The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs open the season on Sept. 10 against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs finished the 2019 regular season 12-4 and were champions of the AFC West for the fourth consecutive year. With 18 of their 22 starters returning -- led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his half-billion-dollar deal -- and their entire coaching staff intact, Kansas City is poised for another run at a championship.
Here's a 53-man roster projection:
QUARTERBACK (3): Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne, Matt Moore
Mahomes and Henne are set, and the Chiefs would keep just two in a normal year -- but this season is anything but usual. It makes little sense for the Chiefs to bring in a veteran like Moore late in the offseason, as they did, if they just planned to send him home at the end of training camp. Jordan Ta'amu heads to the practice squad.
RUNNING BACK (4): Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, Darwin Thompson, Anthony Sherman
The Chiefs have needed plenty of depth here in recent seasons, but they can afford not to go with more backs since Edwards-Helaire asserted himself in camp as the lead.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, Gehrig Dieter
The Chiefs are bringing back their top four wideouts from last season. That was a priority for them. They had to convince Watkins to accept a reduced contract and re-sign Robinson in order to make it happen.
TIGHT END (3): Travis Kelce, Ricky Seals-Jones, Nick Keizer
Deon Yelder didn't practice during camp, making the Chiefs' job here much easier.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Eric Fisher, Kelechi Osemele, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wylie, Mitchell Schwartz, Mike Remmers, Nick Allegretti, Greg Senat, Daniel Kilgore
Remmers and Allegretti should be the backups in uniform on game day if everybody is healthy.
DEFENSIVE LINE (9): Frank Clark, Alex Okafor, Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Taco Charlton, Khalen Saunders, Tershawn Wharton, Breeland Speaks
Mike Pennel's two-game suspension to begin the season, combined with an injury that kept Nnadi out of practice for most of camp, leaves the Chiefs short of players at the interior positions. A camp injury to rookie Mike Danna may have saved a roster spot for Speaks.
LINEBACKER (6): Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, Ben Niemann, Willie Gay, Dorian O'Daniel, Darius Harris
Gay, a second-round draft pick, and Harris, who was injured all of his rookie season in 2019, would be the new additions to this group.
SECONDARY (10): Charvarius Ward, Rashad Fenton, Tyrann Mathieu, Daniel Sorensen, L'Jarius Sneed, Antonio Hamilton, BoPete Keyes, Tedric Thompson, Juan Thornhill, Armani Watts
The Chiefs won't have starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who will serve a four-game NFL suspension to begin the season.
SPECIALIST (3): Harrison Butker, Tommy Townsend, James Winchester
The Chiefs' longtime trio was broken up by the offseason release of Dustin Colquitt. Townsend, an undrafted rookie, will be the first punter other than Colquitt to start a season since 2004.