Louis Rees-Zammit fails to make Kansas City Chiefs roster

Louis Rees-Zammit’s dream of making it to the NFL hangs in the balance after he failed to make the Kansas City Chiefs roster for the upcoming season.Rees-Zammit quit rugby earlier this year to pursue a career in the NFL and was signed by the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.He spent the summer trying to earn one of the 53 spots on the active squad but was cut earlier this evening.Rees-Zammit can still be signed by another team and will be hoping to find a spot on a practice squad.

The former Wales star had three matches to impress during pre-season but had limited involvement and lacked that blockbuster moment that would have grabbed headlines.

But the 23-year-old improved with every game and made some handy contributions in the second half of his final outing against the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Andy Reid has lauded his athleticism throughout the summer and handed Rees-Zammit a spot on the Chiefs practice squad.

So what happens to him now?

Rees-Zammit's hopes of playing during the regular season are not over as he will now be placed on waivers, meaning another team can sign him.

However, he is expected to continue training with the Chiefs as part of their practice squad.

There will be certain financial implications as had he made the active squad, the Welshman would have made around $900,000 per year. On the practice squad, he will be taking home $230,000 of guaranteed money. By no means an insignificant sum but still a significant drop off.

His day-to-day life will also be different to that of those on the active roster.

The role of practice squad players is essentially to run opposition for the starting players in training to prepare them for the weekend’s fixture.

Rees-Zammit will be tasked with studying the intricacies of opposition players and mirroring them in training to get the active roster players ready for what is to come.

But it means he will still get plenty of face time with the coaching staff and remain part of the Chiefs environment.

The hope is that he can take on board more knowledge and develop a better understanding of the intricacies of the game.

Rees-Zammit’s physical attributes are undeniable but he is a work-in-progress when it comes to identifying where the gaps are on an NFL field, particularly when plays develop at such a rapid speed.

But another year in the inner circle of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions will do him no harm at all in that regard.

All that being said, he is not resigned to simply holding a tackle bag all season, to borrow rugby parlance.

Players on the practice squad can be promoted to the active roster on three separate occasions throughout the regular season, so there is still a chance that he could see some action. NFL teams can also promote two players from their practice squad each game.

But he would likely need one of the players in his position to pick up an injury for his services to be called upon.

There are however two other outcomes.

Another team could swoop in now and sign him to an active roster spot. However, it would seem unlikely that another team would be willing to take a pretty big - and expensive - punt on what would be considered a project player.

There is also the threat that the Chiefs could decide to cut their losses and release him at any point during the season.

At this point, it is worth remembering that Rees-Zammit has played just three games of organised American football and he’s competing with players who have done so since they could run.

This year will be about learning as much as possible in live situations, becoming more comfortable with the speed at which decisions need to be made.

Then next summer, he will do it all again and bid to convince the coaches that he deserves a spot on the active roster next season.

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