Chiefs Sign Former First-Round WR to Reserve/Future Deal

The Kansas City Chiefs have the week off because they earned the AFC's only bye week for the first round of the conference playoffs. That doesn't mean the team isn't working, though, as general manager Brett Veach made an acquisition on Monday afternoon.

After Field Yates of ESPN first reported that the Chiefs worked out former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants wide receiver John Ross, he later circled back and added that the 27-year-old is officially signing a Reserve/Future deal with Kansas City:

Update: the Chiefs are signing WR John Ross to a Reserve/Future deal, per source.

Fun fact: the Chiefs now have the 9th and 10th picks from the 2017 NFL Draft with their franchise.

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Field Yates (@FieldYates) on Monday, January 9th, 2023 at 4:36 p.m. CST

Ross, who was selected one pick before Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes (ninth overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft, is known for breaking the NFL Combine record for the fastest 40-yard dash time at 4.22 seconds. The former Washington standout never quite put everything together as a member of the Bengals, although he did have 506 receiving yards and three touchdowns in just eight games back in 2019. He played in just three games in his final year as a Bengal, however, hauling in a pair of passes for 17 yards.

In March of 2021, Ross signed a one-year deal with the Giants and spent the beginning of the regular season on the injured reserve list. He went on to play in 10 games for New York, starting one of them and recording 11 receptions on 20 targets for 224 yards and one touchdown. In his first appearance of the campaign, he had 77 yards and a score.

Ross didn't play in a regular-season game in 2022-23, and the nature of his new contract with the Chiefs makes him a potential piece for the next several months. Durability and productivity have both remained question marks throughout his NFL career, but Veach is known for taking chances on former first-round picks and attempting to get something out of them. He clearly sees something in Ross. Now, Ross will be presented with an opportunity to stick with Kansas City through an offseason program and see where things go from there if the team opts to keep him around. This is a low-risk investment by the Chiefs with an off chance of producing some level of return in the future.

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