A Welsh Goodbye: Rugby Star Louis Rees-Zammit Reportedly Leaving Chiefs, Signing with AFC Rival

Rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is reportedly departing Kansas City in favor of an AFC rival after missing KC's 53-man roster cut.

Aug 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Louis Rees-Zammit (9) warms up against the Chicago Bears prior to a game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

After spending the offseason and preseason with the Kansas City Chiefs, Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is reportedly moving on.

Updates: Approximately two hours after the initial report, Tom Hamilton reported that Rees-Zammit will be signing to a practice squad deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On Thursday, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach discussed Rees-Zammit's departure. To read Veach's comments and to understand how Rees-Zammit's time in KC came to a close, click here.
This story continues below, as originally published.

Rees-Zammit is "close to finalizing a deal" with the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to Jordan Schultz. As of the publishing of this story, no reports have clarified if Rees-Zammit is signing to Jacksonville's active roster or practice squad, which is a massive distinction regarding how Rees-Zammit's Chiefs career came to an end.

The Chiefs and Jaguars faced off in KC's first preseason showdown, when Rees-Zammit saw nine offensive snaps and four special teams snaps against Jacksonville.

What to make of Louis Rees-Zammit's departure

Frankly, I'm stunned.

When Rees-Zammit was waived on Tuesday, I believed he would go unclaimed on waivers (which held true) because it was difficult to imagine a team signing him to their 53-man roster, given the clear gaps in his current game as a player who has seen just a handful of snaps of organized American football. His athleticism wasn't eye-popping when he did see the field, but a long-term developmental process with Kansas City still made sense. I fully expected Rees-Zammit to be waived before re-signing to the Chiefs' practice squad, even though he would not have been the Chiefs' International Player Pathway designee, as that exemption was given to Nigerian offensive tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick.

While still not knowing if Rees-Zammit is getting a 53-man roster spot in Jacksonville, this is an unsatisfying end to the Chiefs' experiment. Let's cover both bases.

First, perhaps it is an active 53-man roster spot. If that's the case, good for Rees-Zammit. It would be a bizarre choice for the Jaguars considering what we've seen from Rees-Zammit to this point in his extremely limited football career, but perhaps they have a specific vision for how he could be a worthwhile special teamer immediately. (I have my doubts about if he's even ready for a major special teams role, but it's possible that's what Jacksonville sees.)

Secondly, perhaps Rees-Zammit is signing with the Jaguars practice squad. If that's the case, someone decided that the KC-LRZ relationship wasn't going anywhere. Either Rees-Zammit got multiple practice squad offers and chose Jacksonville over Kansas City, or the Chiefs didn't even offer Rees-Zammit a practice squad spot, ending their development of the converted rugby player with a damning finality.

If the Chiefs made the decision to not offer one of their practice squad spots to Rees-Zammit, choosing instead to hold on to skill-position players like Justyn Ross, Nikko Remigio and Emani Bailey, that would indicate that KC didn't see a short-term or long-term benefit in continuing to develop the Welshman.

If Rees-Zammit chose Jacksonville over KC, I would have a fair share of questions for why he would go that route. As a player learning an NFL playbook for the first time, I would have strongly assumed it would be in Rees-Zammit's best interest to stay with Andy Reid's offense and Dave Toub's special teams. Even if Jaguars head coach (and former Chiefs offensive coordinator) Doug Pederson has something in mind for Rees-Zammit, it's hard to imagine that Rees-Zammit wouldn't have been best-served by staying with arguably the best offensive mind and special teams coordinator in football.

Every single thing about this depends on if it's a 53-man roster spot or not. If the Jags give him a roster spot, good for LRZ. (I'd be confused, but good for him.)
If it's on the practice squad, either KC or LRZ decided this relationship wasn't going anywhere. https://t.co/VdtLbqHxDu

— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) August 28, 2024

This story will be updated when further details are reported. For now, shrouded in mystery, it appears that Rees-Zammit's time in Kansas City has come to a fizzling finale.

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