The Kansas City Chiefs are no strangers to late-season moves, but typically, general manager Brett Veach is used to retooling the roster for a hopefully deep postseason run. These days, he's tinkering with the active roster as much as ever, but the view is now with a rebound in 2026 in mind—that is, if he's not having to respond to injuries.
The transaction wire has remained quite active for K.C. in the last week or so as the team prepares for its final two home games. The latest round of moves was announced on the verge of hosting the Denver Broncos in the final game to be held at Arrowhead Stadium this season.
On Saturday, the Chiefs announced the signing of linebacker Cole Christiansen to the active roster off the practice squad. He will take the place of Nikko Remigio, who was placed on injured reserve. The Chiefs also made their pre-game elevations from the practice squad in the form of offensive tackle Matt Waletzko and wide receiver Jason Brownlee.
The Kansas City Chiefs announced several more roster moves ahead of their Christmas Day game against the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos' visit to Kansas City catches them at their worst. Not only is K.C. out of the postseason already, but its top two quarterbacks are also missing. To make matters worse, the Chiefs also placed cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton on injured reserve since their last game just four days ago.
Christiansen is no stranger to the elevator ride back and forth from the Chiefs' active roster to the practice squad and vice versa. After the L.A. Chargers waived him in 2022 before final rosters were due, the Chiefs signed him to their practice squad, and he's remained in orbit ever since. The loss of Leo Chenal to injured reserve opens a door for further depth at linebacker, and Christiansen was out of his three allowed elevations without a permanent roster spot.
Waletzko was recently signed after the Chiefs placed yet another offensive tackle on injured reserve. With the loss of Wanya Morris for the rest of the season, along with numerous other injuries up front, the Chiefs were forced to rely on their fifth and sixth offensive tackles to man the bookends: Esa Pole on the left side and Chu Godrick on the right. Both players made their professional debuts in the last month for the Chiefs.
Brownlee was a futures signing last winter who was hoping a change of scenery from the New York Jets to Kansas City would help him make the leap from preseason favorite. Once again, he looked like an impact performer in preseason games, and Veach decided to keep Brownlee as one of eight wideouts on the active roster to start the year. However, from there, Brownlee fell out of favor as other receivers got healthier and he was relegated back to the practice squad once again.
As for Remigio, the Chiefs' primary returner will now sit out the two final games of the season, which means an opening for Brashard Smith to make a greater impact on special teams. Wideout Tyquan Thornton is also out with a concussion, so there's little reason not to ask Smith to handle all return duties as a rookie to see what he can do with more reps.