The Tennessee Titans claimed former Kansas City cornerback Melvin Smith Jr. off waivers Monday, plucking the former Chiefs defensive back one day after the Chiefs trimmed their roster to 53.
Kansas City lost more than just Smith on cutdown day. Running back Emari Demercado landed with Dallas and offensive tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick went to Miami, according to an ESPN roundup of every team’s waiver moves, spreading Kansas City’s cutdown losses across three separate teams.
Melvin Smith Jr.’s Path to the Chiefs
Smith, 24, built his football résumé at Southern Arkansas, where he started four seasons and twice earned first-team all-conference honors as a defensive back. He picked off five passes in 2024, his best college season, and returned a kickoff for a touchdown that same year.
Kansas City signed Smith as an undrafted free agent in 2025. He spent most of his rookie year on the practice squad before Kansas City promoted him to the active roster that December, when the secondary was banged up.
Smith’s bid for a permanent spot took a hit late in preseason. He left the finale against Seattle with a rib injury and was ruled out for the night.
“CB Melvin Smith has been ruled out (ribs),” the team announced through its official account that Friday, leaving him little practice time before cutdown weekend.
Kansas City ultimately waived 30 players Sunday, Smith included, according to the team’s own list of roster moves. That group ranged from veteran defensive linemen to undrafted rookies, evidence of just how much churn hit the back of Kansas City’s depth chart in the final trim to 53.
What Melvin Smith Jr. Brings to the Titans
Tennessee overhauled its cornerback room this offseason, signing Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott to man the outside spots while Marcus Harris holds down the slot. Behind that trio, the depth chart has been a question mark, as detailed in a Sports Illustrated breakdown.
That depth thinned further this month. The team placed Nazeeh Johnson on injured reserve, a defensive back already facing a six-game suspension for a performance-enhancing substance violation.
Smith gives Tennessee general manager Mike Borgonzi another player who learned the same defensive system Joshua Williams ran in Kansas City before Williams signed with the Titans in free agency. Smith also returned kicks in college, a skill that could open a special-teams path even if the cornerback competition doesn’t break his way.
Smith arrives having played sparingly on defense as a rookie, mostly inactive behind Kansas City’s veteran group.
Tennessee sat at the No. 4 spot on the NFL’s waiver priority order Monday, giving the team an early crack at Sunday’s cutdown pool before other clubs could pounce. Rather than wait on the open market once teams finalize their practice squads, Borgonzi’s staff moved fast on a player it presumably scouted closely during his time across the AFC.
Whether Smith sticks on Tennessee’s 53-man roster or lands on the practice squad after a corresponding move will become clear in the coming days, as will his standing behind Taylor, Flott, Harris and Williams on the depth chart.
