“In a move that has shocked NFL fans and sparked wild speculation, a recently released Kansas City Chiefs player has signed with a fierce AFC rival just days after quietly reaching a controversial injury settlement behind closed doors that insiders claim could change the season’s balance of power.”
Sometimes, when a player is cut from a training camp roster with an injury, there are disagreements over how hurt said player actually is, and that appears to be the case with recent Kansas City Chiefs departure Darius Rush.
The Chiefs initially waived Rush from the 91-man camp roster with an injury. On August 2, A-to-Z Sports Kansas City reporter Charles Goldman relayed that Rush cleared waivers and reverted to the long-term injured reserve.
Of course, as Goldman noted at the time, an “injury settlement” was the likely outcome after that. And that’s exactly what ended up happening.
“Former Chiefs defensive back Darius Rush was waived today from injured reserve with an injury settlement per NFL Transactions,” KSHB 41 beat reporter Nick Jacobs informed on August 8.
Three days later, on August 11, Rush was scooped up out of free agency by the Cleveland Browns. The AFC North franchise’s social media team announced the news on Monday.
Chiefs Cut Darius Rush’s Training Camp Injury Must Not Have Been All That Serious
Circling back to the first thought of this article, it’s pretty apparent Rush did not agree that he was injured enough for the Chiefs to waive him. And the settlement length would prove him correct.
Typically, in situations where an injury settlement is involved, the free agent player is not allowed to sign with a new team until he has recovered from his injury.
The “settlement” not only represents a financial amount that the team must pay the player, but it also represents a predetermined amount of time that the player must sit out and recover before returning and either joining a new roster or the same one.
So, if this settlement agreement was only required to last three days, chances are Rush’s injury wasn’t all that serious.
As Over the Cap explains: “Contrary to what some believe, a settlement is not a negotiation of price. It’s really a negotiation of weeks.”
“When a minor injury occurs, a determination is made for weeks that the player will miss due to injury,” Over the Cap continues.
“The options would be to hold the player until he is healthy enough to be released or to have the two sides agree right away as to the amount of weeks that the injury should keep the player sidelined.
Once the weeks are agreed upon, the team simply agrees to pay the player as if he were on the roster for those weeks.”
In the case of Rush, the injury settlement only lasted days, not weeks.
Darius Rush Has Failed to Make an Impact With the Chiefs Not Once but Twice
Former Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Darius Rush at the 2023 NFL Combine.
This was actually the second time that the Chiefs brought in Rush. KC general manager Brett Veach first claimed the defensive back off waivers in 2023, after the team that drafted him (the Indianapolis Colts) cut him following his rookie training camp and preseason.
Rush then joined the Chiefs’ practice squad before being poached from it by the Pittsburgh Steelers in October of 2023.
He never appeared in any sort of football outing for Kansas City but did log 5 regular season appearances with the Steelers in 2023 and 2024 as a special teamer and part-time defensive player.
After the Steelers released Rush in October of 2024, the Chiefs re-signed him to the practice squad once again.
He remained with the organization throughout the offseason and the spring, but was cut by the Chiefs on August 1 after dealing with a nagging injury at camp.
