KANSAS CITY – The Chiefs completely remade their receiver room during the offseason, but there's one guy -outside of Mecole Hardman- who managed to stick around.

That's former All-Pro/Pro Bowl receiver Josh Gordon. Yes, that Josh Gordon. The out-of-this-world talent who couldn't stay off the suspended list, unfortunately.

However, according to ESPN's Adam Teicher, Gordon won't be on the Chiefs' 53-man roster when the 2022 season opens in September.

Teicher recently released his 53-man roster projection for the season and wrote the following about Gordon and the Chiefs receivers:

WIDE RECEIVER (5): JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, Daurice Fountain

The top four seem set and it's difficult to see a place for Josh Gordon if he doesn't earn a lot of playing time because he doesn't help on special teams. That's why I went with Fountain as the spare receiver. But the Chiefs have many candidates to consider during training camp and the preseason.

Is it really a surprise Gordon doesn't make the team?

Gordon has -or had, at some point- the talent and the traits to be one of the league's best receivers. Unfortunately, his bout with the NFL's substance abuse program took nearly all the proverbial wind out of his career's sails.

The Chiefs already have Hardman in the fold and they signed both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to deals reflecting their roles in 2022. And then, there's the selection of Skyy Moore in the second round of the draft.

In other words: The Chiefs made heavy investments at the position elsewhere than Gordon.

And, as Teicher notes, Daurice Fountain plays special teams. Gordon does not. One would think that a talent like Gordon would easily beat out a player like Fountain, however, the Chiefs are highly unlikely to put five receivers on the field at the same time since Travis Kelce is on the team.

Therefore, the fifth receiver needs to be a special teams contributor and Gordon is not that.

You can check out Teicher's full 53-man roster projection, here.

Featured image via Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports