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Chiefs Roster Cuts Tracker 2024: Keeping tabs on all of the moves to get to 53

By Charles Goldman,

8 hours ago

The 2024 NFL preseason is officially over.

The Kansas City Chiefs brass will soon turn their attention to assembling the 53-man roster and 16-man practice squad. Deliberations among the coaching staff and front office are already underway. Brett Veach and Andy Reid have some difficult decisions ahead of the 53-man deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Below you'll find everything you need to know about roster cuts ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

2024 NFL roster cuts important details:

Unlike the past few years, the NFL has reverted from gradual roster cuts throughout the preseason to a single deadline. Rosters must be reduced to 53 players virtually all at once. The team has several different transactions they can use to make that happen. Here are the terms you need to familiarize yourself with:

Released: When a vested veteran (those who have accrued four seasons in the NFL) is cut from a team. These players are not required to pass through waivers and can immediately become unrestricted free agents. Sometimes that means they'll sign with another team. Other times, teams can release these veterans and re-sign them after they've placed other players on injured reserve.
Waived: Players who have not accrued four seasons in the NFL are waived instead of being released. 31 NFL teams will have a chance to claim waived players on their 53-man roster by 11:00 a.m. CT on August 28. If players are not claimed on waivers, they become unrestricted free agents. Waiver priority this time of year is determined by team records from the previous season. The team with the worst record will get the top waiver priority, in this case, the C arolina Panthers. The Chiefs will have the lowest waiver priority as Super Bowl LVIII champions.
Waived/injured: If these players clear waivers they will revert to the Chiefs’ injured reserve list. They can opt to spend the season with Kansas City on IR or reach an injury settlement with the team, which will pay them for the number of weeks they'll miss with injury and make them an unrestricted free agent. Players who opt for the latter route can rejoin the team later in the season after they're healthy.
Injured reserve: Up until this year, a player had to make the initial 53-man roster to be placed on IR and be eligible to return later in the season. Now, up to two players can be placed on IR on the day of final cuts (Tuesday) and be designated to return. Teams still have the option to carry injured players on the 53-man roster and some good reasons to do so. First, if a player is placed on IR, he is forced to miss at least four games. Second, if a player makes the initial 53 and is placed on IR on the following day, there are eight designations to return from IR — and another two for playoff teams.

Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list: Players on the Active/PUP list can be placed on the Reserve/PUP list in a move to get the roster down to 53 players. Players who are moved to the Reserve/PUP list do not count against the 53-man roster. They can attend team meetings, and use team facilities for rehab, but are not allowed to practice for four weeks. After four weeks, another 21-day window opens up, where the player can practice and be activated. If they’re not activated in those 21 days, they must be placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
Reserve/Non-football injury/illness (NFI) lists : Players placed on either Reserve/NFI lists have to go through the same process as players on the Reserve/PUP list. They do not count toward the 53-man roster. They can go to team meetings and use facilities for rehab, but they’re not allowed to participate in practice for four weeks. After that, a four-week period opens where they can return to practice and the team can choose to activate the player. If the player isn’t activated at the end of the second four-week period, they’ll remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season. The big difference between the NFI and PUP lists is that teams can withhold a portion of a player’s salary if they’re placed on the NFI lists.
Reserve/Suspended list: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Suspended list have to serve out an NFL suspension. Players on this list do not count toward 53-man roster limits and are not paid their base salary. The latest indication from the Chiefs and the NFL is that Rashee Rice will not be suspended to start the 2024 NFL season .
Reserve/Did Not Report list: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list have left their team. The Chiefs could have used this list on Chris Jones last season when he sat out Week 1, but they opted against it. It's unlikely that any players will be placed on this list this season.
Reserve/Retired list: Players who are placed on this list have retired from the NFL. This is a pretty rare transaction that you typically wouldn't see in a move to get to 53 players.

Chiefs' key position battles:

The main position battle for the Chiefs was decided early on in training camp and solidified in preseason Week 1 . Rookie LT Kingsley Suamataia has had the majority of the snaps over second-year OT Wanya Morris during camp and the preseason. The team still has some things to figure out in the running back and the cornerback rooms, but they ultimately might take a committee approach behind Isiah Pacheco and Trent McDuffie.

Players Chiefs' on the roster bubble:

I've counted 46 players who are on the roster bubble and at risk of not making the 53-man roster. This could be for a variety of reasons, be it performance, availability, and so on.

QB Chris Oladokun
QB Ian Book
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
RB Deneric Prince
RB Keaontay Ingram
RB Emani Bailey
RB Louis Rees-Zammit
TE Irv Smith Jr.
TE Baylor Cupp
TE Geor'Quaris Spivey
WR Mecole Hardman
WR Nikko Remigio
WR Justyn Ross
WR Kadarius Toney
WR Cornell Powell
WR Montrell Washington
WR Phillip Brooks
WR Kyle Sheets
OL Lucas Niang
OL Jason 'Chu' Godrick
OL Ethan Driskell
OL Nick Torres
OL Griffin McDowell
OL C.J. Hanson
DT Derrick Nnadi
DT Matt Dickerson
DT Fabien Lovett
DT Neil Farrell Jr.
DT Alex Gubner
DE Truman Jones
DE Owen Carney
LB Cam Jones
LB Cole Christiansen
LB Swayze Bozeman
LB Curtis Jacobs
CB Keith Taylor
CB Kelvin Joseph
CB Nic Jones
CB Ekow Boye-Doe
CB Kamal Hadden
CB Miles Battle
CB DJ Miller
S Deon Bush
S Christian Roland-Wallace
S Tyree Gillespie
LS Randen Plattner

NFL practice squad rules:

After the claiming period has ended at 11:00 AM CT on Wednesday, Aug. 28, teams are permitted to assemble their 16-man practice squads. Here are the rules on who can be signed to the practice squad.

Players who do not have an accrued season (I.E. rookies).
Players who were on the active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s).
Up to four players per team with no more than two accrued seasons.
Up to six players per team with no accrued season limitations (I.E. vested veterans).

Additionally, the Chiefs are allotted an exempt practice squad spot in 2024 because of the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) program. Should OT Jason "Chu" Godrick clear waivers, Kansas City can keep him in that exempt spot on the practice squad. It's unclear if RB Louis Rees-Zammit is eligible as he was not allocated through the IPP and was signed as a free agent.

Players Chiefs placed on injured reserve:

The Chiefs have two players, OL McKade Mettauer and WR Jaaron Hayek, on injured reserve. Mettauer was placed on IR after suffering an MCL tear in preseason Week 1. The injury did not require surgery. Hayek suffered a shoulder injury during training camp that kept him out for roughly half of the practice sessions. Both players were waived with an injury designation, which saw them revert to injured reserve. Hayek has already been waived from IR with an injury settlement. Mettauer could be waived from IR with an injury settlement in the coming days.

Players Chiefs placed on PUP/NFI lists:

The following players are on the active versions of the above lists. That means they count toward the 90-man offseason roster. They can be placed on the reserve versions of the lists during roster cuts.

DL Charles Omenihu is on the PUP list due to a torn ACL suffered in the AFC Championship Game .
DE BJ Thompson is on the Non-Football Illness list after going into cardiac arrest following a seizure during a team meeting in OTAs .

Chiefs trades:

Brett Veach hasn't made any trades. . . yet. He has a long history of making trades ahead of or during roster cuts . Last season, he traded for Raiders DT Neil Farrell Jr. during the Chris Jones holdout drama. He also traded away WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette .

Here's what Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi had to say about pre-roster cut trades:

"Yeah, so, you know, our pro department now is watching all 31 other teams and making phone calls and seeing what their needs are with their surpluses. And that's kind of how that works. You try to find a match, and sometimes it's toward the end of the season, if we have a surplus somewhere. And, you know, we made the trade with with Carolina last year doing that."

In some cases, the Chiefs have already been in contact with teams for months about a surplus of players they have at a specific position. That appears to have been the case with Ihmir Smith-Marsette and the Panthers.

Chiefs’ 2024 roster cuts: 90*

*The Chiefs technically had 91 players on the offseason roster with international OT Jason 'Chu' Godrick getting a roster exemption .