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John Ross’ surprise retirement on Wednesday left a hole on the #Chiefs’ roster. Here are five free agents who could fill the gap:
The Kansas City Chiefs have an open spot on their 90-man roster after the unexpected retirement of wide receiver John Ross on Wednesday. Though they still seem comfortable with the construction of their team, general manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid won’t let the vacancy linger for too long.
Here are five players that the Chiefs could consider signing from the NFL’s loaded pool of veteran free agents:
Former Giants WR John Ross was placed on the reserve/retired list by the Chiefs on Wednesday.
Former New York Giants wide receiver John Ross has apparently retired from the NFL.
According to the league’s transactions wire on Wednesday, Ross was placed on the reserve/retired list by the Kansas City Chiefs, ending his career after six seasons.
A former No. 9 overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals out of Washington in 2017, Ross is best known for holding the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL Combine history (4.22).
However, his NFL career was never able to take off on the field.
Ross battled injury and ineffectiveness over his first five seasons in the NFL and tallied just 62 catches for 957 yards and 11 touchdowns over 37 games.
His last snaps in the league came with the Giants in 2021, when he played in 10 games (one start) and finished with 11 catches for 224 yards.
The #Chiefs placed WR John Ross on the reserve/retired list, according to today’s transaction wire. The record holder for fastest 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine (4.22) and No. 9 overall pick in 2017 has decided to retire.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 26, 2023
The 27-year-old sat out the 2022 season before attempting a comeback earlier this year when he signed a futures deal with the Chiefs.
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Take a look at all the best stories about Kansas City’s training camp practices and more on today’s edition of #Chiefs check-in:
Chiefs Check-in is our online newsletter at Chiefs Wire, running Monday-Friday mornings. Subscribe to get more Chiefs news delivered to your inbox every day.
The Kansas City Chiefs offense has made headlines all week with impressive videos of their training camp practices coming out on a daily basis. They ran an incredible double-pass during Wednesday’s session that may portend more use of Andy Reid’s signature gadget plays in their 2023 campaign.
However, their loss of receiver John Ross to an unexpected retirement will leave them with one less speed merchant to utilize with these unique looks when they take the field for September’s regular season kickoff.
Read stories about Ross, the Chiefs’ offense, and more in today’s edition of Chiefs check-in for the morning of Thursday, July 27th:
Chiefs wide receiver John Ross unexpectedly decided to retire on Wednesday. | from: @EdEastonJr
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver John Ross is being placed on the reserve/retired list, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Ross, who is 27 years old, was a first-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2017 and is known for holding the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
His 4.22-second time in the 40 led to his selection with the ninth overall choice in the NFL draft. Ross spent four seasons in Cincinnati, followed by one year with the New York Giants in 2021. After sitting out the 2022 season, Ross signed a futures contract with the Chiefs before the start of training camp in hopes of attempting a comeback.
The #Chiefs placed WR John Ross on the reserve/retired list, according to today’s transaction wire. The record holder for fastest 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine (4.22) and No. 9 overall pick in 2017 has decided to retire.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 26, 2023
Ross has a stat line of 62 catches, 957 yards and 11 touchdowns in 37 career games. His talents won’t soon be forgotten by fans around the NFL who will forever compare the league’s fastest prospects to the standard he set back in 2017.
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Who are the #Chiefs best options at punt returner in 2023? @WesleyRoesch reviews the options.
The Chiefs’ punt return squad went out with a bang in Super Bowl LVII, which makes it easy to forget that the team was actually a disaster on punt returns for the majority of their last campaign.
It’s covered in more detail in my 2022 Chiefs special teams review, but essentially Kansas City had a bottom-10 punt return squad last season. Much of that was due to players’ individual struggle, but a sort of musical chairs approach to the punt returner role by the team’s coaching staff didn’t seem to help either.
The answer of who the team’s best player is at the position is still in question as the Chiefs begin training camp. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub has a handful of intriguing prospects — both rookies and veterans — to try out. Below are the players expected to compete for the punt returner role for the Chiefs:
Our @goldmctNFL takes a look at some #Chiefs who could play their way onto the 53-man roster during training camp and the preseason.
Every year there seem to be a few players who sneak onto the Kansas City Chiefs’ 53-man roster after strong performances during training camp and the preseason.
Last season, Brett Veach indicated that four players managed to play their way onto the 53-man roster. Which players could be in line to have similar types of performances in the coming weeks and play their way onto the initial 53-man roster for the 2023 NFL season?
We’ll take a look at a few key candidates down below:
A former Bengals first-rounder makes some noise with the Chiefs.
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Former Cincinnati Bengals wideout John Ross received some praise from Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid last week.
The 2023 Chiefs currently feature both Justyn and John Ross on their team and Reid praised them both at media availability.
“I like both of the Ross’ big and little,” Reid said, per Fox 4 KC’s PJ Green. “So, the big one is coming along. He feels good, his foot feels good the surgery that he had worked out well up to this point. He’s made some nice plays for us out here. I know Pat’s got trust in him, so that’s good to see. And the smaller Ross is extremely fast and quick. Before he got hurt, he was on to a pretty good season. I like what I see there, too.”
The smaller Ross is of course John Ross, who played in 10 games with the Giants in 2021, his first year out of Cincinnati and missed the entire 2022 season.
Reid seems to think the Bengals bust could have some sort of role in the Chiefs offense this season.
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Andy Reid spoke highly of both Justyn Ross and John Ross at his media availability session at #Chiefs OTAs on Wednesday. | from @TheJohnDillon
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The Kansas City Chiefs host two receivers with the same last name, but vastly different skill sets on their offseason roster. Both have shined brightly at the team’s organized team activities this week.
Head coach Andy Reid was asked about the pair of talented pass catchers, undrafted standout Justyn Ross and former first-round draft pick John Ross, at a media availability session on Wednesday. He spoke highly of their effort to this point in the team’s offseason program.
“I like both of the Ross’ (John and Justyn), big and little,” He explained. “So, the big one (Justyn Ross) is coming along. He feels good, his foot feels good (and) the surgery that he had worked out well up to this point. He’s made some nice plays for us out here. I know Pat’s (Mahomes) got trust in him, so that’s good to see. And the smaller Ross (John Ross) is extremely fast and quick. Before he got hurt, he was on to a pretty good season. I like what I see there, too.”
The Chiefs will need to maximize every bit of promise that both of these receivers have if they hope to repeat as champions in 2023. The former first-round pick out of Washington, John Ross, impressed media members at practice with his speed and poise, also catching the attention of his head coach.
“Well, he’s the one that jumped out at everybody at the combine just when he ran,” Reid said. “I mean, he was extremely fast. I think he set a record there, I believe. He can move, he can skedaddle and he’s smart, which you need to be in this thing.”
As for Justyn Ross, everyone already knows the promise shown by the undrafted free agent out of Clemson. He merely needs to stay on the field and healthy.
For now, though, fans will have to wait to get a glimpse of what is to come from each of these coveted prospects. In time, both will look to prove their long-tenured head coach right in his mid-May assessment of their trajectories.
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A former Bengals first-rounder popped up on a list.
Bleacher Report ranked seven of the biggest draft mistakes made in the past 10 years by NFL teams, and former Cincinnati Bengal John Ross made the list.
David Kenyon believes that Ross was the sixth worst draft mistake of the decade.
Here’s what Kenyon said about Ross:
Cincinnati landed him ninth overall, but Ross literally struggled from the start. He fumbled on his first career touch and spent most of the year as a healthy scratch. Ross flashed his potential in 2018 and 2019, but injuries stained those seasons and the 2020 campaign.
Ross played in 27 of the possible 64 games with the Bengals before they declined his fifth-year option. He totaled 51 catches for 733 yards and 10 touchdowns in his four seasons.
The hype around Ross was seemingly warranted at the time with how good he was at Washington, plus the electric speed he showed off when he got the ball in his hands.
However, the John Ross era obviously didn’t turn out the way Bengals fans hoped, and after not playing in 2022, he currently has a reserve/future deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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The #Chiefs have signed former #Bengals first-round pick John Ross to a reserve/future contract, per report.
The Kansas City Chiefs are wasting no time when it comes to adding receivers for the 2023 NFL season.
According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the Chiefs have signed form Bengals WR John Ross III on a reserve/future contract. Ross was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, selected one spot before the team traded up to grab Patrick Mahomes. The former Washington Huskies wideout notably ran the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL Scouting Combine history (4.22s).
Ross, 27, spent just four seasons in Cincinnati appearing in just 27 games with 20 starts. During that span, Ross recorded just 51 receptions for 733 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The #Chiefs signed WR John Ross III to a reserve/futures deal, per source.
The No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ross is a burner and still only 27 years old. Not eligible for the playoffs, but one more weapon for Patrick Mahomes in 2023.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 9, 2023
Ross last played during the 2021 NFL season, appearing in 10 games with the New York Giants. He caught 11 passes for 224 yards and one touchdown that season. One of the big concerns about Ross has been his injury history as he missed time during his career with knee, shoulder and foot injuries.
Ross is the second player reported to have been signed to a reserve/future deal by the Chiefs following former Indiana WR Ty Fryfogle. They also worked out former Alabama WR Slade Bolden and BC Lions QB Nathan Rourke on Monday.
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