Louis Rees-Zammit unlikely to make Kansas City Chiefs roster for 2024 NFL season

Former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is expected to miss out when the Kansas City Chiefs name their 53-man roster for the 2024 NFL season on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Welshman appears likely to be assigned to the Chiefs’ practice squad to continue his development after swapping sports at the start of the year.

Rees-Zammit made his third appearance of the pre-season – the only games of organised American football he has played in his career – in Thursday’s 34-21 loss to the Chicago Bears, playing in a variety of roles.

The former Gloucester man recorded four carries for 21 yards and had a kick return of 36 yards, but also missed a tackle chasing a punt return and was unable to haul in the ball the only time he was targeted with a pass.

Most pundits agree that although Rees-Zammit has shown flashes of his talent, there has not yet been enough consistent production to be worthy of a roster spot as the Chiefs go in search of a third successive Super Bowl crown.

Asked about Rees-Zammit after Thursday’s game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said: “Yeah, we tried to get him the ball a little bit tonight, and he had some real positive yards.

“That’ll be good for him to see and study himself on that, in live action like that. He’s a heck of an athlete. It’s just a matter of getting more familiar with it as he goes here. We’ll see how everything works out for him.”

Rees-Zammit, who scored 14 tries in 32 appearances for Wales, announced in January he was quitting rugby, heading to Florida to take part in the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program before signing a three-year contract with the Chiefs in March.

But in order to actually make it in the NFL, Rees-Zammit would need to succeed where others have failed.

Former England and Wasps winger Christian Wade took the IPP route in 2019 and joined the Buffalo Bills, but although he scored a memorable 65-yard touchdown in pre-season, Wade never made a regular season appearance in the NFL before returning to rugby in 2022.

Christian Scotland-Williamson left Worcester in 2017 and spent three years trying to make it with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but likewise failed to make an appearance, and signed for Harlequins in 2021.

Former discus thrower Lawrence Okoye, who competed at the London Olympics in 2012, entered the 2013 NFL draft but was not selected, spending time with six different teams between 2015 and 2017 before returning to athletics having never made the field in the NFL.

The Chiefs have until 9pm BST on Tuesday to make their final roster cuts.