Chiefs Waive Four Players Before Monday Practice
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All 32 NFL teams have to get their rosters down from 90 men to 85 by the league's 4:00 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday, and the Kansas City Chiefs are already getting to work a day early. Ahead of their first day back at training camp practice following the club's 19-14 preseason-opening loss to the Chicago Bears, Kansas City has waived four players.
Herbie Teope of The Kansas City Star originally had the list, which was confirmed via a tweet by the Chiefs' official account just a few minutes later:
The Chiefs' full list of those waived consists of wide receivers Omar Bayless and Gary Jennings, as well as offensive tackle Evin Ksiezarczyk and cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. The minor surprise of the group is Johnson, whom the team traded for back in May in exchange for a 2024 conditional seventh-round selection. Here's what I wrote about where Johnson could fit within Steve Spagnuolo's secondary picture at the time of the trade:
Johnson joins a Chiefs secondary that has undergone quite a bit of renovation this offseason. Not only has Chavarius Ward departed town via free agency, but so did the aforementioned Hughes. In the 2022 NFL Draft, Veach traded up in the first round for Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie and then added Cincinnati safety Bryant Cook, Fayetteville State cornerback Joshua Williams, Washington State cornerback Jaylen Watson and Marshall safety Nazeeh Johnson to the picture from Thursday-Saturday.
The Chiefs needed to make at least one move in order to officially roster nose tackle Danny Shelton, who was present at the team's training camp practice on Monday. The news of Shelton joining Kansas City came last week, and the veteran is on a one-year deal and is expected to compete for a roster spot during the preseason.
It remains to be seen if additional moves are coming on Monday, but these transactions undoubtedly move the Chiefs closer to the league-imposed 85-man total. By Tuesday, Aug. 23, teams must cut from 85 to 80 and then by the following Tuesday, that total has to get all the way down to the final 53.
