Our final Chiefs 53-man roster projection

The Kansas City Chiefs have finished their preseason with a 29-27 loss to the Chicago Bears. By 3 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) on Tuesday, they — and the rest of the NFL’s teams — must have their roster down to 53 players.

As always, we do our best to predict what the team will do — but it’s a fool’s erraad. There is almost no chance this will match the team’s first 53-man roster — and it is absolutely impossible to predict what will happen in the few days after that, when just-released players start being signed to new teams.

With those caveats in place… here we go.

Offense (25)

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Quarterbacks (2): Patrick Mahomes, Gardner Minshew

No surprise here. The league’s top quarterback will have his fourth backup in as many seasons. As always, it’s a veteran: the journeyman Minshew. We’ve liked what we’ve seen from Minshew in the preseason — and also from Chris Oladokun, who is likely to once again clear waivers and do what he does best: run Kansas City’s scout team as the third-string quarterback on the practice squad.

Running backs (4): Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Brashard Smith, Elijah Mitchell

Pacheco is a lock. During the offseason, we’ve often wondered if Hunt would prove to be too old — but he’s still looked good in the preseason. Mitchell, in contrast, hasn’t shown us very much, but has a veteran’s body of work. Then there’s Smith, who looks like the gadget player head coach Andy Reid’s Chiefs always manage to find. (But for what it’s worth, he might be the best one yet).

The odd man out appears to be Carson Steele. He had his moments during the 2024 preseason — and in a perfect world, Reid (and special teams coordinator Dave Toub) would probably like to keep him on the 53. But there are too many roster needs elsewhere — and Steele would probably clear waivers, allowing the team to keep him on the practice squad.

We can’t promise, however, that this will be the group that travels to Brazil in Week 1. It’s not hard to imagine that the Chiefs will find a recently-released running back to take Mitchell’s place.

Wide receivers (6): Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio

For most of the offseason, we’ve assumed that Rice would begin the season serving a suspension. But unless that situation is resolved in the next 48 hours, he’s going to be leading the wide receiver group. Worthy and Brown are locks behind him.

Some would let go of Smith-Schuster, but we won’t. We might never have predicted it during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s now the room’s steady, veteran hand. We think Kansas City will keep him.

Then the Chiefs have a difficult choice to make between Thornton, Remigio and rookie Jalen Royals. All can fill important roles. None would probably survive the waiver wire. So Kansas City chooses to put off that decision by placing Royals — who was held out of Friday’s game with a knee injury — on its Reserve/Injured list, identifying him as being eligible for a return designation. That allows the team to bring him back at any time after Game 4 — which might be about the time Rice begins serving his suspension.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs will hope Jason Brownlee clears waivers. They’d love to keep him on the practice squad.

Tight ends (4): Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Robert Tonyan, Jared Wiley

Kelce and Gray are, of course, locks. Wearing an NFL uniform for what might be his last season, Tonyan will be the third man. The team will need both Wiley and rookie UDFA Jake Briningstool for the coming post-Kelce evolution. Wiley probably wouldn’t clear waivers, but Briningstool can spend the season on the team’s Reserve/Injured list — or as it is sometimes known, the Redshirt/Injured list.

Offensive line (9): LT Josh Simmons, LG Kingsley Suamataia, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Jawaan Taylor, Jaylon Moore, Hunter Nourzad, Mike Caliendo, Wanya Morris

For better or worse, the team is beginning the season with Suamataia at left guard — and Taylor at right tackle. Rather than take either of those positions, Moore will serve as the Cam Erving Memorial Highly Paid Swing Tackle. He’ll be ready to step in if things go south on either side — and take over for Taylor in 2026. Morris becomes the other backup tackle, while Nourzad and Caliendo will be ready for the interior positions.

Defense (25)

Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Defensive tackles (4): Chris Jones, Omarr Norman-Lott, Mike Pennel, Jerry Tillery

Previously, we wondered if a player like Marlon Tuipulotu or Fabien Lovett might replace either Pennel or Tillery. But we see no evidence that this is on the horizon.

Defensive ends (5): George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu, Mike Danna, Ashton Gillotte, Malik Herring

We expect the team will not label Felix Anudike-Uzomah as eligible for a return designation from IR, confirming that his hamstring injury will make him miss the whole season. That’s terrible news for the former first-round pick, but excellent news for Herring. The undrafted free agent out of Georgia begins his fifth season in Kansas City.

Linebackers (6): Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, Leo Chenal, Jeff Bassa, Cam Jones, Cooper McDonald

Bolton, Tranquill and Chenal… then who? The team loves its shiny new rookie Bassa, so he’s making the team. Cam Jones is well-established on special teams. We believe the Chiefs won’t want to expose McDonald to the waiver wire, so they’ll do the same thing they did with the wide receivers: Jack Cochrane will go on short-term IR with his knee injury (he also didn’t play on Friday night) so McDonald can make the initial 53. When it’s time for Cochrane to come back, the team will re-evaluate the situation.

Cornerbacks (6): Trent McDuffie, Kristian Fulton, Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson, Chris Roland-Wallace, Nohl Williams

We’ve been worried about Fulton, but he played pretty well in the final preseason game. He will join McDuffie and Watson as the top corners. Spagnuolo still loves Johnson, Roland-Wallace hangs on to his 2024 roster spot and the rookie Nohl Williams climbs aboard.

That leaves Joshua Williams on the outside looking in. Will he be cut on Tuesday, or will the Chiefs be able to trade him away this weekend?

Safeties (4): Bryan Cook, Jaden Hicks, Chamarri Conner, Mike Edwards

This group has been set ever since March. It remains so.

Specialists (3)

Placekicker Harrison Butker, punter Matt Araiza and long-snapper James Winchester

We were afraid we’d have to learn how to pronounce punter Eddie Czaplicki’s name, but Araiza stood up to the competition and held on to his job. There was never any doubt that Butker and Winchester would be back.

Under contract, not counted on active roster (8)

DE BJ Thompson

Reserve/Injured list:

DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, WR Jalen Royals, LB Jack Coachrane, S Deon Bush, RB Keaontay Ingram, DE Janarius Robinson, CB Eric Scott

Chiefs’ roster history

Here’s a look at how the team’s 53-man rosters have been constructed since 2013.

Chiefs Roster History by Year – Offense

Chiefs Roster History by Year – Defense

*Eric Berry had a roster exemption at the 53-man roster cutdown in 2016 and was included in most cutdown listings.

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