KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former member of the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback room is getting his next opportunity with an AFC rival.
Shane Buechele signed on with the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad, the team making an official announcement Thursday morning.
Buechele broke into the NFL as undrafted free agent with Kansas City in 2021. He first signed with the Chiefs’ practice squad that season and was elevated to the active roster in November of 2021.
He made strides this offseason and was competing with Blaine Gabbert for the team’s backup spot behind Patrick Mahomes, with offensive coordinator Matt Nagy saying he was firmly in the mix and Mahomes mentioning his progression.
“I think you’ve seen that over the years with (former Chiefs QB) Chad (Henne), you’ve seen it with (former Chiefs QB) Matt Moore and now you see it with Shane (Buechele), he’s getting better and better every single year,” Mahomes said last week.
However, when it came time to make cuts to drop the roster to 53 players, the team opted to go with the veteran Gabbert. General manager Brett Veach said the Chiefs had to make difficult choices based on the roster makeup.
“I think sometimes you have to make tough decisions; you know obviously Shane is a good football player and we loved having him around, certainly going to miss him,” Veach said Wednesday.
“We always say this to all the guys, at the end of the day make our jobs (hard) and put it on tape and that is where Blaine came out and won the job. So, it doesn’t make it any easier because I think there was a lot of trust and belief in Shane Buechele, and (I) love him as a player but it wasn’t an easy decision.”
Veach also described how Kansas City’s desire to keep some of its young talent and what they’ve had to do on defense due to Chris Jones’ contract situation and Charles Omenihu’s suspension played a role.
“I think just from a roster management standpoint and trying to navigate through the D-line and (Charles) Omenihu’s suspension and wanting some extra corners because they’re young, there’s just – sometimes roster decisions that you have to make and that was what we felt was best at the time.”