Kenneth Walker isn’t the only running back the Chiefs are signing.
They agreed to terms with running back Emari Demercado on a one-year deal on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
The Chiefs needed help at the position with Isiah Pacheco leaving in free agency and Kareem Hunt still a free agent. Brashard Smith and ShunDerrick Powell are the other running backs on the roster.
Demercado, 27, totaled 176 touches for 1,143 yards and four touchdowns in his three seasons with the Cardinals.
In 13 games in 2025, Demercado rushed for 312 yards on 44 carries and caught 13 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Chiefs Clips
The Chiefs parted ways with a pair of cornerbacks this week when they traded Trent McDuffie to the Rams and Jaylen Watson followed him to the NFC West club as a free agent, but Thursday found them starting to replenish the depth chart.
Agents David Canter and Ness Mugrabi told Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN that their client Kader Kohou has agreed to terms with the Chiefs.
Kohou missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his ACL during Dolphins training camp. He started 38 games over his first three seasons in Miami and had 180 tackles, three interceptions, a sack, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Kristian Fulton, Nohl Williams and Chris Roland-Wallace are also part of a cornerback group that should see more additions over the course of the offseason.
Free agent defensive end Charles Omenihu agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Commanders on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. The deal includes $3 million in incentives.
Omenihu, 28, has spent the past three seasons with the Chiefs.
In 2025, he played all 17 games and tied his career-high with 28 tackles. Omenihu also contributed 3.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits.
He has only 12 starts in seven seasons and last started a game in 2024 but could start opponent Tim Settle with the Commanders.
Omenihu entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Texans in 2019 and also has spent time with the 49ers as well as the Chiefs.
In his career, Omenihu has totaled 129 tackles and 23 sacks.
The Chiefs are re-signing wide receiver Nikko Remigio, his representation, Equity Sports, posted on social media.
Remigio, 26, was a pending exclusive rights free agent.
He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2023, and he played games for the team the past two seasons. Remigio has seen action on 70 offensive snaps and 147 on special teams in 19 games, with one start.
He has totaled four touches for 80 yards and 40 kickoff returns for a 25.9-yard average.
Remigio played 14 games last season.
Linebacker Leo Chenal is signing a three-year, $24.75 million deal with the Commanders, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Chenal, 25, ranks 20th on PFT’s list of top-100 free agents.
He entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the Chiefs in 2022 and spent his first four seasons in Kansas City, winning two Super Bowls.
In his career, Chenal has appeared in 65 games with 44 starts. He has totaled 218 tackles, seven sacks, 17 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, an interception, six passes defensed and three forced fumbles.
The Lions have replaced running back David Montgomery, who will officially be traded on Wednesday to the Texans.
Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Lions have agreed to terms with former Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco.
Pacheco, a seventh-round pick in 2022, has appeared in 51 regular-season games with 42 starts. Once the Chiefs agreed to terms with running back Kenneth Walker III, Pacheco’s return to the Chiefs became highly unlikely.
He had a career-high 935 rushing yards in 2023. Last year, he gained only 462 rushing yards in 13 games, with 12 starts. Still, he runs with an intensity that will help move the sticks between the tackles.
In Detroit, Pacheco will become the clear No. 2 to emerging star Jahmyr Gibbs, and insurance in the event Gibbs is injured.
Terms have not yet been reported. Whatever the deal is worth, Gibbs is likely to get a contract before the season begins that will put him at the top of the market.
Gibbs shouldn’t set foot on the practice field until he gets a new deal.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce says he’s as enthusiastic as ever as he heads into his 14th season in Kansas City.
Kelce told Pat McAfee that he still loves playing football and that he believes Chiefs GM Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid are serious about putting a team together that can win a Super Bowl this year. Kelce particularly praised the move to sign Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker away from the Seahawks.
“Making another run at it and the Chiefs are making moves,” Kelce said. “We’ve got Brett Veach and Andy Reid going and getting the Super Bowl MVP.”
Kelce said he thinks his teammates are all in agreement that they need to be a lot better than last year, and that starts with hard work in the offseason.
“I need to get back into the gym and hunker down and get back to the craft,” Kelce said. “We’ve got to be even hungrier than we were before. . . . There’s a lot of dog mentality right now to get this thing fixed.”
And Kelce is ready to work toward one more ring.
The Chiefs are re-signing wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Thornton, 25, originally joined the Chiefs’ practice squad on Nov. 18, 2024. He signed a futures contract after the 2024 season and had a career year in 2025.
He caught 19 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns last season, while averaging 26.4 yards on 18 kickoff returns.
The Patriots drafted Thornton in the second round in 2022, but he was with them for less than three full seasons.
Thornton made 39 receptions for 385 yards and two touchdowns in 28 games with the Patriots.
The Chiefs, who have lost several defensive backs in recent days, have added one.
Via NFL Media, Kansas City has agreed to terms with Ravens safety Alohi Gilman. It’s a three-year, $24.75 million deal, with $15 million fully guaranteed.
Gilman was a sixth-round pick of the Chargers in 2020. He was traded to the Ravens during the 2025 season, as part of the Odafe Oweh trade.
Gilman, who played college football at Notre Dame, started five games for the Chargers last year, and 12 for the Ravens. For his career, he has 85 regular-season appearances and 51 starts.
He agrees to terms on the same day former Chiefs safety Bryan Cook agreed to terms with the Bengals.
The Chiefs have now lost three cornerbacks in less than a week — one via trade, and two in free agency.
The latest to go if Joshua Williams. A fourth-round pick in 2022, NFL Media reports that Williams has agreed to terms with the Titans on a two-year deal.
Williams is the ninth free agent with whom the Titans have struck a deal on Monday, and the third cornerback. The others are Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott.
Williams has 65 regular-season appearances and 12 starts in four seasons. He also has appeared in 10 postseason games, and three Super Bowl.
