Chiefs announce 53-man roster for 2026 season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KQTV) -- The Kansas City Chiefs have made roster moves to cut down to a 53-man roster heading into the 2026 regular season.

According to Chiefs.com, the following roster moves were made Sunday to achieve a 53-man roster.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded for the following player:

• Pounds, Diego (T- Mississippi)

The Kansas City Chiefs placed the following player on Reserve/PUP:

• Norman-Lott, Omarr (DT- Tennessee)

The Kansas City Chiefs placed the following player on Reserve/Injured:

• Holiday, Jimmy (WR- Louisiana Tech)

The Kansas City Chiefs terminated the contracts of the following vested veterans:

• Christiansen, Cole (LB- Army)
• Elam, Kaiir (CB- Florida)
• Kohou, Kader (CB- Texas A&M-Commerce)
• Ogbah, Emmanuel (DE- Oklahoma State)

The Kansas City Chiefs waived the following players:

• Anthony, Vincent (DE- Duke)
• Arnold, Kam (LB- Boston College)
• Armstrong, Andrew (WR- Arkansas)
• Bissainthe, Wesley (LB- Miami)
• Brevard, Cole (DT- Texas)
• Brownlee, Jason (WR- Southern Mississippi)
• De Jesus, Jacob (WR- California)
• Demercado, Emari (RB- Texas Christian)
• Driskell, Ethan (T- Marshall)
• Evans, Omari (WR- Washington)
• Godrick, Chukwuebuka (T- No College)
• Hurkett, Ethan (DE- Iowa)
• Jones, Cam (LB- Indiana)
• King, Niles (DE- San Diego State)
• Loyd, Xavier (WR- Missouri)
• McCalister, Tanner (S- Ohio State)
• McNeill, Amari (DT- Colorado)
• Nygra, Pete (C- Louisville)
• Ott, Jaydn (RB- Oklahoma)
• Payne, Damon (DT- Michigan)
• Perkins-McAllister, D'Arco (CB- Louisiana-Monroe)
• Pline, Mason (TE- Furman)
• Pole, Esa (T- Washington State)
• Singleton, DeShon (S- Nebraska)
• Smith, Melvin (CB- Southern Arkansas)
• Smith, Tyreke (DE- Ohio State)
• Thompson, Josh (G- Louisiana State)
• Vedder, Zelmar (CB- Houston)
• Watson, Tre (TE- Texas A&M)
• Weimer, Jeff (WR- West Virginia)

The Kansas City Chiefs waived the following players with injury designations:

• Hanson, C.J. (G- Holy Cross)
• Oladokun, Chris (QB- South Dakota State)
• Smith, EJ (RB- Texas A&M)

The following is the initial 53-man-roster, with the possible exception of waiver claims being processed in the coming days:

Quarterback (3)

Justin Fields

Patrick Mahomes

Garrett Nussmeier

Running Back (3)

Emmett Johnson

Brashard Smith

Ken Walker

Wide Receiver (6)

Cyrus Allen

Nikko Remigio

Rashee Rice

Jalen Royals

Tyquan Thornton

Xavier Worthy

Tight End (4)

Jake Briningstool

Noah Gray

Travis Kelce

Jared Wiley

Offensive Line (10)

Kahlil Benson

Mike Caliendo

Josh Ezeudu

Creed Humphrey

Jaylon Moore

Hunter Nourzad

Diego Pounds

Josh Simmons

Trey Smith

Kingsley Suamataia

Defensive Line (8)

Felix Anudike-Uzomah

Ashton Gillotte

Marcus Harris

Chris Jones

George Karlaftis

R Mason Thomas

Khyiris Tonga

Peter Woods

Linebacker (5)

Jeffrey Bassa

Nick Bolton

Jack Cochrane

Cooper McDonald

Drue Tranquill

Defensive Back (11)

Jadon Canady

Chamarri Conner

Mansoor Delane

Kristian Fulton

Alohi Gilman

Jaden Hicks

Kevin Knowles

Xavier Nwankpa

Chris Roland-Wallace

L'Jarius Sneed

Nohl Williams

Specialists (3)

Matt Araiza

Harrison Butker

James Winchester

Kansas City placed the following player on Injured Reserve:

WR Jimmy Holiday

Kansas City placed the following player on Physically Unable to Perform (PUP):

DT Omarr Norman-Lott