It’s hard to imagine that the Cincinnati Bengals want to help the Kansas City Chiefs in any way, shape, or form. Yet somehow, Cincy decided to offer at least some measure of a gift for K.C. to address their greatest roster concern on Tuesday with the release of defensive tackle Mike Pennel.
While nothing is set in stone, the release of Pennel comes at an ideal time for Kansas City, and fans will be anxious to connect the dots back to the Chiefs—should Brett Veach deem such a move acceptable.
The Chiefs’ decision to release Pennel in the first place, shortly before active roster cuts were due, was a curious one. The veteran run-stuffer was a solid performer for the Chiefs in recent seasons, and yet instead of retaining him for another year, the Chiefs cut ties and then traded back for Derrick Nnadi in a preseason deal with the New York Jets.
The Cincinnati Bengals just gifted the Chiefs a perfect addition at midseason.
Nnadi remains with the team alongside Jerry Tillery and Chris Jones at a position that looks perilously thin going forward. The Chiefs have already lost Omarr Norman-Lott, the team’s second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, to an ACL injury, which further decimated a roster weakness before the team even reached its bye.
Rumors swirling around the NFL’s trade deadline have linked the Chiefs to various targets along the defensive interior and those could still hold true. However, Pennel is an easy plug-and-play option for the Chiefs given his familiarity with Steve Spagnuolo’s system. He also wouldn’t cost them any draft asset to acquire. Additionally, Jones has already stated publicly that he wants the Chiefs to bring back Pennel, so it’s clear the locker room would welcome him back with open arms.
Pennel found about as much playing time with Cincinnati as he did with Kansas City so far this season, having played 25 percent of defensive snaps as a rotational part in 8 games played. Spags played him on 30 percent of snaps last season although he also surprised with 3 sacks in 2024 as well—quite the shock given that he had 2 sacks in his other 134 games played at the time.
Given Pennel’s age of 34 and his ceiling, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Chiefs still looked for further help at the position while also re-signing the veteran. That’s assuming Pennel is interested in coming back after being cast aside in the first place.
