The Chiefs are done with the 2026 preseason, and now the real sorting begins. By Sunday’s 5 p.m. Central Time deadline, Kansas City has to get down to 53 players, and this is the latest projection for how that first roster could look.
One notable wrinkle: the Chiefs are projected to keep three quarterbacks on the initial roster for the first time since 2022. Patrick Mahomes remains the starter, Justin Fields is locked in as the backup, and rookie Garrett Nussmeier gets carried as the seventh-round pick.
Nussmeier’s preseason finale gave the staff one more look, as he played all four quarters Friday night and finished 22 of 34 for 198 yards with an interception. The idea here is simple - stash him now, develop him later, and see if he can push for Mahomes’ backup job in 2027.
The backfield has also taken shape. Kenneth Walker leads the group, followed by Emmett Johnson, Emari Demercado and Brashard Smith.
Johnson made a real impression this summer and looked like a useful early-down option behind Walker, piling up 26 carries for 123 yards, a 4.7-yard average. Demercado looks set to open the year as the passing-down back, while Smith fits as a gadget option and kick returner.
At receiver, the Chiefs are projected to keep seven: Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton, Cyrus Allen, Jalen Royals, Nikko Remigio and Andrew Armstrong. Rice and Worthy got their first preseason action Friday night on the opening two series, just enough to shake off the rust.
Thornton is back to stretch the field, Allen emerged as one of the summer’s surprises, and Royals had a solid preseason with hopes of a Year 2 jump. Remigio remains Dave Toub’s most trusted return man, and Armstrong helped himself by leading the team with five catches for 54 yards in the preseason finale.
That performance apparently drew enough attention that Kansas City may decide not to expose him to waivers.
Tight end stays a three-man group in this projection: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray and Jared Wiley. Kelce is heading into Year 14 and still looks like a major piece of the offense.
The bigger question is whether the Chiefs keep a fourth tight end. Jake Briningstool has plenty of support, but with an extra quarterback and Armstrong making the cut, there may simply not be room.
If he gets waived, he looks like a strong practice-squad candidate.
Up front, the projected line has Josh Simmons at left tackle, Kingsley Suamataia at left guard, Creed Humphrey at center, Trey Smith at right guard and Jaylon Moore at right tackle. The depth group includes Kahlil Benson, Esa Pole, Hunter Nourzad and Josh Ezeudu, while Mike Caliendo is out of the projection.
Moore’s move to right tackle comes after Simmons dealt with a back injury and Benson’s uneven night in Tampa. Andy Reid said after Friday’s game that he was still optimistic about Simmons returning to practice, but if Simmons is ready for Week 1, Moore’s experience could still make him the choice on the right side.
The trade for Ezeudu from the New York Giants signaled the Chiefs wanted more interior help, and that puts Caliendo in a difficult spot after 42 games over the past three seasons.
On defense, the line projection includes George Karlaftis, Chris Jones, Khyiris Tonga, Ashton Gillotte, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Peter Woods, R Mason Thomas, Emmanuel Ogbah and Tyreke Smith. Omarr Norman-Lott is not on the active group because he remains on PUP.
Steve Spagnuolo and Joe Cullen like to shuffle bodies across the front, which could allow Kansas City to carry only three true defensive tackles. Marcus Harris still has a path, especially after a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks in which he had three tackles for loss.
Tyreke Smith had a strong month, but his hamstring injury may open the door wider for Harris. Ogbah brings 10 years of experience and a Super Bowl LIV ring to a young room.
Linebacker stays unchanged with Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, Jeff Bassa, Jack Cochrane and Cooper McDonald. That group still feels like a spot where the Chiefs could look at the waiver wire, especially with Leo Chenal’s snaps still unsettled. Even after camp and preseason, the answer there is not clear.
The secondary projection includes Mansoor Delane, Nohl Williams, L’Jarius Sneed, Chris Roland-Wallace, Kristian Fulton and Jadon Canady at corner, plus Chamarri Conner, Alohi Gilman, Jaden Hicks and Xavier Nwankpa at safety. Sneed was back on the field in a Chiefs uniform at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday night for the first time since 2023, and that short appearance may have hinted at his role as the starting nickel corner if he stays healthy.
Roland-Wallace gives Spagnuolo another flexible option because he can also play safety. Melvin Smith had at times been ahead of Kristian Fulton this summer, but Smith left Friday night’s game early with an injury and Fulton responded well, including a pass breakup in the end zone.
Fulton also carries an $8 million salary. Roland-Wallace’s versatility could make things tricky for Xavier Nwankwa, though the Chiefs may still prefer to keep him rather than risk losing him on waivers.
There was no competition at specialist spots, with Harrison Butker handling kicking, Matt Araiza punting and James Winchester snapping.
The only player projected to start the year on PUP is Omarr Norman-Lott, who has not practiced yet. If he opens the season there, he would be out for at least four games and would ideally line up for a Week 6 return after Kansas City’s bye.
In Other News...
Chiefs Got An Early Answer On Garrett Nussmeier Under Pressure
In the Chiefs final preseason game, Garrett Nussmeier was the only quarterback to take snaps, and he gave Kansas City a full look at how he handled the heat of a game where the roster was pared down and the action was his to manage. He finished 22 of 34 for 198 yards with one interception, a line that offered both the steady rhythm and the occasional mistake that usually come with a rookie getting extended work under game conditions.
Andy Reid later pointed to the value of letting Nussmeier go through the full process from preparation to execution, a useful test for a team that used limited starters and managed only one touchdown across the preseason. For Kansas City, the bigger takeaway was not the box score so much as the opportunity to see a quarterback navigate pressure, stay on schedule and answer a few of the questions that matter most once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Roster Battle Just Got Tougher After Preseason Finale
The Chiefs preseason finale in Seattle ended in a 9-9 tie, but for the players fighting to stick around, the game still carried plenty of weight. Several roster-bubble names made their case in a game built more for evaluation than the scoreboard, with Andrew Armstrong, Brashard Smith, R Mason Thomas and Emmett Johnson all turning in outings that should at least keep their names in the conversation as the team sorts through the final cuts.
Not everyone helped their cause in the same way. Nikko Remigio and Melvin Smith Jr. had quieter nights, and Smith Jr. was forced out with a rib injury, adding another layer of uncertainty to a roster battle that is already tight. For Kansas City, the final preseason tape now becomes a tricky sorting exercise, with a handful of players pushing up and others sliding back just as the decisions come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Fans Suddenly Have A Real Harrison Butker Concern
The Chiefs preseason win over the Seahawks came with a small but notable wrinkle for Kansas City fans: Harrison Butker was off on a 58-yard field-goal try, and it fit a recent pattern that has started to draw more attention than a routine August miss normally would. For a kicker who has long been one of the most dependable parts of the roster, the issue is less about one long attempt than the way a few recent kicks have come off.
Across his last three tries, Butker has missed three straight kicks, and every one of them has gone wide right. That has naturally sent fans back to his pregame routine, where he is known for careful measurements and a precise setup before each approach, because when a specialist built on consistency starts missing the same direction repeatedly, it stops feeling like random preseason noise. [Read more 🡒]