Chiefs sign 9 players to reserve/future contracts

The offseason is officially here for the Chiefs.

As the Chiefs transition from postseason mode to offseason mode, they’ve begun to assemble the 90-man offseason roster. Earlier in the month, the team signed LB Martrell Spaight to reserve/future deal. Now the team has re-signed several members of their 2018 practice squad to reserve/future contracts. Here is the full list via the NFL’s daily transaction report:

• WR Josh Crockett
• LB Raymond Davison
• OL Ryan Hunter
• DL Joey Ivie
• QB Chase Litton
• LB Rob McCray
• OL Pace Murphy
• CB D’Montre Wade
• TE David Wells

These players don’t expire from their contracts until later this week, but locking them up now ensures none of them sign a reserve/future deal with another team. This list leaves just two former practice squad players that haven’t signed reserve/future deals with the Chiefs: Former 2017 sixth-round draft pick Leon McQuay and recent addition Chris Cooper.

Four players in particular stand out to me here. First is quarterback Chase Litton. He could be the Chiefs’ future backup to Patrick Mahomes and he’ll have a chance to compete for that job in 2019. Receiver Josh Crockett is an interesting option at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. The Chiefs have several free agents at the receiver position who they may not bring back (players like Chris Conley, De’Anthony Thomas, and Marcus Kemp). Corner D’Montre Wade will surely get a chance to compete for a roster spot in 2019 as several corners are scheduled to become free agents. Finally linebacker Rob McCray spent most of the season on the practice squad injured list with an undisclosed injury. He spent time learning extensively from Justin Houston this offseason.

Players who sign reserve/future contracts now won’t officially be on the team until the beginning of the new league year in March. Still this gives the Chiefs a head start on assembling their squad for the 2019 offseason.