A former Kansas City Chiefs second-round draft pick is looking for work after being released by his team on Friday.
According to the NFL’s daily personnel notice, the Chicago Bears have released former Chiefs DE Tanoh Kpassagnon from their 53-man roster. Kpassagnon was a second-round draft pick in 2017 out of Villanova. He appeared in 61 games with 24 starts for the Chiefs over the span of four years, recording 75 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven sacks, 18 QB hits, five passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Kpassagnon joined the Saints in free agency in 2021, spending four years in New Orleans before joining former Chiefs executive Ryan Poles and former Saints coach Dennis Allen with the Chicago Bears in 2025. Kpassagnon didn’t make the initial 53-man roster with Chicago and was elevated from the practice squad for three games before he was signed to the active roster ahead of the Week 4 tilt with the Las Vegas Raiders. In four games, the nine-year NFL veteran totaled five tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack, and two QB hits.
Why Kansas City could be intrigued to make a play for Tanoh Kpassagnon
The likeliest scenario here is that Kpassgnon returns to the Bears’ practice squad, but if you’re Kansas City, you’ve got to be at least partially enticed by his availability. The Chiefs’ pass rush has struggled to get consistent productivity without blitzing. Kpassagnon has become one of the more productive rotational defensive linemen in the league in his time away from the team. Check out his sack from Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings:
Tanoh Kpassagnon’s sack production since leaving Kansas City
- 2021: 4 sacks (8 games played)
- 2022: 2 sacks (15 games played)
- 2023: 3.5 sacks (17 games played)
- 2024: No sacks (3 games played)
- 2025: 1 sack (4 games played)
This isn’t exactly the type of player you bring in to fix a pass-rush problem, but there’s little denying that adding him to the practice squad or even the 53-man roster could help raise the floor for an underperforming part of the defense. Beggars can’t be choosers, and right now, the Chiefs don’t have many options for improvement.
