Breaking: Chiefs Make Roster Moves, Jaley Wirey to IR, Henderson Promoted

As the 2024-25 season rolls on, the Kansas City Chiefs continue to nurse various injuries and have to shuffle their roster picture as a result. Week 9 is no different, as the reigning Super Bowl champions were dealt the injury card once again on the offensive side of the ball.

Rookie tight end Jared Wiley suffered a non-contact knee ailment during practice this week, which head coach Andy Reid later revealed was a torn ACL. Reid announced on Saturday that ahead of Monday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Peyton Hendershot would come up from the practice squad to replace Wiley. That’s the exact plan Kansas City is following through with.

Per an announcement from the Chiefs on their official X account, Wiley is going on the injured reserve list. Hendershot is also joining the team via an active roster contract, as opposed to a standard elevation for just this week. Lastly, Anthony Firkser will take Hendershot’s place now that he’s signed to the practice squad.

Prior to Wiley going on the shelf, Kansas City was already suffering from questionable depth at the tight end position. In Week 8’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Jody Fortson hurt his knee with under a minute left. He shared via Instagram that he tore his ACL and meniscus on an onside kick recovery, thus leaving the team with one less tight end to work with.

Considering the heavy involvement of Travis Kelce and Noah Gray in the offense, the Chiefs won’t have a very tough time replacing WIley or Fortson. With that said, there are snaps that will need to be redistributed. Wiley had 94 offensive snaps played in seven games, and Fortson logged 40 in just three contests. Hendershot, an intriguing player the club originally traded for back in August ahead of the roster cutdown deadline, will be the go-to man there as tight end No. 3.

Firkser is a Harvard alum who actually signed to Kansas City’s practice squad in November of 2017. He later re-upped on a reserve/future contract the following January but was waived around NFL Draft time in 2018. He’s since bounced around the league and played regular-season games with the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions and New York Jets. The 29-year-old has 115 career receptions for 1,207 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also appeared in eight playoff games – five with Tennessee and three with Detroit.