Rees-Zammit misses out on Chiefs' 53-man squad

Louis Rees-Zammit played in all three of the Chiefs' pre-season games

Former rugby union star Louis Rees-Zammit has not been selected in the Kansas City Chiefs' 53-man squad for the 2024 season.

The former Wales winger, who quit rugby in January to pursue a career in the NFL, has been training with the Chiefs throughout the offseason.

The 23-year-old played in all three of their pre-season games, but missed out on the NFL's 'cutdown day'.

Teams have an offseason training squad of 90 players and must select 53 for the start of the season, for which the deadline was Tuesday.

Rees-Zammit's hopes of playing during the regular season are not over, though.

He will now be placed on waivers, meaning another team can sign him until 17:00 BST on Wednesday. If he goes unclaimed, as expected, he can continue training with the Chiefs as part of their practice squad.

That would give him more time to adapt to the sport, and the NFL champions can promote him to their active roster up to three times during the season. NFL teams can promote two players from their practice squad each game.

Rees-Zammit's NFL journey began with a 10-week training camp as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP).

He was then signed by the Chiefs, who have won the past two Super Bowls, and although he was earmarked as a running back, he played in a variety of positions during pre-season as the Chiefs tried to find his most suitable role.

But his chances of making the cut were dealt a blow on Monday when they re-signed experienced receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, giving him the number nine jersey that the Welsh rookie has worn during pre-season.

Did any IPP graduates make the cut?

Fellow IPP graduate Praise Olatoke was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers in June and although the former sprinter featured in their first pre-season game, the Scot was released the following week.

Former Gaelic footballers Charlie Smyth and Jude McAtamney also missed out despite playing in pre-season, with the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants respectively.

A shoulder injury meant Travis Clayton could not play in pre-season for the Buffalo Bills, who have designated the ex-Basingstoke rugby player as an injured reserve so he is set to continue training with the Bills once fit.

The other members of this year's IPP class still with NFL teams were Australia's Patrick Murtagh (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Bayron Matos (Miami Dolphins) of the Dominican Republic, and both were waived, although Murtagh is still recovering from a broken ankle he suffered in practice.

Meanwhile, NFL team owners have voted to allow private equity investment in a landmark move that could see billions of dollars in new funding in the league.

Historically, franchises have been run as family businesses or owned by wealthy individuals, but hand-picked firms are set to be allowed to purchase a team stake of up to 10%.

The last franchise to be sold was the Washington Commanders last year for a league-record of about £4.8bn.