Kansas City Chiefs re-sign Blake Bell, sign Byron Cowart
The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly agreed to one year deals with a pair of players on Friday, bringing back tight end Blake Bell and adding defensive tackle Byron Cowart.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was first to report the Bell deal, while Cowart’s agency announced his signing.
Bell, a Wichita native, will be back for his fourth season with the Chiefs, also including 2019 and the 2021-22 campaigns. He was limited to three games last year due to a hip injury he suffered in the preseason. Bell did play in one playoff game but was inactive for the Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
In his three seasons with the Chiefs, Bell has amassed 174 yards receiving on 19 catches with one regular-season touchdown and one in the postseason. For his career, which has included stints with five different teams, he has 60 receptions for 641 yards and the one score.
The Chiefs now have all four of their tight ends from last season under contract again, also including Travis Kelce, Noah Gray and Jody Fortson.
Cowart spent last season with the Indianapolis Colts, where he played every game and tallied 12 tackles while splitting time between defense and special teams. He has 14 career starts in 36 games played over three seasons.
A former fifth-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2019, Cowart was the No. 3 high school recruit in the country in 2015, per the 247Sports composite. After spending 2019-20 with the Patriots, he went unsigned in 2021 before signing with the Colts last year.
This is the second new defensive line signing the Chiefs have made this offseason. Kansas City added former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Charles Omenihu on a two-year contract last week. The franchise is also reportedly re-signing defensive tackles Derrick Nnadi and Tershawn Wharton.
Of the new deals mentioned above, the Chiefs have only officially announced the Omenihu and Nnadi transactions.
Jordan Schultz of The Score also reported Friday afternoon that the Chiefs are re-signing defensive lineman Phil Hoskins, who Kansas City signed to its practice squad in January but who never played a game for the team.
