{"id":855461,"date":"2026-04-05T17:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855461\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T17:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:40:18","slug":"felix-anudike-uzomahs-chiefs-exit-looks-likelier-than-ever-after-fa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855461\/","title":{"rendered":"Felix Anudike-Uzomah\u2019s Chiefs Exit Looks Likelier Than Ever After FA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5h\">The Kansas City Chiefs are retooling their defense after a rough 2025 campaign, but that may have not been necessary if Felix Anudike-Uzomah lived up to his potential. A first-round pick in the 2023 draft, Anudike-Uzomah had a pair of nondescript seasons before missing all of last year with a severe hamstring injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5k\">Entering his fourth season, it\u2019s officially now or never for the Kansas State product. While the Chiefs haven\u2019t made a significant move to their pass rush during free agency, the buzz signals there is one on the way and it could mean that Anudike-Uzomah\u2019s chances of leaving Kansas City are likelier than ever as the first wave of free agency concludes.<\/p>\n<p>Cam Jordan, Draft Rumors Could Be Beginning of the End for Felix Anudike-Uzomah\u2019s time with Chiefs<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">As the Chiefs enter the month of April, there are plenty of ways they can boost their pass rush. Former New Orleans Saints edge rusher <a href=\"https:\/\/kckingdom.com\/chiefs-facing-2-paths-cam-jordan-buzz-grows-01kmgpnacc3a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Jordan has been soliciting himself to Kansas City<\/a> since free agency began and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StoneColdJones\/status\/2031817249250553889?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">has a big advocate in Chiefs star Chris Jones. <\/a>While the Chiefs may not add Jordan immediately to protect their compensatory picks for the 2027 draft, Jordan\u2019s presence is just one of\u00a0 several threats to Anudike-Uzomah\u2019s roster spot.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">If the Chiefs keep Jordan waiting, the draft is another area where Anudike-Uzomah will have to watch his back. While Kansas City will be looking for corners after the departures of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson this offseason, they could also be on the lookout for edge rushers, <a href=\"https:\/\/kckingdom.com\/felix-anudike-uzomah-worried-chiefs-rueben-bain-jr-interest-01kjbg8tkm10\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">specifically Miami\u2019s Rueben Bain Jr.<\/a> and David Bailey of Texas Tech. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">The 29th overall pick could be another spot the Chiefs could look for pass rushing help and could be a theme with each of Kansas City\u2019s nine total picks, including three in the top 40.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">With the added possibility the Chiefs could go all-in by signing Jordan and adding a pass rusher in the draft, it\u2019s not a great time to be Anudike-Uzomah. But that could have changed if he lived up to his draft status.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\">Anudike-Uzomah looked like a future cornerstone of Steve Spagnuolo\u2019s defense after recording 101 total tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss and 20.5 sacks in three seasons with the Wildcats. The 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year cashed into stay with his hometown Chiefs, but it hasn\u2019t panned out with just 41 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and three sacks through his first three seasons.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Those numbers aren\u2019t good enough for a Kansas City defense that ranked 13th in pressure rate (23.6%) but 23rd in sacks (35) last season. It\u2019s also not good enough for the Chiefs to pick up Anudike-Uzomah\u2019s fifth-year option, as it is expected to be declined and potentially set the stage for his last season in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Perhaps Anudike-Uzomah will recover from his injury and take the leap that many have been waiting for. But after watching last year go down the drain, the Chiefs can\u2019t put all of their faith into Anudike-Uzomah in 2026 and April could be the prelude to the end of his time in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p>More Kansas City Chiefs News &amp; Rumors: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kansas City Chiefs are retooling their defense after a rough 2025 campaign, but that may have not&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-855461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116353330429831627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}