![[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Sep 5, 2025; Sao Paulo, BRAZIL; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jason Brownlee (89) reaches for the ball against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Donte Jackson (26) during a NFL game at Corinthians Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jean Carniel/Reuters via Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_1573,y_856,w_3297,h_1854/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/220/01k7nh6s80y7wt87c7tv.jpg "[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Sep 5, 2025; Sao Paulo, BRAZIL; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jason Brownlee (89) reaches for the ball against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Donte Jackson (26) during a NFL game at Corinthians Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jean Carniel/Reuters via Imagn Images")
With Rashee Rice returning to action and Xavier Worthy healthy again, the Kansas City Chiefs have completed their transition from having a worryingly thin wide receiver room to having it be one of the deepest units on the roster.
To make room for the return of Rashee Rice, the Kansas City Chiefs had to make a difficult decision. The receiver position has quickly transitioned from a weakness to one of the deepest units on the roster. With so much talent in front him, cutting Jason Brownlee to make roster space for Rice was a no-brainer.
Jason Brownlee Still Has Breakout Potential With Re-Signing to Chiefs Practice Squad
It can be easy to forget that Tyquan Thornton was first a member of the Kansas City practice squad a season ago before making the final roster ahead of the 2025 season. That gave him some time to learn Andy Reid's complicated offense and build confidence within the system. Obviously, this isn't going to be the case for every practice squad receiver, but Thornton laid the blueprint that leaves Brownlee a level of hope of contributing in the future.
For Brownlee, it's no surprise that he's going to have to fight an uphill battle like this.
He was unable to register a single catch in limited reps, failing to deliver on any of the hype he built up over the preseason. Brownlee and Thornton were consistently grabbing attention for making plays and carving a path towards the final roster spot, but so far only one of them managed to keep it up in the regular season.
If we dig a little deeper, that shouldn't be much of a surprise though. Pro Football Focus grades aren't the be-all and end-all, but they do suggest that Brownlee's play hasn't actually fallen off that much — rather that the hype was more about highlight plays than consistent performance:
Season | Opponent | Grade |
|---|---|---|
Preseason | ARI | 55.7 |
Preseason | SEA | 52.2 |
Preseason | CHI | 60.5 |
Regular Season | LAC | 55.3 |
Regular Season | PHI | 54.7 |
Regular Season | NYG | 56.6 |
Things haven't worked out so far for Brownlee, and the cut was an obvious decision to make room for the exciting return of Rice. Finally, having the team's best playmaker back on the roster has heightened expectations that the early-season struggles are officially a thing of the past and the Chiefs are poised to go on a run over the next weeks of the season.
Ultimately, this is a season that Brownlee is unlikely to play a role in, with the receiver only joining the active roster if another injury pops up. There's no question that the Chiefs made the right decision, even as difficult as it was to cut the camp and preseason standout.