Expect the Chiefs to make more roster moves on Wednesday – newsdubai

There is always a little bit of confusion at this point. For weeks you’ve been reading about the “final cut” to 53 players. It happened at 3:00 PM (Arrowhead Time) on Tuesday as the Kansas City Chiefs (and the rest of the NFL’s teams) made the moves to get their rosters to the season limit.

But it was really just that initial 53 man list. More actions are likely to be taken in the coming days.

Roster churn

Beginning at 11:00 (Arrowhead Time) on Wednesday, all the players who have been waived (that is, released from teams while having fewer than four accrued seasons of NFL service) can be claimed of other clubs.

Like every other team, the Chiefs have until then to file claims for these waived players. However, as they finished the 2021 season in the AFC Championship Game, they will be near the end of the streak; when more than one claim is filed for a player, his contract assigned to the demanding team with the worst record in the previous season.

Waived players who have not been claimed by other teams (that is, if they clear waivers) then become free agents who can sign with any team. They will then join well-acquired veterans (those with at least four earned seasons) who were released from NFL rosters on Tuesday. Teams have been free to sign these veteran players since their release, so we’ll likely hear about some veteran signings across the league before Wednesday’s waiver deadline.

But when a team acquires a new player with either a waiver claim or a free-agent signing, it will have to make room by giving up a player already on its 53-man roster. Some of these will be younger players who will be waived. Others will be older veterans who are being released. For them, the whole process will repeat itself.

Some roster spots may be opened with trades. Others open when players on the initial roster are moved to the team’s reserve/injured (injured reserve) list. Unlike players added to IR Before 53-man cut, those added after the cut are eligible to be returned to the active roster after their team has played at least four games.

We expect the Chiefs to make such a move immediately. That has been notified that Kansas City will add tight end Blake Bell to its reserve/injured list and then replace him with veteran linebacker Elijah Lee, who was released Tuesday.

It all adds up to a lot of roster moves between now and the first games of the season – and even more after the start of the season. An NFL roster is always subject to change.

Practice team

Also from 11 (Arrowhead Time) on Wednesday, NFL teams can begin assembling practice squads. According to rules that originate from the 2020 agreement (and have been changed several times – most recently in May), these practice squads can consist of up to 16 players. They can include as many as six veteran players with any amount of NFL experience.

These players can almost anything else that players on the active roster can: work out in the practice facility, attend team meetings, and participate in practices. But they can not appear in game unless they are raised to the active roster for a particular game (which requires no corresponding roster move) or signed to the active roster – which do requires a listed player to be removed. Under current rules, individual practice squad players may be elevated up to three times during the regular season. There are no limits on individual player heights in the postseason.

Click here for a complete overview of the rules for the training team.