The Kansas City Chiefs have been eliminated from playoff contention, and yesterday they made a series of moves to protect a couple of injured players, along with some additions to compensate when they play the Tennessee Titans today.
Offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor and linebacker Leo Chenal have both been placed on injured reserve, which will effectively end the series for both players, according to a piece written by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Taylor has been playing with an elbow injury for some time now, and he hasn’t played since the Chiefs’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Chenal’s injury wasn’t disclosed, which was interesting since he hasn’t had much of a presence on the weekly injury list recently.
As Simmons noted, it’s fair to wonder if Taylor has played is final game with Kansas City. He’s under contract for 2026, but Taylor doesn’t have any guaranteed money left on his contract, and releasing him would save $20 million in cap money for next year, which the Chiefs badly need to revamp the roster after their disappointing season.
Taylor has started 45 games for Kansas City since 2023, when the Chiefs signed him as a free agent. Before that he played his first four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he'll likely have a new home next year after his struggles with the Chiefs this season.
The complementary moves included waiving running back Elijah Mitchell, and the Chiefs also signed offensive tackle Chukwuebuka Goodrich, quarterback Chris Oladokun and running back Dameon Pierce to the 53-man roster.
The Chiefs also elevated linebacker Cole Christiansen and offensive tackle Matt Waletzko to the active roster for today’s game against the Titans, and it’s safe to say that any player with potential will at least get a look. In addition, Kansas City faces a quick turnaround this week, with their next game happening this Thursday on Christmas night when the Denver Broncos come to town.
Look for the Chiefs to be doing more of this going forward. None of these games mean anything, other than coach Andy Reid getting to do some evaluation on certain players as Kansas City plays out the string. Any Chiefs player with any value will almost certainly be removed from the lineup when an injury occurs, major or minor.
Gardner Minshew will start at quarterback for the Chiefs, and this could also be one of a series of last calls for stellar tight end Travis Kelce, who pushed back on some comments this week that hinted at his possible retirement.