The Kansas City Chiefs have officially trimmed their 90-man offseason roster and assembled their first iteration of the 53-man roster for the 2026 NFL season.

The team will keep tinkering with the roster, with waiver wire claims due tomorrow afternoon. This is only the first iteration of an evolving roster that will take many forms throughout 2026. One thing to note: the Chiefs did not use any of their injured-reserve return designations during roster cuts.

Without further ado, here’s your first look at the 53-man roster.

Note: Players with a single asterisk (*) are 2026 draft picks and players with double asterisks (**) are 2026 undrafted free agents.

Offense: 26

Quarterbacks: 3

• Patrick Mahomes
• Justin Fields
• Garrett Nussmeier*

Cut: Chris Oladokun (Waived-Injured)

Reaction: Andy Reid has always preferred to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. He hasn’t done it in a few years, but he’s returning to that preference now that he has a reason to keep three. Nussmeier proved during the preseason that he can play, and he’s got a bright future ahead of him.

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Running backs: 3

• Kenneth Walker
• Emmett Johnson*
• Brashard Smith

Cut: Emari Demercado, Jaydn Ott**, EJ Smith** (Waived-Injured)

Reaction: This group is so far and away above anything the Chiefs have had at running back in recent years; it’s remarkable. A bit surprised that they’re going with only three players here, but that could change a day from now.

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Tight ends: 4

• Travis Kelce
• Noah Gray
• Jared Wiley
• Jake Briningstool

IR: John Michael Gyllenborg**
Cut: Tre Watson, Mason Pline

Reaction: Briningstool is the better long-term play at tight end than Watson. He very well could be part of a succession plan for Travis Kelce. I can’t help but feel this group is lacking a true threat as a blocker.

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Wide receivers: 6

• Xavier Worthy
• Tyquan Thornton
• Rashee Rice
• Jalen Royals
• Cyrus Allen*
• Nikko Remigio

IR: Jeff Caldwell**, Jimmy Holiday
Cut: Andrew Armstrong, Jason Brownlee, Jacob De Jesus**, Omari Evans**, Xavier Loyd**, Jeff Weimer**

Reaction: The Chiefs just can’t quit Nikko Remigio, who seems to have made the initial 53-man roster as a punt returner. The sad part is that it likely came at the expense of Andrew Armstrong, who had a killer preseason.

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Offensive line: 10

• Josh Simmons
• Kingsley Suamataia
• Creed Humphrey
• Trey Smith
• Jaylon Moore
• Kahlil Benson**
• Hunter Nourzad
• Joshua Ezeudu
• Diego Pounds
• Mike Caliendo

Cut: Esa Pole, C.J. Hansen (Waived-Injured), Ethan Driskell, Pete Nygra**, Josh Thompson**, Chu Godrick

Reaction: The move to release Esa Pole might seem surprising to some, but the writing was on the wall after the trades for Ezeudu and Pounds. The lack of true interior O-Line depth is the one thing that I’m concerned about. In my humble opinion, Mike Caliendo isn’t good enough to still be on this roster. You have versatile pieces in Ezeudu and Benson, but the guard position feels like a problem.

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Defense: 24

Defensive line: 8

EDGE: 5

• George Karlaftis
• R Mason Thomas*
• Felix Anudike-Uzomah
• Ashton Gillotte

Defensive tackle: 4

• Chris Jones
• Khyiris Tonga
• Peter Woods*
• Marcus Harris

Reserve/PUP: Omarr Norman-Lott
IR: Ethan Downs
Cut: Emmanuel Ogbah, Amari McNeil**, Cole Brevard**, Daron Payne**, VJ Anthony**, Ethan Hurkett**, Tyreke Smith, Niles King

Reaction: With Omarr Norman-Lott starting the season on the Reserve/PUP, it opened the door for Marcus Harris to make the 53-man roster after a dominant training camp and preseason. This group feels A LOT better than 2025, but they could still use some depth upgrades at the edge rusher position.

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Linebacker: 5

• Nick Bolton
• Drue Tranquill
• Cooper McDonald
• Jeff Bassa
• Jack Cochrane

Cut: Cole Christiansen, Cam Jones, Kam Arnold, Wesley Bissainthe*

Reaction: This group doesn’t feel particularly talented or deep, and I hope that the team is looking for some upgrades on the waiver wire or among released vested veterans. A bit surprised to see Jack Cochrane make it after he’s missed time with a knee injury.

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Defensive backs: 11

Cornerbacks: 6

• Mansoor Delane*
• Nohl Williams
• L’Jarius Sneed
• Kristian Fulton
• Jadon Canady*
• Kevin Knowles

Safety: 5

• Alohi Gilman
• Chamarri Conner
• Jaden Hicks
• Chris Roland-Wallace
• Xavier Nwankpa**

Cut: Melvin Smith, Kader Kohou, Kaiir Elam, Zelmar Vedder**, D’Arco Perkins-McCallister**, Tanner McCallister, DeShon Singleton*

The reaction: After all of the offseason departures, this feels like a strong group at cornerback. I still have questions and concerns about the safety room, but the emergence of Jaden Hicks has quelled that for now. Also, if Chamarri Conner can play as he did at training camp throughout the season, they’ll be fine.

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Special teams: 3

Kicker: Harrison Butker
Punter: Matt Araiza
Long snapper: James Winchester

Reaction: This unit had no competition, so it’s not surprising to see these three players make the team.