The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of work to do with OTA’S basically done and wrapped up. The training camp and preseason games are coming in full swing very soon, which shows hope springs eternal for another season of NFL football.
Now during this time, the Chiefs players, as well as every other play in the NFL, are in a mandatory workout period where the coaches look at them before big-time training camp starts later on.
During this time, there are many roster cuts and some signings as well that teams make. Even though the Chiefs have a very strong roster at this point, some players might be cut, which will be a surprise to fans since they of course, can’t keep everybody coming into the start of the season or preseason.
Now here are the three players I think the Chiefs might look to cut to save roster room heading into training camp and preseason.
Chiefs OL Trey Smith (65), Darryl Williams (64), Wyatt Miller (72), Yasir Durant (79) and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (76) – Peter Aiken/Getty Images
Clyde Edwards-Helaire: RB #22:
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Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (25) -Norm Hall/Getty Images
Clyde Edwards Helaire looked to have a promising start to his career as a Chief. The start of his rookie year in 2020 was very productive until he got the injury bug that year which limited his production. Ever since then, that has been something he has struggled to get over. When he is healthy, he is a small and strong running back that can get through tacklers with his speed and trucking ability.
In his four seasons in the NFL, he has 11 career touchdowns and over 1000 rushing yards. I think he could be a surprise soter cut because of how stacked the Chiefs RB room already is and with how good some of their other players are, like Isiah Pacheco. That is the thing that could really put Helaire on the hot seat.
Blake Bell: TE #81:
Chiefs TE Blake Bell (81) – Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
A lot of the Chiefs player cuts will come more to the depth at position versus is the player good enough. I think the same applies to the Chiefs’ Tight End room which is very deep and full, like the running backs. I think the odd man out is Blake Bell because I think the Chiefs would want more of their younger backups to Kelce, like Jody Fortson or Noah Gray to get more time because of their youth and the speed they bring to the table for tight ends.
Bell, on the other hand, is productive as a backup, but he is a lot older, which could hurt his abilities more in some cases. I think it would be a surprise cut for the Chiefs fans because of how well he complimented star tight end Travis Kelce on plays with Mahomes.
Lucas Niang: OT #67:
Since coming out of the draft a few years ago, there have been high hopes for young offensive tackle Lucas Niang. His rookie year was delayed a year because of a big injury he had Even though he is healthy now and hasn’t gotten hurt since, he just hasn’t gotten the spot in the offensive line for the Chiefs that he and even some Chiefs fans thought he would get after their former star Mitchell Schwartz retired due to a career-ending back injury. The surprising part would be they would cut him but there could be other teams that might find him to be an attractive piece to their team because of his youth and potential.
Hope the Chiefs can continue their winning ways heading into 2023, but training camp is still important no matter how good a team thinks they are. One mental team mistake can alter preseason and regular season play at any moment. That is what is so amazing about the NFL and football in general.
