The beginning of May brings rookie minicamp for the Kansas City Chiefs, and it's not only the 2025 additions whose jobs are on the line. Late-round picks from the 2024 and 2023 NFL Drafts could see their jobs disappear if this year's crop of rookies perform well enough.
One recent draft pick in particular who finds himself at risk of being replaced on the roster is B.J. Thompson.
B.J. Thompson at Risk of Losing Job During Chiefs Rookie Camp
Thompson was a fifth-round pick out of Stephen F. Austin in 2023, and he was barely able to see the field as a rookie, playing in just one game all season (Week 18, when the Chiefs were resting their starters anyway).
Of course, the biggest question mark surrounding him is his health after he suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest last offseason. Chiefs fans (and football fans across the league), first and foremost, are hoping for continued positive updates on Thompson's health and that he's able to make a full return to football. But the NFL is a business, and even if he is fully healthy, he may be playing somewhere else in 2025.
The Chiefs needed to add edge rusher depth this offseason, and they did just that by spending a third-round pick on Ashton Gilotte. It wasn't necessarily a unanimously popular pick, but it sent a clear message. The Chiefs aren't going to wait until after they potentially lose George Karalaftis or Mike Danna to try and fill gaps on the edge.
At the end of the day, even if Thompson had never faced his scary health issues, he'd be looking at potentially being replaced here. He was an older rookie (drafted at 24 years old) who couldn't make the active roster in his first year. That's a bad combination, and plenty of fifth-round picks have been let go at the end of just one season like that.
We all want to see Thompson have an impact in the NFL, but his best chance to do that will likely have to come with a different team.