The Kansas City Chiefs will try to increase their AFC West lead when they clash with the rival Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 13. The defending Super Bowl Champions already notched a 27-20 victory over the Raiders back in Week 8, leaving time to tell if the Chiefs’ dominance over the Sin City franchise will continue on Black Friday.
With a few days before the Week 13 tilt, the Chiefs are figuring out which defensive adjustments to make after surrendering 27 points to the Carolina Panthers over the weekend. While a change in defensive philosophy can work, sometimes the most successful method for improving is addition by subtractions.
Funny enough, the latter seems to be the path the Chiefs are going down.
Chiefs Roster News: Kansas City Waives DE Cameron Thomas
The Chiefs have waived defensive end Cameron Thomas, according to team insider Matt Derrick. The former San Diego State product was acquired from the Arizona Cardinals back in August as a way to shore up Kansas City’s defense ahead of the 2024 NFL season.
When the Chiefs acquired Thomas, the hope was that he could live up to his draft potential under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The Cardinals simply weren’t a good fit for the former Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, who only managed 20 solo tackles, three sacks, two broken-up passes, and a fumble recovery in 32 games with Arizona.
Unfortunately, moving to Kansas City didn’t exactly help the 24-year-old DE’s career.
The Chiefs sparingly used Thomas, limiting him to 28 total snaps (6 offensive, 22 special teams) across four games. Unsurprisingly, the former 2022 third-rounder was far from productive with his limited opportunities, failing to register a single tackle while missing his only attempt.
That’s without mentioning how his grades for overall defense (31.8), run defense (44.9), and tackling (20.9) on Pro Football Focus are all the worst marks of his young NFL career.
That’s why the veteran defender was one of my top Chiefs cut candidates during the second half of the season. Obviously, it didn’t take long for that prediction to come to fruition.
Even though his Chiefs tenure was a bust, Thomas likely won’t have to wait long for a chance with a different franchise. Plenty of organizations are riddled with injuries at the moment and it wouldn’t be shocking if a desperate team is willing to roll the dice on him based on his age (24) and history as a former Day 2 selection.
