It may be the holiday season, but the Kansas City Chiefs‘ front office is doing anything but rest. Unfortunately for general manager Brett Veach, his set of Christmas Eve roster moves stems from a slew of injuries.
Prior to Thursday night football against the Denver Broncos, Kansas City made several transactions. With a Christmas Day outing against an AFC West rival on the horizon, it’s all bad news for the reigning division champs.
Chiefs End Seasons of CB Trent McDuffie, WR Rashee Rice & More
The Chiefs took to their official X account on Wednesday to reveal their moves. Four players are going on injured reserve: a pair of wide receivers and two cornerbacks.
A tandem of star contributors, wideout Rashee Rice and corner Trent McDuffie, headline the list. Receiver Tyquan Thornton and cornerback Jaylen Watson joined them.
We have signed Practice Squad players DE Ethan Downs, CB Melvin Smith, and TE Tyreke Smith to active roster contracts.
We have activated CB Nazeeh Johnson from
This shouldn’t be a massive surprise for anyone following the team. All four players appeared on the injury report this week. Each one failed to practice on both Monday (estimated) and Tuesday, putting the writing on the wall for their Week 17 status.
In the receiver room, Rice (concussion) closes his junior campaign with 53 receptions for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns. The former second-round pick returned from a suspension in Week 7 and instantly became quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ top target in the passing game again. With that said, he’ll enter next season having played just 12 games in 2024 and 2025 combined.
Thornton (concussion), a late-2024 addition to the practice squad, served as a legit big-play threat this year. He averaged 23.1 yards per reception en route to a career-best 438-yard effort in 14 games (4 starts).
McDuffie’s fourth year ends as he nurses a knee injury. The 2022 first-round pick recorded 63 tackles in 13 regular-season games, grading out as Pro Football Focus‘ No. 13 cornerback out of 111 eligible players. His fifth-year option is exercised for 2026-27.
Watson, dealing with a groin ailment, is PFF’s sixth-graded corner for run defense. The 27-year-old will be a free agent in the spring. He surrendered a 79.0 passer rating in coverage in 15 games this season.
Breaking Down Kansas City’s Other Wednesday Transactions
Of course, it wouldn’t be a roster shuffle without anyone to take the departing players’ places. Several other players are joining the active roster from the practice squad, and another is coming off the injured reserve list in time to finish the season.
The Chiefs relay that defensive end Ethan Downs, cornerback Melvin Smith and defensive end Tyreke Smith are coming up from the practice squad. Defensive back Nazeeh Johnson is activated from IR.
Downs, 23, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The rookie lineman is an Oklahoma product, logging 110 tackles and 12.5 sacks in four collegiate seasons. He signed with Kansas City’s practice squad back in August. Tyreke Smith joined the organization on the same day as Downs and was a Seattle Seahawks fifth-round pick in 2022. He has 19 defensive snaps in his career.
Melvin Smith, meanwhile, is a 2025 undrafted Chiefs pickup. The Southern Arkansas alum played in 45 college games, logging 168 tackles with 9 interceptions.
Johnson, a 2022 Kansas City draft pick, opened this season on IR. The Marshall product has missed a ton of games in his career but played in 16 regular-season contests a year ago. In those outings, he had 56 tackles and yielded a 107.7 passer rating in coverage. Thursday could be his first action of the 2025 campaign.
In other news, the Chiefs finalized their Week 17 injury report. Tight end Jake Briningstool (hamstring) is out. Elsewhere, five players — right tackle Jaylon Moore, right guard Trey Smith, defensive end George Karlaftis, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi and linebacker Nick Bolton — are questionable.
Chiefs Cut Multiple Stars’ Seasons Short in Flurry of Christmas Eve Moves