The Kansas City Chiefs have spoken about the release of cornerback KeiVarae Russell and they’re calling it a football decision. Maybe there won’t be some juicy backstory to this after all.
“We felt this was the best thing to do for the Chiefs right now. He’s a good young man and I think he has as good future. For right now we moved (Dezman) Moses back up and that’s what we thought.”
Reid was asked if there was more to it.
“No, football decision,” he said.
The fact is that Russell was buried on the depth chart. A sixth round pick, DJ White, had passed him up. The Chiefs have 53 players on the roster but only 46 of them dress on game day. Russell was one of seven players that were inactive and did not dress in Week 1. That was a red flag given he’s a third round pick.
Here’s the current depth chart:
LCB: Marcus Peters, Kenneth Acker
RCB: Phillip Gaines, Steven Nelson, DJ White
The Chiefs also had Kenneth Acker inactive last week and he wasn’t cut so they effectively picked Acker over Russell with this move. Acker was traded for a seventh round pick a few weeks ago. Russell was a third round pick a few months ago. Put it like that and it’s even more surprising for the Chiefs to make this decision.