The Kansas City Chiefs have parted ways with a former top draft pick.
The Chiefs publicly released their final roster cuts about an hour after the deadline. Included in the list of players who have been waived was former 2018 second-round draft pick, DE Breeland Speaks.
Speaks hasn’t lived up to expectations since being drafted at No. 46 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. In his first season as a professional, he played out of position as a 3-4 outside linebacker in Bob Sutton’s scheme. He was a better scheme fit under Steve Spagnuolo, but he suffered a knee injury during the 2019 preseason that cost him the entire year.
You have to give Speaks some credit, though. He tried to flip the script on the early struggles of his career this offseason. He showed up to Chiefs training camp slimmed down and focused. This ultimately seemed to come down to a numbers game, with the Chiefs drafting Mike Danna, adding Taco Charlton and surprising by keeping Demone Harris, there was just no way to keep Speaks.
The good news is that if no one claims Speaks within the next 24 hours, the Chiefs can sign him to the practice squad and their draft investment won’t be lost. If he doesn’t return to Kansas City his career with the Chiefs will amount to four games started with 24 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, two fumbles recoveries and a forced fumble.
