Chiefs sign another familiar face after waiving promising young safety at training camp

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to churn their 90-man offseason roster as training camp gets underway.

On Sunday, the Chiefs signed a familiar face in TE Izaiah Gathings. This came after TE Gerrit Prince suffered an apparent foot injury during the rookie/QB headstart at practice and was given an injury waiver. Now, the reigning Super Bowl champions have another familiar face returning to the 90-man offseason roster, presumably due to another injury. 

Multiple reports indicate that the Chiefs have waived S Trey Dean III and replaced him with S Tyree Gillespie. The former Missouri Tiger originally joined the practice squad in Kansas City  back in December after Bryan Cook's Week 13 injury. Gillespie made it exactly one month with the team before he was released from the practice squad to make room for DT Isaiah Buggs. 

Gillespie was later signed to the 90-man offseason roster on the same day that P Matt Araiza became a Chief, but that was also short-lived. The Chiefs waived Gillespie ahead of rookie minicamp in May to make room for a number of undrafted free agent signings. 

Here's some background on Gillespie from when he first joined the team: 

Gillespie was a fourth-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL draft and a teammate of Chiefs LB Nick Bolton, who was a second-round pick in the same draft class. The University of Missouri product spent a single season with the Las Vegas Raiders and has since spent time with the Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans. He was waived/injured by the Texans back in August. Gillespie hasn't played much during his NFL career with just eight career tackles since he entered the league in 2021.

Gillespie ran a 4.41 40-yard dash ahead of the 2021 NFL draft at the Missouri Pro Day. That speed will be intriguing for the likes of both special teams coordinator Dave Toub and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. That doesn't necessarily mean that Gillespie will earn playing time in short order. 

As far as Trey Dean III's departure, we've yet to see the reason behind the move to release the promising young safety. The former undrafted free agent spent the 2023 NFL season with the New York Jets before joining the Chiefs' practice squad for the team's playoff run last season. Typically, these types of moves occur when a player suffers an injury that will keep them out of training camp for a chunk of time. If Dean was waived-injured (we'll likely find out on the NFL's personnel notice released later today), he could revert to injured reserve should he not be claimed by another NFL team. At that juncture, he can agree on an injury settlement with the team.