Chiefs waived two injured CBs and brought in fresh camp competition

In a series of moves that show just how difficult life can be as a fringe roster player in the National Football League, the Kansas City Chiefs reshuffled some depth pieces at cornerback on Friday to get healthier at the position.

The Chiefs officially waived both Darius Rush and Eric Scott with injury designations. They went on to fill those roster spots with healthy corners who recently tried out for the team in Azizi Hearn and Ajani Carter.

Both Rush and Scott had been dealing with hamstring concerns that kept them out of practice before Thursday's day off in Chiefs training camp. Coming back to work on Friday for another padded practice, the Chiefs introduced the new faces in an effort to stay ahead of further injury issues at the position, considering they're also missing Kristian Fulton on the Physically Unable to Play list.

The Chiefs made a series of roster moves on Friday after a day off in St. Joseph.

Scott first arrived at the end of last summer as a waiver claim from the Dallas Cowboys, who had released him before active rosters were due last preseason. Scott was Dallas's sixth-round draft choice in 2023. He spent the year on the Chiefs' practice squad and was invited back with a futures deal in 2025.

As for Rush, he's a former fifth-round choice of the Indianapolis Colts in 2023 but failed to make the team's active roster and was claimed by the Chiefs in the process. However, he was relegated to K.C.'s practice squad and the Pittsburgh Steelers poached him after a month. He would last one full year in Pittsburgh before being waived, and Rush found a home back in K.C. on the practice squad last year.

Both Rush and Scott are eligible to return to the Chiefs on their injured reserve if they clear waivers.

As for their replacements, Azizi Hearn has been around the block several times with the Chiefs as his fifth NFL team since entering the league as a rookie free agent out of UCLA. He had 40 tackles and led the Bruins with 7 pass deflections in 2022 before latching on with the Raiders out of college. He spent that summer in Las Vegas before finding a home for the next year with the Patriots with short stays in Carolina and New York (Giants) in 2024.

Carter is just beginning his NFL journey after going unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft as a prospect from the University of Houston. Carter had 22 total tackles, 3 of them for a loss, and 3 pass deflections in 2024 for the Cougars.

The Chiefs also added wide receiver Key'Shawn Smith in the place of recently released punter Eddie Czaplicki to round out the 90-man roster.