Like clockwork, ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs rookie minicamp comes a wave of releases of players who signed reserve/future deals with the team.
According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs released veteran G Bryan Witzmann, TE Sean Culkin and waived QB Jordan Ta’amu. All three players signed to reserve/future deals with Kansas City at some point this offseason. Draft picks, free agents and undrafted free agents signings have since bumped those players from the 90-man offseason roster.
Witzmann signed to the practice squad during the course of the 2020 NFL season when the offensive line injuries began to mount for the Chiefs. He played in Kansas City from 2016-2017, appearing in 27 regular-season games. He started 13 games at left guard for the team in 2017 but was released shortly after the beginning of the 2018 NFL season. It’s no surprise that he’s been released after all of the investments the team made into the offensive line this offseason.
Ta’amu originally signed on with the Chiefs during the 2020 offseason after competing for the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks, throwing for 1,050 yards and five touchdowns. He spent some time on the practice squad last season, but was released in late October. He was eventually re-signed in January and promptly released before signing his reserve/future deal. Adding Anthony Gordon and Shane Buechele hurt any chances that Ta’amu had to stick with the team. He’ll need to clear waivers in order to sign with another team.
You can find out more about Culkin’s release here.
This is all pretty commonplace for the Chiefs to clear out a few reserve/future contracts to make way for signings of veteran free agents, undrafted free agents and rookie minicamp tryouts. Kansas City only needed one roster spot cleared for the 90-man roster, so expect some yet-to-be-reported signings in the coming days.
