Chiefs Waive Rookie WR Described as ‘Practice Squad Candidate’: Report

The Kansas City Chiefs have not revealed many of their roster cuts ahead of the NFL’s 53-man roster cutdown on August 26.

Reserve quarterback Bailey Zappe was reportedly waived, along with rookie offensive lineman Dalton Cooper, but it was all quiet on the western front aside from those two moves until the first wide receiver cut rolled in.

On the evening of August 25, KPRC 2 NFL insider Aaron Wilson reported that the Chiefs are waiving undrafted rookie wide receiver Hal Presley, “per a league source.” Wilson added that Presley is a “good practice squad candidate, if he goes unclaimed off waivers.”

Presley was signed after Justyn Ross requested his release. The Chiefs brought in a trio of WR tryouts at the time, and the undrafted rookie won the job.

Having said that, it’s been a pretty quiet summer for the 6-foot-3 UDFA since then.

Kansas City has rostered several undrafted wide receivers this training camp and preseason, and Presley was the least talked about to make the roster. That’s not to say he has no shot at a practice squad spot as Wilson reported, but rookies like Elijhah Badger, Mac Dalena and Jimmy Holiday have earned much more hype throughout July and August.

Before entering the NFL, Presley spent all four of his collegiate seasons at Baylor. He recorded a career-high 429 receiving yards in 2024, with 1,048 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns over his collegiate career.

Comparing Chiefs’ 53-Man Roster Cutdown Projections at WR

Wide receiver has been one of the more hotly contested training camp and preseason battles for the Chiefs in 2025, but with less than 24 hours to go before the 53-man roster cutdown, all the official predictions are in — and it’s basically a clean sweep.

Now, to be clear, this does not mean that the Chiefs agree with the media, but if you check in on each of the 53-man projections from some of the top beat reporters around the KC community, they pretty much all agree on the WR corps.

According to KSHB 41’s Nick Jacobs, The Athletic’s Jesse Newell, and Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick, KC will keep seven wide receivers with the potential of a Rashee Rice suspension looming.

Aside from Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Jalen Royals and JuJu Smith-Schuster, they each have bubble candidates Tyquan Thornton and Nikko Remigio making the Week 1 roster.

“The top six guys became clear as the preseason progressed,” Newell wrote. “Remigio, meanwhile, gets elevated in this final projection after some good moments as a receiver in Friday’s preseason finale.”

“Roster cut day can be all about trying to keep as many assets as possible, and Remigio was cut last year and cleared waivers before joining the team’s practice squad and establishing a role late in the season,” he explained. “The Chiefs could try that process again next week while hoping Remigio will make it back to them for a second consecutive year. But maybe it’s simpler to just go into Week 1 without worrying about what to do at punt returner if Remigio happened to be claimed.”

Derrick agreed with Newell, stressing that “there is no experienced punt returner on the club outside Remigio.”

Jason Brownlee Could Be the Odd Man Out for the Chiefs at the Roster Cutdown

In each of the 53-man projections from the KC beat reporters mentioned above, Jason Brownlee was the odd man out who just barely missed the cut.

“Brownlee got a handful of opportunities, but needed to make some splash plays to make the decision tougher,” Jacobs noted within his projection.

While Newell stated that “Brownlee is a practice-squad candidate regardless of what happens with Remigio, as he provides a jump-ball, red zone threat that the Chiefs could use at some point if injuries arise.”

With only so many practice squad spots to go around, we’ll see if a rookie like Presley makes the cut.