Kansas City Chiefs’ latest roster move continues to ignore free agents at positions fans are begging them to address
The Kansas City Chiefs have added a player to their 90-man offseason roster after a successful mandatory minicamp tryout. However, he doesn’t play one of the two positions that fans are clamoring for the team to sign. What’s the deal here?
The Kansas City Chiefs won’t hit the practice fields again until mid-July, but they’ve made a move to reinforce depth on the 90-man roster.
No, they didn’t sign a wide receiver in the wake of Rashee Rice’s antics. No, they didn’t sign a veteran edge rusher either. They continue to ignore the two positions that fans believe they most need help.
According to the NFL’s personnel notice for Wednesday, June 17, the Chiefs signed TE Mason Pline. He previously earned a tryout at Kansas City’s mandatory minicamp (June 9-11) alongside veteran TE Kenny Yeboah. The difference between the two player? Pline is a small-schooler out of Furman, who is listed at 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds. He doesn’t have a single NFL regular-season snap to his name.
Mason Pline Quick Stats & Facts
Pline signed with the San Francisco 49ers after going undrafted in 2024. He spent the 2024 NFL season on their practice squad. The New Orleans Saints claimed him on waivers in August of 2025, but he did not appear in a game.
- 2023 (Furman): 13 games played
- 2023 (Furman): 32 receptions
- 2023 (Furman): 287 yards
Why did the Chiefs sign tryout TE Mason Pline?
The Chiefs auditioning street free agents at TE in mid-June is the clearest signal yet that GM Brett Veach under-invested at the position during the 2026 NFL offseason. The team re-signed Travis Kelce and signed UDFA John Michael Gyllenborg in undrafted free agency, but that was the extent of the moves they made to reinfore the position group.
Kansas City was counting on two things: Better health and some more development in their tight end room.
The verdict is still out on the development side of things. However, the Chiefs have already been without Gyllenborg and Jake Briningstool for a portion of Phase III of the offseason workout program.
Let’s not put this all on circumstance, though.
According to Chiefs podcaster and content creator Farzin Vousoughian, Pline made some nice plays during mandatory minicamp practices last week. It’s pretty impressive to earn a roster spot, when you consider the road traveled. Pline went from Ferris State (Division II) to Furman to the past four years of living on the fringes of NFL rosters. His tryout was very much a success, earning him another look with Kansas City during training camp and the preseason.
Why are the Chiefs reluctant to sign a wide receiver and defensive end?
The Chiefs have now gone signed a cornerback (L’Jarius Sneed) and a tight end (Mason Pline), before addressing other positions considered to be problematic. Fans have been begging for additions to the wide receiver room and the edge rusher group ever since the 2026 NFL Draft ended. The big fear is that those position groups don’t have the depth to sustain injury, let alone the rigors of a 17-game NFL season.
My read on the Chiefs is that they believe they’ve invested more than enough at the wide receiver and edge rusher positions to be successful there. At wide receiver, they’ve got a lot of faith in guys like Tyquan Thornton and Jalen Royals heading into Year 2 in the system. At edge rusher, there’s a big internal belief that Ashton Gillotte can be a big contributor in Year 2 and that Felix Anudike-Uzomah will finally find his way onto the field. Obviously, injuries and circumstances as the offseason progressess could change how those position groups are perceived. However right now they’re banking on coaching and development at those two spots.