Chiefs Announce Full 53-Man Roster for Season With Roster Cuts
In the blink of an eye, the 2025 NFL roster cutdown deadline has officially passed. The Kansas City Chiefs and all 31 other clubs now know who will be on the depth chart heading into the upcoming season.
General manager Brett Veach and company have complied with the league’s 4:00 p.m. ET deadline. The roster is trimmed from 91 players to 53, setting the scene for an attempt to run the AFC again. You can view the full list here. Their list of roster moves can be viewed in full here.
Without further ado, here’s who the Chiefs are entering the 2025-26 campaign with.
Introducing the 2025 Chiefs Roster: OFFENSE
- QB (2): Patrick Mahomes, Gardner Minshew
No surprises. Mahomes is laser-focused on revenge this season, which is great news for Kansas City. Minshew, who signed during the offseason, may be the best backup the team has had since Mahomes himself in 2017-18.
- RB (4): Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell, Brashard Smith
With news breaking that 2024 undrafted free agent Carson Steele was waived, this is the group the Chiefs roll with. Pacheco is eyeing a rebound following an injury-shortened 2024 campaign, whereas Hunt should benefit from a lightened workload. Kansas City will monitor how much explosiveness the rest of the room provides.
- WR (8): Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Royals, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio, Jason Brownlee
For yet another year, Kansas City is rostering a ton of wideouts. How long Rice remains on the active roster before a pending suspension is worth watching. So is how Thornton adjusts after an excellent summer and how long Brown can stay healthy for.
- TE (3): Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Jared Wiley
Fresh off his engagement to Taylor Swift, Kelce is back for yet another season. His father, Ed, predicts a vintage effort. Elsewhere, Gray will look to build on a career year. Robert Tonyan narrowly misses the cut.
- OL (9): Josh Simmons, Kingsley Suamataia, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Jawaan Taylor, Jaylon Moore, Mike Caliendo, Hunter Nourzad, Wanya Morris
The Chiefs are all-in on Simmons, who is receiving praise from head coach Andy Reid. How Suamataia fares at a new position, left guard, is one of Kansas City’s biggest storylines. Having Moore as a swing tackle is a tremendous depth development.
DEFENSE
- DL (9): George Karlaftis, Chris Jones, Mike Danna, Charles Omenihu, Derrick Nnadi, Omarr Norman-Lott, Ashton Gillotte, Malik Herring, Jerry Tillery
Even after a season-ending injury to former first-rounder Felix Anudike-Uzomah, this remains an interesting group. Reuniting with Nnadi via trade is a classic Veach move. Elsewhere, Norman-Lott has nursed an ankle injury but is making progress.
- LB (6): Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, Leo Chenal, Jeffrey Bassa, Jack Cochrane, Cooper McDonald
The same reliable Bolton-Tranquill-Chenal trio will start in 2025-26. Bassa is an athletic freak as a rookie, and Cochrane is on his way back from injury. It was reported on Tuesday morning that McDonald, another first-year man, made it through roster cutdowns.
- CB (5): Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Kristian Fulton, Nohl Williams, Joshua Williams
Watson performed at an elite level last season before getting hurt. That version of him will need to show up this year. Fulton is the X-factor of this group. He made a late debut at training camp and was clearly still getting his legs under him in the preseason.
- S (4): Bryan Cook, Jaden Hicks, Chamarri Conner, Chris Roland-Wallace
With Deon Bush falling victim to an Achilles injury, the Chiefs’ safety depth was already tested. That was the case before news broke of Mike Edwards being on the chopping block. Now, Kansas City is relying on this group to weather the storm in 2025-26.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- K (1): Harrison Butker
- P (1): Matt Araiza
- LS (1): James Winchester
Butker missed four games last season due to injury, seeing his efficiency drop overall. Now healthy, he’s a bounce-back candidate. Araiza put up an inconsistent effort in year one with the Chiefs. He ranked 15th in EPA among punters, per Puntalytics. Winchester re-signed on a one-year, $1.65 million deal in the offseason.
