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The Kansas City Chiefs made an impromptu roster move on Tuesday, November 16 in order to retain one of their practice squad players before he was poached by another team.
The Chiefs promoted quarterback Shane Buechele to the 53-man roster, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Kansas City opted to promote Buechele because the Arizona Cardinals were attempting to sign Buechele to their active roster. So, promoting him to the Chiefs’ roster prevents Arizona from getting him.
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Tuesday of each week is the deadline for each NFL squad to designate their practice squad protections, which is why the Cardinals were trying to strike a deal with Buechele before the end of the day. Luckily, the Chiefs had an available slot on the active roster after placing offensive tackle Mike Remmers on injured reserve on Saturday, November 13, so Buechele’s promotion didn’t require them to demote or release a player.
Arizona’s starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, and backup quarterback, Colt McCoy, are dealing with injuries, which sparked the Cardinals reaching out to Buechele.
Murray (ankle) has been sidelined for the past two games, which thrust McCoy into a starting role in Arizona. McCoy suffered a pectoral strain in Week 10, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. Although neither Murray nor McCoy have been ruled out for Week 11 yet, the Cardinals are being proactive in bringing aboard emergency options at the position.
Chiefs Have Growing Loyalty to Buechele
Despite having Patrick Mahomes and veteran Chad Henne locked atop the depth chart, Kansas City has had an unwavering loyalty to Buechele this season. The Chiefs have not used all four of their practice squad protections in any given week, however, Buechele is the lone player they have consistently used one of their protections on.
Despite getting banged up in Week 7, Patrick Mahomes has seemingly been healthy over the past three weeks. Henne (finger) appeared on the injury report in Week 8 but hasn’t appeared on the report since then. So, there isn’t necessarily an injury-related reason to keep Buechele around. However, a case can be made that promoting Buechele ensures if Mahomes or Henne were injured they will still have Buechele around, who is familiar with the system.
The other connection that can be made here is Henne’s contract situation. Henne is in the final year of the two-year, $3.25 million deal he signed with the Chiefs in 2020, per Spotrac. So, that makes him a free agent in 2022. If the Chiefs really like Buechele, then keeping him around until next year would make sense if they wish to not re-sign Henne and instead want to make Buechele the new backup to Mahomes.
For whatever the reason may be, promoting Buechele shows the progress he’s made early on in his NFL career.
Buechele: From UDFA to Active Roster
Buechele entered the NFL in 2021 as an undrafted rookie out of SMU. He played well enough during the preseason for Kansas City — completing 37 of 55 passes for 422 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, per Fox Sports — to have him on the practice squad for the duration of the regular season up until Week 11.
Buechele will be active for the first regular-season game of his career when Kansas City takes on the Dallas Cowboys — who are sporting a 7-2 record — at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, November 21.
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