Chiefs lose former first-round pick to injury that changes everything

The Kansas City Chiefs came away with a significant number of injury concerns from the team's second preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. As if the lackluster overall effort wasn't bad enough, the Chiefs lost a number of defenders on the night—including one for the full 2025 season.

Defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah is going to be placed on injured reserve, per Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, in his latest remarks to the press. That ends the '25 season before it even starts for the former first-round choice.

The Chiefs selected Anudike-Uzomah as their first selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, a hometown weekend celebrating the NFL's decision to hold the three-day draft in Kansas City, which provided a significant economic boost to the region. The Chiefs drafted FAU to great applause given his hometown connections, but so far, the on-field results have been minimal.

Felix Anudike-Uzomah's long-term outlook just took a devastating turn.

Anudike-Uzomah struggled to even earn much playing in his rookie campaign, with only 20 percent of snaps played across 17 appearances in 2023. Last year, that total climbed to 31 percent of snaps as he played in every regular season game once again, but establishing career marks (such as 10 pressures or 2.5 sacks) doesn't mean much if the thresholds were low to begin with.

This year was already set to be a turning point for Anudike-Uzomah one way or another. Coming into his third season, FAU faced more pressure than ever to perform better or else find himself washed further down the depth chart.

Having a healthy Charles Omenihu to start the season and the presence of rookie Ashton Gillotte, taken in the third round out of Louisville, meant that Anudike-Uzomah was fighting for the DE5 role with Malik Herring and Janarius Robinson, among others.

Unfortunately for Anudike-Uzomah and the Chiefs, the Kansas State product was lost late in the game last Friday in Seattle, adding to a number of other injured players who left the field early as well. That list included cornerback Nazeeh Johnson, safety Mike Edwards, and linebacker Jack Cochrane.

At this point, it's hard to see a positive path forward for Anudike-Uzomah with the Chiefs. There's no way the Chiefs pick up his fifth-year option for 2027 (that comes with all first-round picks per the collective bargaining agreement). He also carries a $3.7 million cap hit for 2026, while the dead cap hit to release him would be slight south of $1.4 million.

Is this the end for Anudike-Uzomah in Kansas City? It's impossible to say for sure, but this is definitely a very dark turn on a path that was already struggling to find the light.