In order to reach the league-required 80-man roster limit before the 3 p.m. central deadline on Tuesday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs moved two players to their injured/reserve list.
According to Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride, the Chiefs have placed running back Derrick Gore on season-ending injured reserve. Third-year offensive tackle Lucas Niang was placed on reserve/PUP.
Gore, 27, was quickly emerging as a productive rusher out of the Chiefs’ backfield after coming out of seemingly nowhere during the 2021 season. In place of an injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Gore rushed for 256 yards, and two scores on just 51 carries in 11 games last season. Going into 2022, Gore was poised for a potentially bigger role on offense, but an injury he suffered has completely derained his upcoming campaign.
During the Chiefs’ exhibition contest against the Washington Commanders last Saturday, Gore suffered a fracture to his thumb, per head coach Andy Reid. He will miss the entirety of the 2022 NFL season.
The Chiefs will also be without offensive tackle Lucas Niang, who missed all of training camp and the first two preseason games while recovering from a torn patellar tendon.
Niang, 24, has spent most of the summer on the team’s Active/physically unable to perform list. Now, he’s been officially moved to the Chiefs’ reserve/PUP list, meaning he will not be available to the team until after the first four games of the regular season.
The above roster moves bring the Chiefs down from 82 players to 80 just ahead of the third and final week of preseason games, scheduled for Thursday evening on August 25. Afterwhich, Kansas City will have to trim the roster down from 80 players to 53 by 3 p.m. central on August 30.
On Wednesday, September 1, all 32 clubs will be permitted to sign other players who were waived from other teams. On September 2, teams can assemble their practice squads for the upcoming season.
