Cornell Powell Among 12 Chiefs Signed to Future Contracts

Kansas City continues to retain some of its players on the offseason 90-man roster.

The Kansas City Chiefs' week following their Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles has featured plenty of partying and celebrating the big championship victory, but it's also had its fair share of work along with it. The team held its Super Bowl parade downtown on Wednesday, and there's also been a concerted effort from the front office on shaping the offseason roster as of late.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Kansas City was bringing back center Austin Reiter on a reserve/future contract for the 2023 offseason following a stint on the practice squad this season. Wednesday afternoon's personnel and transaction notice added 11 more names to that list, all familiar faces who were on the team's practice squad to close out the campaign. Here's the complete group:

• TE Kendall Blanton
• DB Dicaprio Bootle
• TE Matt Bushman
• OL Mike Caliendo
• LB Cole Christiansen
• WR/RB Jerrion Ealy
• QB Chris Oladokun
• RB La'Mical Perine
• WR Cornell Powell
• C Austin Reiter
• DT Danny Shelton
• WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Joining Reiter are some notable young players such as 2021 fifth-round receivers Cornell Powell and Ihmir Smith-Marsette (selected by Minnesota), as well as veterans like defensive tackle Danny Shelton who joined the team ahead of the 2022-23 season. In-season acquisitions like local standout tight end Kendall Blanton will also be sticking around in Kansas City for a while longer. 

With the new NFL league year not beginning until part of the way through March, clubs are still maintaining standard 53-man rosters for the time being. Once the new league year starts at 3 p.m. on March 15, however, those rosters expand to 90 players for team events like OTAs, mandatory minicamp and early training camp. Franchises can carry up to 90 men on their rosters until the first round of league-mandated roster cuts come into play in August. Because players are being signed early, teams are thus reserving their spots for a future date in the year. 

Most reserve/future contracts are of the league minimum variety in terms of salary, so these deals won't cost Kansas City a ton in the grand scheme of things. That incentivizes the organization to retain players it's interested in getting another look at this offseason, such as the aforementioned group. Those deals don't guarantee much else, which makes offering them a relative no-brainer for front offices as the offseason begins.

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