Getty De'Anthony Thomas makes a catch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This week started for the Kansas City Chiefs with an ugly 17-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their second preseason game. During this contest, wide receiver Marcus Kemp was forced to leave the game with a knee injury. The Chiefs later learned that he tore both his ACL and MCL.
On Tuesday, the Chiefs announced that they signed De’Anthony Thomas. They waived receiver Davon Grayson to make room on the roster. Kansas City drafted Thomas in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has spent five seasons with the Chiefs and appeared in 55 games.
Thomas signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs in 2018 after his rookie contract expired. In October, Thomas suffered a broken tibia and spent the season on the IR. In January, Thomas was arrested in Kansas on a possession of marijuana charge. The Chiefs decided to let him test free agency. With Kemp going down with a serious injury, Kansas City decided to reunite with Thomas.
In five seasons with the Chiefs, Thomas has 689 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. He is well known as a special teams stud. Thomas is averaging 24.8 yards as a kick returner and 9.7 yards as a punt returner. Thomas is a favorite of Chiefs’ special teams coordinator Dave Toub. Regardless, this is a move that came about because of the injury to Kemp.
Chiefs Add Depth to Offensive Line
Thomas was not the only move made official on Tuesday. Reports came out on Monday that Kansas City was in talks with former offensive lineman Jeff Allen. According to NFL Inside Adam Caplan, the two sides came to terms on a one-year deal for 2019.
Welcome back to #ChiefsKingdom, @JeffAllen71!
This is Allen’s third stint with the Chiefs. He will provide depth to an already strong offensive line. It is unknown if Allen will come in and start. He is not listed on the Chiefs third depth chart because the move was just made official. What this move does do is add experience and leadership to the locker room. Allen has been a respected player on the roster during both of his stints with the Chiefs.
The third move of the day was a negative one. Kemp was placed on the IR. This opened up room for the Chiefs to sign receiver Jalen Tolliver.
Tolliver was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent after the 2018 NFL Draft. He appeared in three games for the Cardinals in 2018, making one start. He finished those games with three catches for 37 yards. The Chiefs needed to replace Kemp on the roster and decided to go with another receiver.
Kansas City will return to Arrowhead to take on the San Francisco 49ers in their next preseason contest. This is usually the week where the starters try to extend their playing time. The Chiefs have suffered injuries during their first two preseason games. With two left, they are hoping that they can get to the regular season without anyone else going down. Injuries are the biggest factor that can derail the Chiefs’ hopes of making a run to the Super Bowl.