With the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 campaign now officially over, the organization announced their initial round of reserve/future signings on February 11.
KSHB 41 beat reporter Nick Jacobs shared them on X via the NFL transaction log. Per his post, ex-Chiefs backup kicker Matthew Wright signed with the Carolina Panthers and KC retained the following 11 practice squad players:
- Chris Oladokun, QB.
- Jason Brownlee, WR.
- Justyn Ross, WR.
- Tyquan Thornton, WR.
- Baylor Cupp, TE.
- Chukwuebuka Godrick, OT.
- Siaki Ika, DT.
- Fabien Lovett Sr., DT.
- Deon Bush, DB.
- Darius Rush, DB.
- Eric Scott Jr., DB.
As a reminder, reserve/future contracts are new deals that tie an NFL player to a team for the future. Although they don’t technically go into effect until the start of the new league year in March.
Their contract’s salary and their place on the roster also count towards the upcoming season, rather than the one that just ended. These players can no longer negotiate with other franchises or be poached by other teams — making their agreements slightly more ironclad than a practice squad contract.
Only practice squad players and unrestricted free agents (at the time of the season’s end date) can sign reserve/future contracts. Typically, these deals act as a sort of placeholder for a prospect or veteran who intends to try and push for the active roster during OTAs and training camp.
Chiefs’ Crop of Reserve/Future Signings Features Several Former Draft Picks Like WR Tyquan Thornton & DT Siaki Ika
This is a pretty strong group of reserve/future signings. Fans will likely recognize recent contributors like Ross and Bush, but there is a ton of untapped potential on this list as KC general manager Brett Veach continues to stockpile former draft picks from different organizations.
For example, Thornton was a second-round wide receiver of the New England Patriots known for his explosiveness and big play potential. The Chiefs were able to sign him onto the practice squad in mid-November, so he already has a head start on learning the playbook for the 2025 offseason program.
Similarly, Brownlee joins Thornton as a mid-to-late season WR acquisition that has flashed at the NFL level. The former New York Jets UDFA made a pro roster as a rookie but took a step backward in year two.
Then there’s Ika, a former 2023 third-round defensive tackle of the Cleveland Browns. Coming out of college, NFL Network draft expert Lance Zierlein scouted Ika as a “girthy interior force with heavy hands and a combative nature at the point of attack” that specializes as a run-clogger.
Rush and Scott are athletic fifth- and sixth-round cornerbacks that the Chiefs have claimed in recent years, respectively, and Cupp and Lovett are promising undrafted prospects that impressed during Kansas City’s most recent training camp.
Finally, you have two more veterans of the KC practice squad — Godrick and Oladokun.
The former is an international pathway prospect that the Chiefs have been developing at offensive tackle for several years. Godrick has shown some progress in recent seasons, but not enough to make the 53-man roster.
The latter is the Chiefs’ current QB3 and Patrick Mahomes understudy. If backup Carson Wentz leaves in free agency, expect Kansas City to bring in a new veteran signal-caller to compete with Oladokun in camp.
6 Chiefs Practice Squad Players Go Un-Signed
There were six Chiefs players that were on the practice squad to close out the season that have not been signed to reserve/future contracts at this time.
They were cornerback and former seventh-round pick Nic Jones, veteran cornerback Steven Nelson, linebacker/special teamer Cole Christiansen, running back Keaontay Ingram, veteran tight end Anthony Firkser and wide receiver/returner Montrell Washington.
To be clear, this does not mean Kansas City did not offer any of these players a futures deal, nor does it preclude them from re-signing at a later date. All it means is that for the time being, no contract was agreed upon by both parties.
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