Getty Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Daniel Wise with the Kansas Jayhawks in 2018.
The Kansas City Chiefs will be reuniting with journeyman defensive lineman Daniel Wise after all.
ESPN NFL insider Field Yates was the first to report the news, tweeting: “The Chiefs have signed DE Daniel Wise to a reserve/future deal. He played in 11 games for the [Washington] Commanders before spending time on the Chiefs’ practice squad last month.”
The Chiefs have signed DE Daniel Wise to a reserve/future deal. He played in 11 games for the Commanders before spending time on the Chiefs’ practice squad last month.
Chiefs’ DL Daniel Wise Has Kansas Roots, Sack Potential
Kansas City first picked up Wise in early January, releasing former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Bryan Edwards in the corresponding move.
Two things stood out about the 6-foot-3 undrafted defender at the time — his Kansas ties and his last name. Beginning with the former, Wise played for the Jayhawks as a four-year contributor that finished with three or more sacks in every season.
In total, he ended his Kansas career with 17 sacks, 43 tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles, showing some potential as a low-level game-wrecker at defensive tackle. Clearly, the Chiefs see something in Wise despite his lack of production in Washington, Dallas and Arizona.
As Yates mentioned, the only NFL team he’s gotten burn with was the Commanders, with 240 defensive snaps and another 28 on special teams. He did not register a sack during his time there, but did accumulate 11 total tackles (one for a loss) and one QB hit according to Pro Football Reference.
As for the last name part, Wise is also the brother of New England Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr., who was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 2017. Since being drafted, Deatrich Wise has played in 95 games for New England, accumulating 231 tackles, 76 quarterback hits, 26 tackles for loss, and 24.5 sacks, per Pro Football Reference.
The Chiefs originally released Wise on January 17, in a move to return RB/WR Jerrion Ealy onto the practice squad. When he was cut, the expectation was that KC might eventually offer the 27-year-old a reserve/future deal, and now they have.
Chiefs’ Andy Reid Admits to Passing GM Reins to Brett Veach
There was an interesting moment in Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s February 2 press conference yesterday. A reporter told Big Red that he “senses” the long-time HC has finally relinquished all general manager responsibilities, focusing on coaching first and foremost.
In his answer, Reid confirmed that he has put his full trust in Brett Veach — and even John Dorsey before him — at this point in his career.
He voiced: “Yeah, I mean, once I started doing [personnel moves] you end up spending a lot of time doing that — if you’re going to do it right. It’s hard to do both. And so, I felt like I got into this because I wanted to coach, and on top of that I’ve got guys around me that are really good — Brett Veach is really good, [Dorsey] was good. So, let those guys do their job and then I’ll focus in on the football part — something I really wanted to get back to and enjoy.”
Reid added that he really “enjoys that [coaching] part” more than the front office role.
It has felt like Veach has been steering this ship for a few years now — and doing a tremendous job, might I add — but it was kind of cool to hear Reid admit that and commend everything his young GM has accomplished since taking over.
Too many head coaches get involved in the personnel side of things and it rarely works out when they do. Reid appears to have learned that from experience, and with the success he’s had in recent years, he seems to enjoy his career more when he can just stick to coaching.