If the Chiefs decide that they're still interested in looking closer at a former project along the defensive interior, it's possible that Brodric Martin could boomerang back to Kansas City.
Martin's most recent employer, the Las Vegas Raiders, placed him on waivers over the weekend and he cleared them, which means he reverted back to the team's injured reserve since his release came with an injury designation. Such players are typically then outright released with a settlement, which would allow any team to sign him as an unrestricted free agent.
The Chiefs have already taken that journey once.
Kansas City signed Martin to the practice squad after active roster cuts were due across the league, and the Detroit Lions couldn't find room for him. He lasted nearly two months before the Pittsburgh Steelers poached him in November, but that didn't last all that long either—with 10 snaps in a single game—before the team waived him a month later. That's where the Raiders came in.
After claiming him off of waivers, the Raiders kept Martin on the bench for the rest of the 2025 campaign but brought him back for a longer offseason look this spring. But free agency and the draft have reshaped the roster considerably, and now Martin looks like a man on the ropes—otherwise known as injured reserve after clearing waivers.
If the Chiefs feel like they never got enough time with Martin as a long-term project, he'll soon be free for a return campaign. That said, the team never gave him (or another low-risk flyer in Zacch Pickens) any playing time for a defensive tackle position that was desperate for any sort of meaningful contribution. Instead, the Chiefs rolled with limited veterans like Derrick Nnadi for rotational snaps.
It will be much more difficult now for Martin or any other developmental tackle to try to carve out space for a Chiefs' defensive front that is significantly better and deeper than it has been in years. Chirs Jones is still Chris Jones. Khyiris Tonga was signed away from the New England Patriots on a three-year deal in free agency. Peter Woods is the new first-round investment up front, and Omarr Norman-Lott, last year's second-round pick, will return from a season-ending injury.
Martin has convinced several teams to take on the project already, as a former third-round pick in 2023, but the sentiment at the time was that Detroit stretched to make the pick. So far, that's exactly how things have played out after trying to make things work with four franchises. Basically, if the Chiefs exhibit any interest in bringing Martin back, it will be for the same spot he occupied a year ago—for some depth on the practice squad and nothing more.
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