HEADLINES

Justin Watson

Chiefs’ Justin Watson To Miss Extended Time

October 13th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

4:00pm: An MRI has produced encouraging results in Watson’s case. No signficant damage was found, per Rapoport, meaning his absence may not be as lengthy as initially feared. Watson should still be expected to miss time, but his injury will likely not be season-ending given the latest update, something which will be welcomed news for a passing offense still seeking to reach its previous heights.

12:12pm: As deeper-league fantasy GMs have discovered, the Chiefs are not leaning on a particular wide receiver this season. Even though the Super Bowl champions veered in this direction last year, after trading Tyreek Hill, JuJu Smith-Schuster still approached 1,000 yards and operated as the team’s nominal No. 1 wideout. No such player resides in that role now.

The Chiefs have used nearly all their receivers regularly. Justin Watson resides among this batch of Travis Kelce sidekicks, but the Chiefs will need to adjust their group after his injury Thursday night. The sixth-year veteran suffered a dislocated elbow that will shut him down for at least a few weeks, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

Given the nature of this injury, Watson moving to IR seems like a safe bet, as Rapoport adds this upcoming absence could last longer than a few games depending on MRI results. Watson leads the Chiefs with 21.9 yards per reception. Among Kansas City wide receivers, the veteran sits second on the team with 219 receiving yards — behind only Rashee Rice‘s 245. Despite missing Week 1, Kelce leads the way with 346.

Kansas City re-signed Watson in April, and after letting Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman walk in free agency, the team has given the former Buccaneers fifth-round pick a bigger role. Watson caught just 15 passes last season, though he averaged 21 yards per grab. Through five full games this season, Watson produced at least 45 receiving yards in four. Five of his 10 receptions have gone for at least 20 yards, but the veteran role player’s progress will stall for the foreseeable future.

Watson has outperformed Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kansas City’s top 2022 deep threat, this year. MVS has just seven catches for 116 yards through six games, though he and 2022 second-rounder Skyy Moore have led the team’s receiving corps in offensive snaps. Neither starter has done too much with the playing time, however. Watson’s 136 snaps sat third among K.C. wideouts. A 2018 fifth-round pick out of Penn, Watson spent four seasons with the Bucs. The Chiefs picked up Watson in February 2022 and gave him a two-year, $3.4MM contract this offseason.

The team has used Rice increasingly as the season has unfolded, and 2022 UDFA Justyn Ross has played sparingly. While injuries and inconsistency have seemingly impeded Kadarius Toney‘s path to a WR1 role, the 2022 trade pickup has played in all six games this season. The Chiefs have beaten one winning team so far — a 17-9 win over the Jaguars in Week 2 — and they scored just 19 points against the Broncos’ last-ranked defense. The team will likely need more from its makeshift WR group as the competition increases.

Chiefs Re-Sign WR Justin Watson

April 14th, 2023 at 6:53pm CST by Ely Allen

After a one-year tryout contract, Kansas City has decided to extend wide receiver Justin Watson‘s tenure with the Chiefs, according to the Twitter account of Watson’s agency, JL Sports. The Chiefs signed him to a new two-year contract worth $3.5MM, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The deal includes a guaranteed amount of $1.4MM and a potential $2.5MM in escalators and incentives that could bring the overall value of the contract up to $6MM.

In an offense that lost star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and saw both Mecole Hardman and Kadarius Toney miss much of the season with injuries, Watson provided some reliable depth. The Chiefs saw three new free agent additions lead their wide receiving corps last season as JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Watson were first, second, and third at the position in receiving yards.

Although Watson ranked only fifth on the team in receiving, 2022 was a career year for him. He matched career-highs in catches (15) and touchdowns (2) but expanded his route tree a bit down the field as he nearly doubled his previous high in receiving yards with 315, despite having the same number of receptions as his previous high. Last year was also extremely productive for Watson in terms of proving that he could stay on the field after only appearing in one game for the Buccaneers in 2021. In his first season with the Chiefs, Watson played in every game (except the AFC Championship game), starting five contests.

Kansas City lost Smith-Schuster and Hardman to free agency this offseason but return Valdes-Scantling, Toney, and second-year wideout Skyy Moore. The Chiefs also brought in former 49ers and Giants wide receiver Richie James and return a number of receivers who were on the roster but didn’t record any offensive statistics last season.

The losses of Smith-Schuster and Hardman open a door for Watson to increase his role on the Chiefs offense, but he’ll have to beat out James and several other backups for those targets. Regardless, Watson provides the Chiefs with consistent depth at the wide receiver position as well as a player who can contribute on offense and special teams.

Chiefs Sign Justin Watson, Audition Shane Ray

February 4th, 2022 at 3:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite his first-round pedigree, Shane Ray has not played in a regular-season game since his Broncos rookie contract expired after the 2018 season. The Chiefs are checking on the former Broncos edge rusher, however.

Ray worked out for the Chiefs on Friday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The former University of Missouri pass rusher is a Kansas City native. The Chiefs also met with former Buccaneers wide receiver Justin Watson and tight end Josh Pederson, the son of new Jaguars HC Doug Pederson. Watson has since signed with the Chiefs, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

The Toronto Argonauts signed Ray last year, and he played five games with the CFL team. Ray, 28, worked as a starter opposite Von Miller in 15 games from 2016-17. Both Ray and Shaquil Barrett were rotational backups on Denver’s dominant Super Bowl-winning defense in 2015, but the duo’s paths diverged in the years that followed. Beyond Ray’s eight-sack 2016, he could not come especially close to justifying Denver’s 2015 first-round investment.

A fifth-round Bucs pick in 2018, Watson caught two touchdown passes during the 2019 season but did not see the field much during the franchise’s Tom Brady seasons. He suited up for 11 games during the 2020 season, playing in the NFC championship game that Antonio Brown missed, but only played in one this season.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/18/22

January 18th, 2022 at 6:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/15/22

January 15th, 2022 at 9:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Dallas Cowboys

Kansas City Chiefs

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/24/21

December 24th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the NFL moves from Christmas Eve:

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Buccaneers Reduce Roster To 53

August 31st, 2021 at 5:46pm CST by Ben Levine

The defending Super Bowl champs made a long list of moves today to get down to the 53-man roster limit. The Buccaneers made the following transactions:

Waived

Waived/Injured

  • T Brad Seaton

Released

Placed on reserve/PUP list

Griffin had been with the Buccaneers organization since the 2015 season, but he’s only seen time in a pair of games. After winning a ring last season, the veteran re-signed with the organization this offseason. For the time being, Blaine Gabbert and rookie Kyle Trask will serve as Tom Brady‘s backups.

Mickens is another notable cut, as the 27-year-old served as one of Tampa Bay’s primary return men in 2020. Mickens finished the campaign with 16 punt returns for 99 yards and 14 kick returns for 340 yards.

Buccaneers WR Justin Watson Out 4 Months

July 24th, 2021 at 6:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Buccaneers’ group of pass-catchers just got a bit thinner as they look to defend their Super Bowl title. Receiver Justin Watson had surgery on his knee and is expected to miss about four months, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

That would explain why Tampa placed him on the PUP list earlier today. Watson played a real role on last year’s Super Bowl team, playing about 15 percent of the offensive snaps while also contributing on special teams. He only finished with seven catches for 94 yards though. The knee surgery was for a patella tendon injury, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM radio was told (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Watson was “likely on the bubble already” for a roster spot, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Now, however, “he could return in second half of the season for depth and special teams help.” If Schefter’s four-month timetable is accurate, that would put him on track to return sometime around Week 11.

The Bucs drafted Watson in the fifth-round out of Penn back in 2018. He’s currently set to enter the final year of his rookie deal. His most productive season was in 2019, when he had 15 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/21

July 24th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Ray Wilborn
  • Placed on active/PUP list: RB Patrick Taylor

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

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