Kansas City Chiefs sign TE Tre Watson to a reserve/future contract after year of development on practice squad

The move to bring back Watson means that the Chiefs have four tight ends under contract for the 2026 NFL season, alongside Noah Gray, Jared Wiley, and fellow 2025 undrafted free agent Jake Briningstool. Travis Kelce, of course, remains undecided on retirement and is a pending free agent.

If you're unfamiliar with reserve/future contracts, the players who sign them won’t officially join the team until the 2026 league year begins in March. They're basically reserving spots on the 90-man offseason roster, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they won't be replaced by free agents, draft picks, or undrafted free agents down the line.

Tre Watson brings the Chiefs up to 7 players signed to reserve/future contracts

The Chiefs have been very selective in terms of their reserve future deals. They've now signed five players who were on the team's practice squad during the 2025 NFL season. They've signed just two outside free agents to reserve/future deals.

• WR Andrew Armstrong
• LB Kam Arnold
• DT Marcus Harris
• WR Jimmy Holiday
• RB ShunDerrick Powell
• OT Matt Waletzko
• TE Tre Watson

Expect that a few more of these deals could trickle in for Kansas City over the next several weeks.

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Jan 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.