After winning the Super Bowl in the last two seasons—making it three titles in five years—the Kansas City Chiefs want to write even more history with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in the 2024 NFL season.
But to stay at the top, teams often have to make tough decisions. This hasn’t been the exception in Kansas City, where the team had to let go players who have been part of their success in the last few years.
In a flurry of roster moves announced on Tuesday, the Chiefs confirmed that they’ve terminated the practice squad contract of offensive tackle Lucas Niang, who celebrated Super Bowls LVII and LVIII with Reid and Mahomes.
Niang’s time with Reid and Mahomes on the Chiefs
Selected with the 96th overall pick out of TCU in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chiefs, Niang got to make 33 appearances in five years at Arrowhead. He only made nine starts, all of them in 2021.
Offensive tackle Lucas Niang #77 stretches during Kansas City Chiefs practice ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on February 09, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada.
Things between the Chiefs and Niang already got off to a complicated start with the player opting out of the 2020 NFL season due to Covid-19. That pushed his rookie year to 2021, where Reid immediately saw him as a key protector for Mahomes on the right side.
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Unfortunately, injuries stood in Niang’s way early in his NFL career, with the player sustaining a shoulder injury that was followed by a rib injury before a knee injury ended his 2021 season.
Injuries changed everything for Niang in Kansas City
Niang never got to start after that year, though he racked up 21 appearances over the 2022 and 2023 NFL seasons. In the meantime, the Chiefs provided Reid and Mahomes with other options on the o-line, with Jawaan Taylor embracing the right tackle starting job.
The Chiefs had assigned Niang to their practice squad shortly after cutting him this season, but now decided to move on from him to make room for kicker Nick Wright, also a familiar face for Reid and Mahomes, as a potential insurance for Spencer Shrader.
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Other Super Bowl champions with Reid, Mahomes who left the Chiefs
Before releasing Niang, the Chiefs had already parted with several players who contributed to their recent success. Not long after Super Bowl LVIII, Kansas City waived wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling before trading cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans.
More low-profile contributors eventually packed their bags, with the likes of Matt Dickerson and Neil Farrell being hit by the roster cuts before the 2024 NFL season opener. Other players were released and brought back to the practice roster, including linebacker Cole Christiansen. Not long ago, the Chiefs cut another player who celebrated Super Bowl wins with Reid and Mahomes by releasing wide receiver Cornell Powell.
