The former Wales winger has been training with the Chiefs during the summer after quitting rugby in January to pursue a career in the NFL.
The 23-year-old did not participate in the NFL’s “cutdown day,” but he did play in all three of their preseason games.
Teams must choose 53 players from their 90-player offseason training group before the season begins; the deadline for doing so was Tuesday.
However, Rees-Zammit’s chances of participating in the regular season are not gone.
He will now be placed on waivers, which allows him to be signed by another team through Wednesday at 17:00 BST. He can stay in training with the Chiefs as a member of their practice squad if, as anticipated, he is unclaimed.
The NFL champions can promote him to their active roster up to three times during the season, giving him extra time to adjust to the sport. Every game, two players from the practice squad can be promoted by NFL teams.
A 10-week training camp as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) marked the start of Rees-Zammit’s NFL career.
After that, he signed with the Chiefs, who had won the last two Super Bowls. While they had him targeted as a running back, he really filled a number of positions during the preseason as they looked for the best fit for him.
However, they re-signed veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday, which hurt his chances of making the cut. Smith-Schuster now wears the number nine jersey that the rookie from Wales has worn during preseason.
Praise Olatoke, another IPP alum, signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in June. Despite playing in the team’s inaugural preseason game, the former sprinter was cut the following week.
Charlie Smyth and Jude McAtamney, two former Gaelic football players who participated in preseason games with the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, respectively, were also not included.
Travis Clayton, an ex-Basingstoke rugby player, was sidelined by a shoulder injury during the preseason. The Bills have named him an injured reserve, meaning he will continue to train with them as soon as he returns to full health.
The other IPP class graduates currently playing for NFL teams were Dominican Republic’s Bayron Matos (the Miami Dolphins) and Australia’s Patrick Murtagh (the Jacksonville Jaguars). Both were waived, though Murtagh is still healing from a broken ankle he sustained during practice.
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