The Kansas City Chiefs have their focus on the Miami Dolphins ahead of Wild Card Weekend, but their front office still has one eye on the future of the organization.
On January 10, Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald reported that “the Chiefs signed QB Ian Book, WR Jacob Copeland, RB Hassan Hall, and LB Jordan Smith to futures contracts.” He added that Kansas City is “one of the few teams that does futures deals while in the playoffs.”
These 2024 deals were also confirmed by NFL insider Aaron Wilson and A-to-Z Sports KC media member Charles Goldman.
For clarity, a reserve/future contract secures a player’s rights for the following offseason, placing them on next year’s 90-man roster. Said players do not count toward the current roster or cap limits and cannot be poached by other franchises.
QB Ian Book Headlines Chiefs Future Signings
All four of these prospects worked out with the Chiefs on January 2. KC hosted 10 tryouts that day, and it appears nearly half of them earned their keep.
The headliner is Book, a former fourth-round selection of the New Orleans Saints.
During his college days at Notre Dame, Book was known for his “leadership and overall intangibles,” as well as his years of experience according to NFL Network draft expert Lance Zierlein. He was a three-year starter and two-time team captain with the Fighting Irish.
Having said that, his shortcomings were that his “size and arm strength fall below NFL standards.” Plus, there wasn’t anything about Book’s game that he could really “hang his hat on” to counter those issues — per Zierlein.
Book’s brief looks at the NFL level haven’t been great. He’s 0-1 in the regular season and has a career completion percentage of 60.0 with 135 passing yards and two interceptions. He’s also taken eight sacks, while only attempting 20 passes.
During preseason appearances with the Saints and Philadelphia Eagles, Book has thrown for a total of 532 yards and two touchdowns, along with three interceptions and 12 sacks. His combined preseason passer rating is a 70.9, and his combined preseason completion percentage is a 63.0.
We’ll see if quarterbacks coach David Girardi, as well as head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, can get anything out of Book next spring and summer.
2 Ex-UDFAs & Former 4th-Round LB Round Out Signings
The other three flyers were Copeland, Hall and Smith. The latter was the only former draft pick of the trio — a fourth-round selection of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021.
Smith only appeared in two games with the Jags as a rookie before suffering a “serious knee injury” according to Goldman and A-to-Z Sports Kansas City. He has sat out ever since, and is looking to restart his NFL career at age 25.
Smith is listed at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds on Pro Football Reference. He transferred twice in college finishing at UAB in 2019 and 2020. Over that two-year span, the linebacker accumulated 89 total tackles (23.5 for a loss), 12.5 sacks, one interception and three forced fumbles in 22 appearances.
Copeland was a rookie wide receiver last year, entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland (Florida transfer). His best collegiate season was in 2021 with Florida, registering 41 catches for 642 yards and four touchdowns.
Copeland is listed at 6-foot, 202 pounds. He’s already spent time with the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Finally, Hall is another 2023 UDFA out of Georgia Tech (Louisville transfer). The running back has bounced around a few NFL organizations as well, including the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants.
At 6-foot, 204 pounds, Hall’s best collegiate campaign was his final one — which was spent at Georgia Tech. That year, he ran for 521 yards and tallied another 165 through the air. Having said that, Hall did rush for a ridiculous 7.2 yards per carry with Louisville in 2021 despite a more limited number of carries.
