Predicting KC Chiefs’ roster cuts before 85-man deadline
By Jacob Milham
The Kansas City Chiefs have some personnel decisions to make, due three days after the team’s first preseason game.
Under the NFL’s newer three-phase roster cut system, the Kansas City Chiefs will have some quick decisions to make as the preseason begins. On Tuesday, Aug. 16, the Chiefs will cut their 90-man roster down to 85. The cuts are due before 4 PM EST, and are the first of three roster cut deadlines for NFL teams.
There are several moves the Chiefs can make ahead of the deadline, other than outright cutting a player. For example, the Chiefs’ first four moves in 2021 were injury related, with only one player waived outright. A player’s injury status can play heavily into these roster decisions, and fans should monitor accordingly.
The Chiefs moved quickly ahead of the deadline, waiving four players and announcing the signing of defensive tackle Danny Shelton. While waiving Johnson after trading for him this offseason may surprise fans, that’s just business. With these moves, the Chiefs were down to 87 players on the preseason roster.
Fans are clamoring for some well-known players to be let go, but those cuts likely won’t happen before Tuesday. There are 37 players to go through, and some of those are simply camp bodies. After some abysmal performances during the preseason opener against the Chicago Bears, who could the Chiefs’ final couple of players waived or released before Tuesday’s deadline?