(Getty) The Kansas City Chiefs earned a franchise-record 14 regular season wins in 2020.
With Travis Kelce securely in place as the starting tight end after a historic regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs are apparently doing some background work on potential backups at the position.
According to the NFL’s official transaction report for January 5, the Chiefs hosted free agent TE Ricky Seals-Jones for a visit on Tuesday.
The Chiefs had Ricky Seals-Jones in for a visit today. Wonder what he thought of the place.
Seals-Jones, of course, spent the entire season with the defending Super Bowl champions before being released last week on January 2, one day ahead of the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Update: On Wednesday, the Chiefs officially signed Seals-Jones to the practice squad, per the NFL’s January 6 transaction wire.
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Seals-Jones Could Return to the Roster Soon
As is the case with many players who are brought into town for an official workout, the team may be hinting at a return to the roster for the 25-year-old, likely to the practice squad or for a future/reserve contract at season’s end. Time will tell in the coming days as Kansas City is scheduled for its first practice of the bye week on Thursday.
Despite entering the league in 2017 as an undrafted free agent for the Arizona Cardinals, the third-year wide receiver turned tight end had previously shown enough promise to excite Chiefs fans about the possibility of a resurgence in Andy Reid’s offense.
Instead, Seals-Jones, who signed a “no-brainer” one-year, $925K contract in April, was a major flop after suiting up for just two games in 2020.
Seals-Jones Spent Year Buried on Chiefs Depth Chart
A recent piece by Arrowhead Addict’s Matt Connor further broke down the curious case of Seals-Jones:
Seals-Jones never had a preseason within which he could climb the depth chart. However, he also didn’t make a dent against competition once the regular season began. Nick Keizer and Deon Yelder remained firmly in place taking reps for the Chiefs game after game while Seals-Jones sat on the active roster as a healthy scratch. The only games in which Seals-Jones ever once played an official snap were in Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills (2 snaps) and Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons (4 snaps on offense, 5 on special teams).
What made Seals-Jones’ tenure with the Chiefs even more odd was that he lingered on the active roster for almost an entire season as the fourth tight end—yes, fourth—on a team that doesn’t exactly feature even a second tight end. It’s not as if he was adding value as a blocker or starring behind the scenes on special teams somewhere. He was just sitting as security for a position that didn’t make sense.
With Yelder and Keizer both still filing in behind Kelce for playing time, nothing has changed on the Chiefs roster to suggest a new reason to bring back the former Cardinals and Cleveland Browns tight end.
In 41 career games (nine starts), the 6-foot-5, 243-pounder has hauled in 60-of-120 targets for 766 yards and eight touchdowns, half of which came across three games with Cleveland last season.
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Chris Licata is an NFL contributor covering the Kansas City Chiefs from enemy territory in Denver, Colorado. Follow him on Twitter @Chris__Licata or join the Heavy on Chiefs Facebook community for the latest out of Chiefs Kingdom!