The Kansas City Chiefs are shaking up some things on the practice squad ahead of the divisional round of the playoffs.
According to the NFL’s personnel notice from Tuesday, the Chiefs have terminated the practice squad contracts of four players. That group includes TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart, DE/LB Shilique Calhoun, DB Josh Jackson and LB Elijah Sullivan. Griffin-Stewart and Jackson have both appeared in games for Kansas City this season.
It’s not uncommon for this to happen this time of year. On Monday, practice squad contracts expired for teams who have been eliminated from playoff contention. When practice squad contracts expired in 2020, the Chiefs snagged Austin Edwards from the Falcons and Prince Tega Wanogho from the Eagles. Fans should expect that they intend to make some similar types of additions with these new vacancies.
The #Chiefs released 4 players from the practice squad per the NFL's personnel notice:
-TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart
-DE/LB Shilique Calhoun
-DB Josh Jackson
-LB Elijah SullivanThey also hosted WR Chris Finke, who was with the team this offseason, on a visit.
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) January 18, 2022
A number of the players released from practice squad contracts who are free to sign with other teams includes some veteran players. Adrian Peterson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Brian Poole, Willie Snead and D.J. Hayden are among the most notable names. There are also some former Chiefs out there like Deon Yelder, Adrian Colbert, Tedric Thompson, Anthony Gordon, Bradley McDougald and Daniel Brown.
This also might not be the end for each of Griffin-Stewart, Calhoun, Jackson and Sullivan with Kansas City. Expect most of those players, if not all, to return on reserve/future contracts themselves.