Report: Chiefs Waiving TE Peyton Hendershot Weeks After Trading for Him

Shortly after making his Kansas City Chiefs debut, Peyton Hendershot is being waived by the club.

Jul 29, 2023; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Peyton Hendershot (89) wears a Guardian helmet cap during training camp at the River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs' tight end picture got shaken up near the NFL's roster cutdown deadline in late August, as general manager Brett Veach released Irv Smith Jr. and acquired Peyton Hendershot via trade. Less than a month removed from that trade, however, Hendershot's time on the roster appears to be coming to an end.

According to a Monday afternoon report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Hendershot is being waived by Kansas City.

The #Chiefs are waiving TE Peyton Hendershot, per source.

So one day after making his Kansas City debut, and after getting fined for coming to Patrick Mahomes’ defense in the opener, the former #Cowboys tight end heads to waivers.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 16, 2024

Hendershot, 25, was inactive for the Chiefs' Week 1 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Prior to Week 2's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the veteran tight end was fined $5,472 for a sideline shove of linebacker Roquan Smith in the season opener. The NFL prohibits non-participant players from making "unnecessary physical contact" with opponents, thus landing Hendershot the fine.

In Sunday's win versus Cincinnati, Hendershot made his Chiefs debut but never saw the field on offense. Logging seven special teams reps, he helped insulate Dave Toub's group with some depth for a pivotal win. As Joshua Brisco of Kansas City Chiefs On SI pointed out on Monday, the tight end group was headlined by Travis Kelce and Noah Gray.

"After playing 48 snaps (89%) in Week 1, Travis Kelce saw an even heavier workload in Week 2, taking 59 of the Chiefs' 65 offensive snaps (91%)," Brisco wrote. "Despite the fact that Kelce will turn 35 years old on October 5, he took the most snaps of any Chiefs skill-position player. No. 2 tight end Noah Gray hovered around his usual range on Sunday, taking 37 (57%) of the snaps after getting 54% in Week 1. Jared Wiley took 12 snaps against the Bengals after taking 11 in Week 1. Early in the year, the tight end group looks similar to years past: Kelce, then the rest in their various roles."

When Hendershot was originally brought in, Veach said he'd help free up more of an offensive role for Gray. That correlation won't have any additional time to be examined. Given the conditions of the Hendershot trade not being met, waiving him now frees up a roster spot for Kansas City and prevents a draft pick from going back to the Dallas Cowboys. Not much should change for the rest of the current tight end rotation.

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