On Thursday, August 20, 2026, the Kansas City Chiefs signed free-agent offensive tackle Kellen Diesch, waiving fellow tackle Matt Waletzko with an injury designation to clear the roster spot. Diesch most recently played for the Louisville Kings of the UFL, where he helped the team win the 2026 United Bowl championship. The move adds another name to the lengthening list of UFL players finding their way onto NFL rosters this offseason.
Kansas City Chiefs
The 6-foot-7, 300-pound Diesch was one of two tackles the Chiefs brought in for a tryout on Wednesday, according to reporter Matt Derrick, before the team made the signing official the following day, as first reported by NBC Sports. Waletzko's exit clears the corresponding roster spot; he had been dealing with a knee injury and had missed recent practice time. Kansas City's offensive line has absorbed several absences already this camp, and Diesch's arrival reads as a straightforward depth answer heading into the preseason stretch.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo framed the transaction as part of a broader trend, noting it marks another instance of a UFL player landing a spot on an NFL camp roster. Diesch is listed at 26 years old, and his size and athletic testing have remained the constant selling point through six professional stops without ever appearing in a regular-season NFL game.
Diesch's Path to Kansas City
Diesch grew up in Trophy Club, Texas, and played at Byron Nelson High School before redshirting and serving as a reserve at Texas A&M from 2016 through 2019. He transferred to Arizona State, where he started extensively in 2020 and 2021 and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors both seasons. Pro Football Focus rated him the highest-graded tackle in the conference during his final year on campus, according to the UFL's bio page.
Miami signed Diesch as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and he subsequently bounced from the Dolphins to the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans over the following three years without appearing in a regular-season game. That run of practice-squad stops and brief waiver claims ended when the Titans released him.
Louisville Kings and the UFL Championship Run
Diesch pivoted to the UFL in 2025, signing with the Arlington Renegades before a trade sent him to the Memphis Showboats in exchange for offensive lineman J.D. DiRenzo. He appeared in six total games that year without a start, splitting time between the two rosters, according to career statistics at FootballDB.
This year brought more movement. Houston selected Diesch in the UFL draft, released him in mid-April, and the Louisville Kings picked him up shortly after. He appeared in seven games with two starts as Louisville finished 6-4 and won the 2026 United Bowl to take home the UFL championship, a title recognized by the league itself, whose competitions and rules fall under the oversight described on the NFL's official site.
None of that history guarantees Diesch a spot on Kansas City's 53-man roster. He remains a long shot for the initial cut given his lack of regular-season NFL snaps and a late arrival into an already crowded competition for backup line jobs. His stronger path likely runs through the practice squad, where his athletic testing and championship-tested reps at Louisville could make him an appealing emergency option if the Chiefs' tackle injuries linger into the season.
Diesch's signing fits a wider pattern this offseason, with UFL alumni across several positions landing NFL camp deals in recent weeks. For fans north of the border tracking how these depth moves might shape Chiefs betting markets as the season approaches, checking BettingTop10 Canada's NFL page offers a way to compare odds and coverage tied to teams like Kansas City. As training camp cuts approach, Diesch's performance in the coming weeks will determine whether his UFL championship pedigree translates into a longer NFL opportunity.