Fresh off of back-to-back Super Bowl wins, the Kansas City Chiefs will be a tough roster to crack for bottom-of-the-roster guys as well as players who may have "barely" been on the 53-man roster last year. Although the Chiefs have to make compromises every year just like every great team, they are obviously still extremely well-constructed in every phase.
Now that the NFL offseason is moving beyond the mandatory minicamp phase, it's time to start taking a look at players who might be under the microscope with the impression they (or their competition) have made thus far.
Which Kansas City Chiefs players could be on the chopping block after the team's mandatory minicamp? Let's take a look at a handful of names of players whose status is very much up in the air with training camp on deck.
6 Chiefs players on the chopping block after mandatory minicamp
1. Deneric Prince, running back
The Kansas City Chiefs have an ultra-athlete in running back Deneric Prince. One of the top jewels of the 2023 undrafted free agent heap, Prince has a unique combination of size, speed, and explosiveness. Despite his athletic traits, however, Prince was only active for a couple of games last year playing 15 special teams snaps.
There's a chance we could end up seeing Prince seize the RB3 job over the course of training camp, but the Chiefs brought in a couple of new undrafted players who will be competing with Prince for his job in Emani Bailey and Carson Steele. They also landed Louis Rees-Zammit, a rugby player by trade who could be a secret weapon in the kickoff return game.
Rees-Zammit's ability to make an impact as a returner could be Deneric Prince's undoing.
2. Lucas Niang, offensive tackle
Even though the Kansas City Chiefs are in a state of transition at the left tackle position, it doesn't feel like former third-round pick Lucas Niang has a great chance of ultimately making the final roster. At the very least, his spot is up for grabs.
The Chiefs made a bold move in the 2023 offseason to go after offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars. There was some initial thought that he could end up playing left tackle in Kansas City despite playing on the right side in Jacksonville, but the Chiefs ultimately decided against that. Taylor has stuck on his natural right side, and Kansas City has made adjustments on the left.
They used a third-round pick last year on Wanya Morris, who could be in line to replace departed starter and veteran Donovan Smith. He's going to have some tough competition in the form of Kinglsey Suamataia, one of the bigger steals of Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs landed Suamataia out of BYU in the second round and he could end up being a starter as a rookie for them. The current top three at the tackle position really leaves Niang's overall roster status up in the air moving forward.
3. Ekow Boye-Doe, cornerback
There could be snaps available at the cornerback position for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024. One of the tough decisions the Chiefs had to make this offseason in order to keep other guys around was to let cornerback L'Jarius Sneed shop his services around to other teams.
And the Tennessee Titans were willing to make a trade as well as give Sneed the contract he wanted.
The Chiefs have a superstar in the making with Trent McDuffie entrenched as their current CB1, but the rest of the rotation at the position could be up for grabs. One player vying for snaps could be 2023 undrafted free agent Ekow Boye-Doe, a former Kansas State player who wound up playing 84 special teams snaps last year along with 15 defensive snaps. He was active for seven total games last year including the playoffs.
His big-time speed gives him intriguing special teams upside going forward, but he's going to have to prove that he can also be an asset defensively if called upon. Right now, the Chiefs have a handful of recent draft picks slotted ahead of him on the projected depth chart. This could be a simple matter of the numbers game but guys who end up cracking the roster based on special teams undoubtedly start from scratch year over year.
Someone like Boye-Doe is going to need to maximize every single snap in the preseason and at training camp in order to separate himself from the pack at cornerback.
4. Isaiah Buggs, defensive line
While some of the players on this list are here because they could be in tough competition at certain position groups, Isaiah Buggs is a different story altogether. The Kansas City Chiefs have to be weighing whether or not Buggs is going to be worth keeping around with some off-filed issues lingering right now.
Buggs is facing misdemeanor animal cruelty charges (as of May 30) in a situation in which multiple dogs were found on his rented property. The dogs were abandoned, malnourished, and one needed to be euthanized. Buggs and his representation have denied that the dogs are even his, and he wasn't aware they were at his property.
On the football side of things, Buggs is a 27-year-old defensive lineman who is a former 6th-round draft pick out of Alabama. He has played for the Steelers and Lions in his career and had a really solid 10 QB hits with the Detroit Lions as recently as 2022. His production dipped in 2023 and the Chiefs added him back in January.
There's no doubt that Buggs can play, and perhaps even provide the Chiefs with an asset along the defensive line, but is there too much of a headache off the field along with bad PR for the reigning Super Bowl champions to keep him around?
The Chiefs brought most of the band back together on their defensive front this offseason. Buggs might have faced a difficult path to the 53-man roster anyway, but missing valuable time in the offseason for this kind of situation absolutely has him on the chopping block.
5. Cole Christiansen, linebacker
Some of the players who could be hurt the most by the NFL's new kickoff return rules are the linebackers who have made their hay on special teams. Of course, teams will always need athletic linebackers who can get down the field in a hurry and play that key role, but rosters are going to be shifting pretty dramatically starting this year.
Teams are going to need to prioritize kickoff returners. They are likely going to train up offensive linemen to take part in the kickoff return game which now will involve essentially a play from scrimmage. Bigger bodies are going to be needed and the construction of the 53-man roster is going to take on a new complexion.
Unfortunately, that could mean bad news for a player like Cole Christiansen, a linebacker who has been with the Chiefs for the last couple of seasons. Christiansen was active for three playoff games this past year and notched a pair of tackles, but he hasn't really been utilized heavily in the regular season.
Since 2022, Christiansen has appeared in just six games total with 41 total special teams snaps. So even when he is active, he's not out there a ton.
The Chiefs said goodbye to Willie Gay Jr. this offseason and the new starting linebacker group will include Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, and Leo Chenal. Christiansen is dealing with competition from guys like Jack Cochrane and Cam Jones along with a host of new undrafted rookies coming into the mix.
6. Cornell Powell, wide receiver
It's tough to be super critical of the way the Chiefs have built their roster in recent years, largely because -- how do you critique the team that's won back-to-back Super Bowls?
If there's one gripe I would have, it's that the Chiefs have not done the best job at identifying talent at the receiver position. They have made some crash-and-burn picks (and signings and trades) and have been able to overcome them (rather easily). One pick that has really not worked out as hoped or planned is the selection of Cornell Powell.
Powell was a 5th-round selection back in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Clemson, and although it's not the biggest deal that a 5th-round pick hasn't worked out, it's a little shocking that Powell is still around at this stage. He's been with the Chiefs for a handful of years and has only been active for a total of three games, all of which came in 2022.
It wouldn't be out of bounds to say that the Chiefs really value Powell as a practice player, but it seems like that's all he is for them at this point. There might legitimately be nine or 10 guys on the depth chart that offer more value than Powell right now, and even though there are issues going on with Rashee Rice, the Chiefs have enough depth elsewhere that it would take a monstrous preseason for Powell to stick around this coming season.
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