Chiefs make waiver claim, add others to practice squad after roster cutdown day

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A day after the Kansas City Chiefs made cuts to get their roster down to its 53-man form, general manager Brett Veach claimed one player and lost another through the waiver process.

He and the Chiefs also added a few of the men cut on Tuesday back to Kansas City’s practice squad.

READ MORE: Chiefs release list of cuts as roster is trimmed to 53 players

The Chiefs announced Wednesday afternoon that they claimed former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Darius Rush. He’s a 6-foot-2 defensive back out of South Carolina and was drafted with the 138th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“We were looking for an athletic corner that has size, length and speed,” Veach said. “Just in the last two days to get two of those guys -- a longer DT and an athletic corner that fits the measurables we’re looking for.”

On Tuesday, they made two trades, dealing wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette to the Panthers and adding defensive tackle Neil Farrell through an agreement with the Raiders.

“He’s just a bigger body and that’s one of the things we put an emphasis on,” Veach said. “He’s 6-4 and change and he’s just a bigger, longer body... That (deal) kind of picked up late yesterday.

“Certainly we liked both of those players coming out (of the Draft).”

Each of the two were drafted within the last two years.

Players claimed on waivers must immediately go to the 53-man roster, which meant a corresponding move was needed to bring Rush to the Chiefs’ active roster as their sixth cornerback. That move was the release of defensive tackle Matt Dickerson, who was later signed to the practice squad.

Dickerson was among the Chiefs 16 signees to the practice squad. Those signings include:

Ekow Boye-Doe (CB, Kansas State)
Deon Bush (S, Miami)
Matt Bushman (TE, BYU)
Cole Christiansen (LB, Army)
Matt Dickerson (DT, UCLA)
Truman Jones (DE, Harvard)
Darian Kinnard (T, Kentucky)
Chris Oladokun (QB, South Dakota State)
La’Mical Perine (RB, Florida)
Cornell Powell (WR, Clemson)
Deneric Prince (RB, Tulsa)
Austin Reiter (C, USF)
Danny Shelton (DT, Washington)
Reese Taylor (CB, Purdue)
Chris Williams (DT, Wagner)

Kansas City also signed Chukwuebuka Godrick as an international player to their practice squad.

Quarterback Shane Buechele, who was among the surprising roster cuts on Tuesday, was not re-signed by the Chiefs, a decision that Veach said was hard to make.

“Shane is a good football player and we love having him around,” Veach said. “We’re certainly going to miss him.”

Veach said that Blaine Gabbert “came out and won the job,” as the backup quarterback.