KC Chiefs roster will continue to change before Week 1

If creating an active roster were a recipe for a general manager to follow, the final stage would include a line that reads "needs time to settle."

The truth to roster-building is that while the vital elements are largely in place and the skeleton of the roster that will form the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs has been formed, the roster as we currently know it also needs some time to settle into a competitive form. There are still some important steps between now and Week 1.

General manager Brett Veach and the front office have been very busy this week making final decisions on a number of players involved in key roster battles. Wide receiver will carry more players than ever in Andy Reid's tenure. Running back, cornerback, safety, and quarterback had intense competitions for few spots. The trenches are always a tough call for any team.

The current active roster you see for the Chiefs will be a bit different from the roster that will host the Lions in Week 1.

But again, the process is not yet finished. It's important to remember that the front office is likely still getting very little sleep as they continue to pore over potential additions recently set free by other teams.

While the deadline for teams to make roster cuts was on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. E.T., it was only the start of a few processes that continue through Wednesday. At 12:00 pm. E.T., the Chiefs and every other team must submit all waiver claims on young players who were forced to go through the league's waiver process after being released on Tuesday. The vast majority of players will go unclaimed, but there are always some prospects who find new homes very quickly.

For the Chiefs, Veach and co. will hope to get lucky on any waiver claims considering they are last in the order—the consequences of winning the Super Bowl. The Chicago Bears are first in line and automatically get anyone they want who was released the previous day (unless they were a veteran and became a free agent instead). But that could play into the Chiefs hands. Remember Chicago GM Ryan Poles is a former Chiefs exec and perhaps Veach could ask Poles to claim a player and then work out a low-level trade.

Following the waiver claims, teams will be notified of every player who was claimed and from there can begin to form their practice squads by inviting back previously released players of their own or from other teams. Veterans can also be re-signed to the practice squad per league rules—up to 16 players. Six of those slots are now allowed to be veterans. (Vets were also made free agents as of their release on Tuesday and thus can sign anytime—even before these deadlines—to a team's practice squad.)

From there, the Chiefs also have the wrinkle of figuring out what to do in Chris Jones's absence and/or shifting resources around if they somehow come to a long-term agreement with him. For example, if they signed a contract, then resources would likely be freed up to potentially add a veteran edge like Carlos Dunlap—just as an example.

Essentially, the Chiefs roster is largely in place, but as you can see, there's still quite a bit of shifting to go. Fringe roster spots could turn over and an entire practice squad will also take form. Give it time to settle and you'll see a finalized active roster soon enough—inasmuch as any team has a "final roster."