Jody Fortson's return offers little more for the Chiefs than a feel-good reunion

For a while, it looked as if the Jody Fortson era was over after a bit of reinvention at the tight end position for the Kansas City Chiefs. Three games into the '24 season, the team has decided to bring back Fortson for another run.

Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest broke the news on Thursday that the Chiefs had decided to re-sign Fortson and that he would be doing so via the practice squad.

In order to make room for Fortson, the team placed fellow tight end Baylor Cupp on the injured list for the practice squad. Cupp had won a spot on the practice squad in training camp over the likes of Gerrit Prince.

The Chiefs have brought back a familiar face to the practice squad in tight end Jody Fortson.

As for Fortson, he left in free agency near the start of a new league when the Miami Dolphins offered him a new deal. For Fortson, it was an exciting chance to play in South Florida for another inventive head coach like Mike McDaniel alongside an old friend (and others) in Tyreek Hill. Unfortunately for Fortson, he was let go shortly before active roster cuts were due.

While it'd be great to see Fortson create some meaningful moments with the Chiefs, the reality is that previous expectations have been unmet and it's hard to imagine anything productive happening now. Unless something terrible happens, even making room for Fortson on the active roster would be difficult with the sufficient presence of Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, and rookie Jared Wiley, who was drafted in the fourth round out of TCU.

Beyond those players, the Chiefs also traded for a blocking tight end in Peyton Hendershot who has a bit of potential upside himself. He came over in a preseason deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Hendershot is likely to ride a bit of a rollercoaster himself this season between the active roster and practice squad, depending on the week's game plan.

In addition, Fortson's age, injury history, and lack of opportunities when the position was less crowded all point to the signing being nothing more than depth and pageantry. Fortson missed all of last season on injured reserve with a shoulder issue, and he's caught a total of 14 passes in the NFL since entering the league in 2019.

The Chiefs have apparently been looking through old photo albums recently because they've been reuniting with more than just Fortson in recent days. Running back Kareem Hunt had a press conference on Wednesday for the first time since signing back with the team after a five-year absence.