The Kansas City Chiefs made two minor transactions on Saturday, relating to a pair of injured players.
According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs have placed DE Malik Herring on the non-football injury list and DB Armani Watts on the physically unable to perform list.
Herring’s placement on the non-football injury list was expected. He sustained an ACL injury away from the team during Senior Bowl practices prior to the 2021 NFL draft. He’ll have the opportunity to recover while he’s on the list. The team did not receive a roster exemption for Herring, which means he will count toward the 90-man offseason roster.
If Herring remains on the active non-football injury list by the final roster cut date ahead of the 2021 NFL season, the Chiefs can move him to the reserve non-football injury list. If he’s placed on the reserve non-football injury list, the rules are similar to the PUP list. Herring wouldn’t be allowed to practice for six weeks and the team would eventually have to decide between activating him or placing him on the injured reserve list.
Watts, who is dealing with a foot fracture according to Andy Reid, was placed on the active physically unable to perform list. This means that Watts suffered his injury while with the team, unlike Herring. Watts can be activated at any point throughout training camp with this designation and he’ll also count toward the 90-man offseason roster.
If Watts remains on the list through 53-man roster cuts, he’ll revert to the reserve/PUP list. Players on the reserve/PUP list are required to miss the first six weeks of the regular season and if they’re not healthy after those six weeks, the team will be forced to either activate him or move him to injured reserve. The fact that Watts was placed on the active version of this list suggests that the team expects him back at some point during training camp.
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