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It’s roster-cutdown day in the NFL, the busiest day for transactions each year on the league calendar.
What does that mean for the Kansas City Chiefs? Well, it means the team will have to jettison nearly 40 players to get down to their initial 53-man roster ahead of the regular season.
ANALYSIS | Nick Jacobs projects Chiefs' initial 53-man roster
ANALYSIS | Tod Palmer projects Chiefs' initial 53-man roster
The deadline for trimming the roster from 91 to 53 is 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Here’s what we know:
5:20 p.m. | Kansas City kept defensive tackle Matt Dickerson and opted to hang on to both veteran backup offensive tackles, Prince Tega Wanogho and Lucas Niang, along with third-round pick Wanya Morris.
Guard Mike Caliendo also made the cut in place of Darian Kinnard, while the Chiefs opted to keep linebacker Cam Jones instead of an extra defensive back.
4 p.m. | Veteran defensive tackle Chris Jones officially was moved to the reserve/did not report list as Kansas City trimmed its roster to 53 on Tuesday ahead of the NFL deadline.
In the end, the Chiefs didn’t keep La’Mical Perine or Deneric Prince.
Waiving both running backs, two of the team’s four quarterbacks, and offensive guard Darian Kinnard were among the bigger surprises among the decisions general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid made in assembling the roster for a run at the first Super Bowl repeat in 19 years.
Waiving Perine and Prince leaves Kansas City with three running backs — Isaiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire — and no fullbacks. It also clearly signals that the Chiefs have little ongoing concern about Pacheco’s health.
Kansas City released four vested veterans — tight end Kendall Blanton, safety Deon Bush, center Austin Reiter and defensive tackle Danny Shelton — who immediately will become free agents.
Blanton is a Blue Springs South graduate and former star at Mizzou.
The Chiefs waived quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Chris Oladokun; running backs Perine, Prince and Jerrion Ealy; tight ends Matt Bushman and Izaiah Gathings; wide receivers Ty Fryfogle, Juwan Green, Cornell Powell and Ty Scott; offensive linemen Jason Godrick, Sebastian Gutierrez and Anderson Hardy; cornerbacks Dicaprio Bootle, Ekow Boye-Doe, Kahlef Hailassie, Lamar Jackson, Duron Lowe, Isaiah Norman and Reese Taylor; linebacker Cole Christiansen; safety Anthony Cook; and defensive linemen Phil Hoskins, Truman Jones, Joshua Kaindoh, Chris Williams and Daniel Wise.
Three other players — guard Jerome Carvin, linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi and wide receiver Nikko Remigio — were waived with an injury designation.
2:30 p.m. | In a surprise move, the Chiefs have cut quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Chris Oladokun, according to Houston NFL reporter Aaron Wilson.
After his usage in the last two preseason games, there was speculation that Buechele may have surpassed Blaine Gabbert on the depth chart, but his release Tuesday suggests that was never the case.
Both could be candidates to return to the practice squad, but a QB-hungry team also could snatch Buechele on the waiver wire.
12:55 p.m. | The Chiefs reportedly plan to release two defensive veterans — safety Deon Bush and defensive tackle Danny Shelton.
Chiefs released safety Deon Bush and DL Danny Shelton.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2023
Both players were in their second season with Kansas City.
Bush, who is entering his eighth season, was a core special-teams player. He finished with 11 tackles in his first season with the Chiefs last year after six seasons in Chicago.
Shelton, a former first-round pick, spent most of last season on Kansas City’s practice squad, appearing in only one game.
His contract includes no guaranteed money, so releasing Shelton could be a precursor to another roster move.
As vested veterans, both players will become free agents at 4 p.m. CT and can sign with any other NFL team.
12:50 p.m. | Looking for a reason to be optimistic about the Kansas City Chiefs’ negotiations with Chris Jones? Well, look away.
The Chiefs sent a sixth-round pick to Las Vegas in exchange for defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. a little more than three hours before the NFL-imposed deadline for teams to trim rosters to 53 players, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
6:15 a.m. | The player who had the best preseason for the Chiefs yet still was unlikely to make the roster, wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, has been traded.
Kansas City reportedly traded Smith-Marsette, the former Iowa star and Minnesota Vikings draft pick, to Carolina in a swap of conditional seventh-round picks in 2025.
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