Chiefs Cut Roster to 53

The Kansas City Chiefs officially announced their roster cuts late Saturday afternoon. As we first reported early in the day, the team initially cut 17 players but added five more before the deadline.

It was the end of the road for five more Chiefs - FB Chris Manderino, WR Bobby Sippio, OT Will Svitek, OG Tre Stallings and CB Rashad Barksdale. They joined T Anthony Alabi, TE Michael Allan, WR Jabari Arthur, K Connor Barth, S Khayyam Burns, DE Johnny Dingle, G Edwin Harrison, WR Sergiori Joachim, LB E.J. Kuale, G Travis Leffew, DT Derek Lokey, WR Kevin McMahan, LB Steve Octavien, DE Jason Parker, LB LeRue Rumph, and C Rob Smith.

The Chiefs had hoped to trade a couple of their final cuts, but couldn’t find any buyers.

The roster cut offered no real surprises outside of Svitek and Manderino. The Chiefs kept five running backs – Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Jamaal Charles, Dantrell Savage and Jackie Battle.

Head Coach Herm Edwards indicated last week that when evaluating his 53-man roster, he wanted to keep the best players, period. That meant keeping the best athletes who might be able to find a spot on the roster or make an impact on special teams.

The Chiefs had flirted with cutting a few veterans but wanted to save all the salary cap dollars possible in order to provide flexibility in signing some of their up-and-coming players to long-term contracts before the season ends.

Like last year, the Chiefs found four undrafted free agents clinging to roster spots. One of them, fullback Mike Cox, will crack the starting lineup.

Joining him on offense is backup tight end John Paul Foschi. Undrafted free agents Maurice Leggett and linebacker Weston Dacus made the final roster on defense.

However, before some of these players get too comfortable with their roster spots, the Chiefs are searching the waiver wire and would like to add at least two veterans.

The team will likely add a veteran linebacker and wide receiver if they feel a particular player provides a better option at the bottom end of the roster.

The Chiefs will also fill out their practice squad sometime in the next 24 hours.

Stay tuned to Warpaint Illustrated for the latest news on the Kansas City Chiefs. Coming up this week we take a long look at the season opener against the New England Patriots.