When it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs' tight end situation this season, most (if not all) of the conversation has been about Travis Kelce. The 10-time Pro Bowl TE's potential retirement has been a hot topic after passing his 36th birthday last month, and the rumor mill is now spinning even faster after Kelce gave fans a timeline of when a career decision could come earlier this week.
With all of the attention on Kelce, fellow Chiefs TE Jared Wiley has flown under the radar this season. Not in a good way, though, unfortunately. The second-year pro has yet to play a game this season, and that trend continues on Sunday when he was announced as one of Kansas City's inactives ahead of the Week 12 showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.
Chiefs' Jared Wiley Issue Grows with Week 12 Scratch
The Chiefs seemed confident that Wiley could be an early contributor when they drafted him 131st overall in 2024. The 6-foot-6, 249-pound pass-catcher was coming off back-to-back strong seasons at TCU, leaving fans hopeful that he could one day become Kelce's successor. Much to the fan base's dismay, though, those hopes have yet to translate into on-field results.
Since joining the Chiefs, Wiley has seen only one target in seven career games, with each appearance coming last year. His rookie campaign was cut short due to an ACL tear, but all signs pointed to a full recovery. Now the 2025 season is in its final stretch, and there's zero indication that he'll have a chance to show if he can bounce back, barring someone else getting hurt.
The Chiefs clearly lack faith in Wiley's ability to contribute this season, and those doubts are more obvious given the team's TE-related moves. Following the 2025 NFL draft, Kansas City signed undrafted free agent tight end Jake Bringingstool out of Clemson. He's been on injured reserve with a hamstring injury since August, so it'll be interesting to see if Bringingstool can knock Wiley down the pecking order once he returns.
There's also veteran TE Robert Tonyan, who was re-signed twice by the Chiefs this year — once in March, and again to the practice squad after his August release. He was promoted to the 53-man roster the next day.
Since then, Tonyan has played 99 offensive and 67 special teams snaps in 10 games as of Sunday morning. Even though he isn't a key part of the passing game (one target), it's obvious that head coach Andy Reid and his staff have more faith in the 31-year-old vet than they do in their recent fourth-rounder.
That's without even mentioning how Noah Gray is still in the mix, too. The former Duke Blue Devil is having a down year, sure, but that hasn't caused him to be a healthy scratch at any point. With that in mind, Wiley's path to playing time will continue to be tough as long as obstacles like Gray and Tonyan are in his way.
Time will tell if Wiley can do anything to get in the coaching staff's good graces, whether that's before the end of the regular season or beyond that. It's too early to call him a bust, but it might not be too soon to say he just doesn't fit in with the Chiefs. Either way, it'll be up to him to change the perception surrounding him as potential opportunities to step in continue to fade.