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The Kansas City Chiefs are signing wide receiver John Ross III to a reserve/futures contract, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The #Chiefs signed WR John Ross III to a reserve/futures deal, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 9, 2023
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.
The signing of Ross, 27, means that now, the No. 9 (Ross) and No. 10 (Patrick Mahomes) overall picks of the 2017 NFL Draft play for the Chiefs. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound wide receiver was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals one pick ahead of Mahomes, and he played for the Bengals for four seasons before signing with the New York Giants for 2021. He was clocked at 4.22 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Ross’ best season was 2019, when he caught 28 passes for 506 yards and three touchdowns. He appeared in 10 games for the Giants in 2021, when he caught 11 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. A knee injury bothered Ross during his one season with the Giants, and though he said he was healthy ahead of the 2022 season, he was never signed.
Former top-10 pick John Ross plans to begin meeting with teams for workouts or visits around Week 1, per his agent, Brad Cicala, as he’ll soon be healthy off last year’s knee injury. Should find a team shortly thereafter. Several teams have remained in consistent contact.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 6, 2022
Teams can begin using futures contracts to sign players as soon as the regular season ends. The contract does not work that year’s salary cap or 53-man roster. Ross is just a member of the 90-man roster for the 2023 season. As mentioned in tweets above, Ross (and all reserve/futures players) are ineligible to participate in that year’s postseason.
The Chiefs also signed former undrafted wide receiver Ty Fryfogle to a reserve/futures deal on Monday.
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