. That means the Chiefs are playing three preseason tilts, hosting two of them.

1. Chiefs @ Chicago Bears – Sat. August 13 @ 12:00 p.m. CT
2. Chiefs vs. Washington Commanders – Sat. August 20 @ 3:00 p.m. CT
3. Chiefs vs. Green Bay Packers – Thursday, August 25 @ 7:00 p.m. CT

Who are the key rookies I should be watching for?

Don’t forget that the Chiefs drafted the biggest class in recent team history with 10 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. That’s the most since 2008 and nearly double the average of six picks per draft from Brett Veach in each of the last four years. While no one knows how rookies will actually play, Veach earned high praise for his efforts over draft weekend. Keep an eye on these rookies:

• Trent McDuffie, CB, 1st round
• George Karlaftis, DE, 1st round
• Skyy Moore, WR, 2nd round
• Bryan Cook, S, 2nd round
• Leo Chenal, LB, 3rd round
• Joshua Williams, CB, 4th round
• Darian Kinnard, OL, 5th round
• Jaylen Watson, DB, 7th round
• Isiah Pacheco, RB, 7th round
• Nazeeh Johnson, DB, 7th round

Keep an eye on a few undrafted free agents who could surprise with a strong summer, including linebackers Jack Cochrane and Mike Rose and wideouts Justyn Ross and Matthew Sexton.

What other new faces are important to note?

The Chiefs weren’t as active in free agency as some fans would have liked, especially when the rest of the AFC West was busy loading up for a very real run at the division—even for those who have been also-rans in recent seasons. However, the Chiefs have a number of important new faces to watch as well.

fiefs training camp for the first time in six years. Instead, the Chiefs are going to get their first looks at JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling in pads as part of a rebuilt WR corps. Ronald Jones is the newest addition to the backfield, and it will be interesting to see how the depth chart looks in a few weeks.

On defense, the Chiefs added major linebacker depth with Jermaine Carter Jr. and Elijah Lee. The secondary not only has an abundance of first-year players but the Chiefs brought in a new anchor in safety Justin Reid. They also signed Deon Bush and traded for Lonnie Johnson. Taylor Stallworth was a solid signing up front from the Indianapolis Colts who should add important depth inside.

When does the regular season start for the Chiefs?

The Chiefs begin the season on the road against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 11 at 3:25 p.m. CT.