Chiefs Find New Weapon For Patrick Mahomes Overseas, Are Set To Sign Welsh Rugby Player Louis Rees-Zammit

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Patrick Mahomes' toy chest in Kansas City is set to have a new, unique addition added to it with the Chiefs set to sign Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit.

The 23-year-old is expected to sign with the franchise on Friday after Rees-Zammit worked out with the team's staff earlier in the week and was clearly impressive.

While the 6-foot-3 rugby winger joining an NFL team seems incredibly random, Rees-Zammitt announced his intentions in January that he'd be leaving his English team and accepting an invitation to join the league's international player pathway.

"I have had the incredible honor of playing rugby for my country which, as a proud Welshman, I've never taken for granted," Rees-Zammit said. "However, I believe that this is the right time for me to realize another professional goal of playing American football in the U.S. Those opportunities don't come around very often."

According to Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz, Rees-Zammit visited with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Denver Broncos. A chance to play for the defending Super Bowl champions and alongside Patrick Mahomes may have been an opportunity he simply couldn't refuse.

The plan for the time being is for the Chiefs to add him to the roster to play both running back and wide receiver. 

Rees-Zammit ran a 4.43 40-yard dash during his pro day last week while also adding a 29-inch vertical jump and a 9'7'' broad jump.

While there is no denying that the rugby player will need some form of an adjustment period given that he is changing sports entirely, it's an incredibly low-risk move from Kansas City.

The NFL also added a 17th spot for practice squad teams in 2024 specifically for international players. Whether he suits up for the Chiefs this season or not, we'll have to wait and see, but it appears he'll be getting meaningful reps while making a rather decent wage of $216,000 if he remains on the practice squad for all 18 weeks of the season.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.