The Kansas City Chiefs had to get their roster down to 53 players this week and one of the biggest surprises was that they kept eight WRs on the active roster.
While some fans believed that was too much, it wasn't an accident. During a media session, general manager talked about the reasoning for that roster choice. Veach revealed the team was informed by the NFL that WR Rashee Rice's six-game suspension would likely kick in at the start of the season, ahead of cut-down day.
"It wasn’t a surprise. It was communicated to us, and we were certainly made aware a few days prior to cut-down day that this was a better than a 50% shot that this would get resolved before the kickstart of the season.”
In a session with writers this morning, Chiefs GM Brett Veach detailed the reasoning behind his (temporary) 8-man wide receiver room: https://t.co/OX17ofdY6N
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) August 28, 2025
Chiefs Knew About Rashee Rice’s Suspension Before Cut Down Day
This tip was downright crucial for KC. It allowed the team to properly plan for Rice's absence, leading to eight receivers sticking around. Otherwise, guys that Andy Reid and co. like but would've been forced to cut based off of the numbers game, such as Jason Brownlee, were sure to hit waivers and possibly be scooped up by someone else.
The Chiefs are slated to miss one of their best pass catchers for six weeks. They also have several guys dealing with injuries. Rookie Jalen Royals has a knee injury that has kept him sidelined from practice the past couple of days. Meanwhile, Hollywood Brown has an ankle/foot injury that has been bothering him since late July.
That leaves Xavier Worthy, Nikko Remigio, Tyquan Thornton, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Brownlee as the five other healthy WRs. Just last season, they saw several WRs drop in bunches due to injury, and instead of having a lack of depth, they decided to have extra.
In regards to Rice, his initial hearing was going to be on Sept. 30, which would have allowed him to play the first four games of the season. Instead, he's going to return in mid-October, but the Chiefs seem to be confident in the depth options. Tight end Noah Gray has no doubts that everyone else will step up and produce.
Thornton and Brownlee were two names who specifically stood out and made plays this summer, so it was hard to move on from them. Rather than cutting one of these guys and having them go on waivers, KC went another route. They decided to release vets Robert Tonyan and Mike Edwards, who hit free agency immediately instead of being subject to waivers.
That allowed them to just sign back onto the Chiefs' practice squad while keeping the WRs they wanted without risking them being claimed. That was the smart approach, and you can see why they decided to go that route.