DE Taco Charlton among Chiefs’ latest roster cuts

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs trimmed five players from the roster Monday ahead of the deadline to trim down to 80 players on the active roster.

Defensive end Taco Charlton, safety Will Parks and guard Bryan Witzmann were released, while linebacker Riley Cole and quarterback Anthony Gordon were waived, the team announced Monday morning via social media.

All NFL teams must reduce rosters from 85 to 80 players by 3 p.m. on Tuesday with the final roster cuts ahead of the regular season — from 80 to 53 players — slated to happen before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

Charlton, a former first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, signed with the Chiefs before the 2020 season. He had two sacks and a forced fumble in seven games before a broken ankle ended his season early.

"Taco is going to play in the league," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "He's too good of a player not to. It just didn't work out in this case."

Reid said releasing Charlton was "a tougher decision" and he hopes he can "hook on with someone" or "maybe eventually comes back here."

Parks, who is in his sixth NFL season, has appeared in 72 games since being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round in 2016.

He was competing with veteran Armani Watts and undrafted rookie Devon Key for a safety spot on the back end of Kansas City’s roster.

Witzmann played in 11 games for the Chiefs in 2016 and started 13 games for Kansas City in 2017 before spending seasons with Chicago and Carolina.

He appeared in one game for the Chiefs last season, but depth across the offensive line has become a strength for Kansas City after a striking offseason transformation, which made Witzmann expendable.

Cole is an undrafted rookie from South Alabama, while Gordon, who went undrafted out of Washington State, was competing for the third quarterback job with fellow undrafted rookie Shane Beuchele.