On Thursday morning, the Kansas City Chiefs released one backup offensive lineman to sign another. Offensive tackle Matt Waletzko was waived with an injury designation, making room for an offensive lineman who was most recently in the United Football League (UFL).
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Chiefs have signed offensive lineman Kellen Diesch. He is 28 years
old and listed at 6 feet 7 inches tall and 303 pounds in his UFL player bio, which lists him as a tackle.
After playing five years of college football between Texas A&M and Arizona State, Diesch was invited to the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine and posted impressive results in his athletic tests.
- 40-yard dash: 4.89 seconds (97th percentile)
- 10-yard dash: 1.7 seconds (94th percentile)
- Vertical jump: 32 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.43 seconds (95th percentile)
Diesch was an undrafted free agent following that year’s draft and signed with the Miami Dolphins. He was placed on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad after he didn’t make it through Miami’s cutdown day and made a few other NFL stops, but never took a regular-season snap.
He has played for three teams in the UFL over the 2025 and 2026 seasons, which take place in the spring. This past season, Diesch played 130 snaps at left tackle, 14 snaps at left guard, 66 snaps at right guard, and 64 snaps at right tackle, according to Pro Football Focus.
Diesch will be looked upon to fill a role on the third-team offensive line after Waletzko’s injury left the position group thin; starting left tackle Josh Simmons ran with the third team the other day before popping up on the injury report with a back designation.
He will wear No. 74 with the Chiefs, according to Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com.
