The Kansas City Chiefs made two roster transactions on Saturday, according to the NFL transaction report.
Per the report, defensive back Armani Watts was designated to the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP), and defensive end Malik Herring was placed on the Non-Football Injury list (NIF).
During his pre-training camp presser on Friday, Head Coach Andy Reid revealed Armani Watts had suffered a foot fracture sometime earlier during the off-season. Watts had previously been reported absent for much of Kansas City’s voluntary mini-camp workouts and he was also a no-show during the Chiefs’ mandatory workout. Up until Friday, nobody knew the legitimate reason for Watt’s absence, but it seems his foot injury was the culprit all along.
The PUP list is for players who suffered injuries while with their respective club and are not allowed to attend any training camp practice while they’re on it. If Watts proves he has fully recovered from his injury, he will be allowed to be removed from the PUP list at any time before the start of the regular season. However, if Watts remains on the list after the 53-man roster cut on August 31, he’ll have to miss the first six weeks of the regular season.
Watts will be entering his fourth season with the Chiefs since first entering the league as the club’s 124th pick out of Texas A&M in 2018. In 2020, he appeared in all 16 games, primarily as a special teams player.
Next, Kansas City placed defensive end Malik Herring on the Non-Football Injury list for a torn ACL he suffered during Senior Bowl earlier this year. Although Herring’s injury took place in a football-related setting, it is still considered “non-football” since it didn’t happen while he was a member of the Chiefs.
Due to the nature of a torn ACL and the long recovery time for such an injury, it’s safe to say Herring’s 2021 campaign was over before it ever had a chance to begin. However, he should be able to compete for a roster spot in next year’s training camp.
Herring was brought on as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia following the 2021 NFL Draft.
Since both of these moves are considered active designations, meaning Watts and Herring still count toward the 90-man roster. Thus, Kansas City still needs to make one more move to officially add DE Alex Okafor, who they signed earlier this week, to the roster.
