{"id":292900,"date":"2026-07-20T13:30:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=292900"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:54:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T23:54:53","slug":"chiefs-rumors-felix-anudike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/20\/chiefs-rumors-felix-anudike\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Rumors: KC Likely to Dump Former Top Pick Before 2026 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following an injury-plagued 2025 season, the Kansas City Chiefs rumors project the team could move on from defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah before the new season. While the Chiefs had a disastrous season themselves, the defensive end hasn’t proven himself a reliable pass-rusher. Selected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the former Kansas State product missed the entire 2025 season with a hamstring injury. Although he showed some promise the previous year in 2024, recording 41 tackles (eight for loss), three sacks and 19 pressures, it’s time for the Chiefs’ defense to embrace the rebuild.<\/p>\n

The team took Peter Woods in the first round<\/a> this year while selecting R. Mason Thomas in the third. With these new faces, Anudike-Uzomah has an uphill battle to win his starting job with the Chiefs. Moe Moton of Bleacher Report<\/a> projected he could join the Chicago Bears via a trade, but will he generate any interest? It’s a “make-or-break” season for the former bust as he seeks to revive his career, but that might not happen anymore in Kansas City.<\/p>\n

\"Chiefs
Main Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chiefs Rumors: KC Likely to Dump Former Top Pick Before 2026 Season<\/h2>\n

A Release is Likely Than Trade<\/h3>\n

While Moton believes the defensive end is worth a late-round pick, it’s hard to envision any team spending that much draft capital on an unproven defensive end. Many teams are better off signing veteran free agents, including Jadeveon Clowney, Bobby Wagner<\/a> or Joey Bosa. However, if a team is truly desperate, he’ll be moved via a trade, but it’s not expected.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs will need to wait patiently to see how he performs this upcoming training camp. If he can’t exceed expectations or stay healthy, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him a free agent in August. Here are three teams willing to roll the dice on the former Kansas State product.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Potential Fits<\/h3>\n

Dallas Cowboys<\/h4>\n

This might be the best destination for Anudike-Uzomah. The Dallas Cowboys had one of the worst defenses last season, but have heavily improved their starting unit this offseason. The team took Jaishawn Barham<\/a> and Malachi Lawrence, while trading for Rashan Gary and Dee Winters<\/a>. However, there’s plenty of work to do on the defensive line.<\/p>\n

Dallas traded Osa Odighizuwa for draft capital to snag Lawrence and Barham, so maybe the former Kansas State product can revive his career with America’s team. Behind Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, he could earn his stripes and maybe regain his momentum in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers<\/h4>\n

After grabbing Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd in free agency, the Carolina Panthers have proven no mercy in improving the pass-rush. Tershawn Wharton faced a significant injury earlier this offseason<\/a>, and even though he’s returned, it’s still something to watch. Between Derrick Brown and Bobby Brown on the defensive line, could Anudike-Uzomah help streamline the corps? It won’t be the best solution, but at least it gives the Panthers another body to lean on if they lose anyone throughout the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/h4>\n

Meanwhile, what happened to Jim Harbaugh’s promise? He returned to the Los Angeles Chargers in hopes of turning the ship and raising the stakes on defense. Unfortunately, it’s been a complete failure. While they brought back Khalil Mack for one more season, they’ve only brought in free agent Dalvin Tomlinson<\/a>, and that was after they lost Otito Ogbonnia to Dallas. If the Chargers want to elevate their defense, they must prioritize upgrading its unit.<\/p>\n

It’s not like they don’t have the financial means to get it done. Los Angeles has another opportunity to roll the dice on Anudike-Uzomah to strengthen the defensive line behind Teair Tart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the latest Kansas City Chiefs rumors project a trade, the former Super Bowl champions could cut the former first-round pick before Week 1. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":292901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,30,23,19,16,18,6431],"tags":[7739,7642,7403,7811,7422,9805,1473,7576,7466,358,32193,7429,246,5812,34873,7661,4776],"class_list":["post-292900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-bears","category-cowboys","category-chiefs","category-chargers","category-nfl-teams","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-felix-anudike-uzomah","tag-jadeveon-clowney","tag-jaelan-phillips","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-khalil-mack","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-nfl-trade-rumors","tag-panthers-featured","tag-quinnen-williams"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292900"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292926,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292900\/revisions\/292926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}