If actions speak louder than words, then all we need to understand what a team thinks of a particular roster battle or player's stock is to watch the transaction wire. For the Kansas City Chiefs and every other NFL franchise, the deadline to scale down rosters to only 53 players—down from 90—came and went on Tuesday afternoon and it told us quite a bit about what the Chiefs learned in the preseason.
While the hype of Chiefs Kingdom matched the team's internal thoughts on some players, some other roster decisions by general manager Brett Veach and his staff took us by surprise. Then we also saw a couple of trades that surprised us in good ways and we approved of both.
The Chiefs and other teams will still make plenty of moves this week as they adjust the roster for injuries, waiver claims, and further trades. That means you shouldn't make any major judgments just yet. But we might have to wait until next week to see how the roster shakes out. Either way, here are some of the things we learned on Tuesday from watching the Chiefs roster cuts.
Justyn Ross clears next hurdle
For the first time since Andy Reid arrived in Kansas City, the Chiefs are going with seven wide receivers on the active roster. And that means Justyn Ross has officially gone from undrafted player to active wide receiver for the Chiefs.
At this point, Ross is the bigger winner than the Chiefs at this stage because a team cannot keep seven WRs active on a game day, so it remains to be seen how much of Ross we will see in a game or not. Or perhaps others on the depth chart will sit instead of Ross, but suffice it to say, we're not sure just yet how much we'll be talking about Ross's production in 2023. For now, however, Ross has cleared yet another hurdle and it speaks to his talent and dedication that he got here.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette finds well-deserved home
While it doesn't feel good to see Ihmir Smith-Marsette traded away to another team after watching him come up big in the preseason, it's nice to at least see him rewarded with a real opportunity to make an impact on someone's active roster.
The Chiefs shipped Smith-Marsette to the Panthers for a song, but they were going to cut him anyway and knew they'd lose him on the waiver wire. This way they recoup at least something (a conditional swap of 7th round picks in 2025), while Smith-Marsette gets a very real chance to find chemistry within a young offense led by first-overall selection Bryce Young.
For those who are a bit too sad at his departure, just remember that names like Cody Thompson or Daurice Fountain once made you feel the same way. And to Smith-Marsette, we say the best of luck to you as you find your footing in the NFC.
Chiefs D-line adds much-needed depth
Absolutely nothing will significantly help this defensive line until Chris Jones decides to return from his lengthy holdout. If the Chiefs want to solidify the front line, coming to terms with Jones is the one move they need to make. But on Tuesday, they were able to move the needle forward just a bit and that's helpful for a unit this needy.
The Chiefs' defensive line is in shambles along the interior. Jones has been holding out now for months, and it also doesn't help matters that Charles Omenihu is suspended for nearly the first half of the season either. And then there's Turk Wharton who can only practice in stretches as he attempts to return from a torn ACL suffered last October.
As the Chiefs enter the regular season, they've got to suit up with what they have and before trading for Neil Farrell, the Chiefs were looking abysmal up front. Farrell doesn't do anything to replace Jones, but he does offer a boost in the ceiling next to Jones. He was a fourth-round pick a year ago for the Raiders who will now give the Chiefs three more cost-controlled seasons as a big-bodied anchor who should improve the team's run defense immediately.
When you think about what a year under Steve Spagnuolo and Joe Cullen might do for him, Farrell could make a leap forward that no one saw coming. At the very least, it's a risk worth taking at a position of need for a very fair price.
Emptying the backfield
For all of the buzz created by Deneric Prince in the first half of the Chiefs preseason and the production displayed by La'Mical Perine in the second half, you'd think the Chiefs would have looked for ways to keep one or both when making their final roster decisions on Tuesday. Alas, that was not the case.
On Tuesday afternoon, we learned the Chiefs had decided to waive both Prince and Perine, and while it's possible that the Chiefs will bring one or both back via the practice squad, it's a bit surprising the team is going so lean in the backfield.
It's possible that the Chiefs weren't too enamored with either and that other talents hitting the waiver wire or free agency will be more desirable as part of the official 53-man roster going forward. Perhaps neither player looked too ready yet. But with Isiah Pacheco coming off of a couple of surgeries and with very little reps in the preseason, it's interesting the Chiefs are only keeping three backs for now.
QB backup is mixed up
We're not exactly sure what to make of things at backup quarterback, if we're honest. That's because the Chiefs decided to waive both Shane Buechele and Chris Oladokun before the deadline.
While Oladokun feels like a safe bet to clear waivers and make it back onto the Chiefs' practice squad, should they choose to bring him back, the potential of losing Buechele to a waiver claim from any other team in the NFL feels like a very real possibility. Remember, Buechele was already claimed from the practice squad back in 2021 by the Arizona Cardinals, which forced the Chiefs to keep him on the active roster.
If a team likes a player enought to stash him on the active roster as a healthy scratch for a year-and-a-half, then it seems reasonable that they would continue to carry him after he put up a very impressive preseason. Yes, Buechele did throw two interceptions on Saturday in the final preseason game, but only one was really his fault and one errant throw in the preseason should not undermine some inspired play in multiple games.
Are the Chiefs really rolling with only Blaine Gabbert behind Patrick Mahomes? It sure looks that way.
Some vets are only temporarily gone
It should be noted on a day like today that every NFL team has to make some moves simply for the sake of maneuvering around the NFL's rules. And that means the short-term view doesn't match the long-term reality.
For an example, let's take an injured player like Nic Jones. The rookie corner has been sitting in practice due to fractured fingers suffered in the team's first preseason game. There's no way of knowing if he's ready to return or not, but if the Chiefs wanted to sit him on injured reserve, they have a choice to make at this time. If they place him on IR before roster cuts, then he cannot come back this year (e.g. Jody Fortson or Nazeeh Johnson). If they place him on IR after roster cuts, then he has to occupy a spot on the active roster before heading to IR with that designation.
If that seems silly, it is, but such is life. So that means teams can "cut" a player in order to make room for an injured one, only to then bring that player back once the injured guy is on IR (and no longer taking up that roster spot). The problem is that the player cut has to be a veteran or else the Chiefs could lose the temporarily released player to another team's waiver claim. Remember that vets who are cut are instantly free agents and can sign (or refuse to sign) with any team at any time.
So when you see that safety Deon Bush or defensive lineman Danny Shelton has been released, remember that some of moves will be undone by the following day. In those cases, we'll have to wait and see who was really let go and who was just part of some deadline manipulation.