Report: After arrest, Chiefs drop newly-signed 2022 player Damon Arnette

According to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Kansas City Chiefs have released defensive back Damon Arnette. Pelissero reported that the team “immediately” released Arnette after his arrest in Las Vegas on Friday night.

Arnette — whom the Las Vegas Raiders selected in the first round (19th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft — had been released in early November after a video showing him brandishing a gun and threatening to kill someone went viral on the Internet.

On January 20, the Chiefs signed Arnette to a Reserve/Futures contract, which tied him to the team through the offseason. As has happened several times under general manager Brett Veach, the team appeared to be interested in finding out if an early-round draft choice who hadn’t caught on with his former team — for whatever reason — could benefit from a change of scenery and become a productive player for the Chiefs.

Given the circumstances that ended his career with the Raiders, it would be reasonable to assume that the Chiefs would have little tolerance for Arnette being involved in off-field incidents. But according to Chris Maathuis of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, Arnette was arrested for two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two different drug charges and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

This is obviously more serious than a viral video — and arguably more concerning than any other recent situation involving a Chiefs player. So the team has simply decided to move on.

Since Arnette was on a Reserve/Futures contract — which essentially doesn’t go into effect until the new league year begins in mid-March — he wasn’t on the team’s current active roster. As such, he had not yet participated in any team activities — and his absence will have no effect on the team during the balance of its postseason run.