Louis Rees-Zammit’s NFL future is up in the air after he was cut from the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster on Tuesday.

The former Gloucester and Wales star made the transition from rugby in January and underwent an intense 10-week training course as part of the international player pathway programme.

Rees-Zammit then signed a deal with the Chiefs, joining the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce at the defending Super Bowl champions.

He impressed Mahomes with his athleticism, with the quarterback saying “that boy is fast”, but the 23-year-old’s challenge was always going to be learning the nuances of the sport in such a short space of time.

Unfortunately for the Welshman, he doesn’t appear to have picked it up quickly enough with the Chiefs deciding not to put him on their 53-man roster.

Rees-Zammit’s options

There is still hope for Rees-Zammit, though, who could well join Kansas’ practice squad, which consists of 16 players.

That can be increased to 17, with all NFL teams having an exemption if they include an international player. That would usually include the speedster, but it is understood it was waived for the Welshman.

Nigerian offensive tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick has that extra spot at the Chiefs for overseas individuals, which means Rees-Zammit’s future is slightly less certain.

However, he is still likely to be selected in the Chiefs’ practice squad later this week, which suggests that they think he is a project worth pursuing.

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Although not able to play as part of the practice squad, players can be called up to the roster during the season but, if that doesn’t happen in Rees-Zammit’s case, it will still give him a year to learn the sport away from prying eyes.

Another option for the flyer would be to sign for another NFL team as he is now technically a free agent, but that is improbable given the risk associated with putting a complete novice on their roster.

Rees-Zammit has only played three pre-season matches in his career, with the 23-year-old not standing out in any of them.

There was an improvement, though, and his final encounter against the Chicago Bears was much more promising, but he was only given game time in the second half.

‘Heck of an athlete’

“I tried to give him the ball a little bit tonight. He had some real positive yards,” head coach Andy Reid said after the Bears loss. “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.”

The Chiefs tried Rees-Zammit in a variety of roles during pre-season in an attempt to fully utilise his skills garnered from rugby, using him as a punter, kick returner, running back and wide receiver.

“I’m not going to be the best player in the world overnight… I’d never played this sport before one week ago,” Rees-Zammit said after Kansas’ second pre-season clash against the Detroit Lions.

“People try and put me down… but I’m going to continue to work really hard every day and learn as much as I can.”

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