Another week on the regular-season schedule means the Kansas City Chiefs have released another list of inactive players. And, as has become a bit of a tradition so far in the 2025 season, cornerback Kristian Fulton is on the list for Week 6 against the Detroit Lions.
At this point, Fulton's lack of availabilty should be a focus of real concern. Because while healing up from an ankle injury, he's also occupying a valuable roster spot.
Fulton has played a total of 17 defensive snaps so far through the first six weeks of the season. That total came in two games, and Fulton is missing yet another game despite being listed as a full participant in practices all week long.
Kristian Fulton's role with the Chiefs is a bit confusing in Week 6.
While the Chiefs have plenty of talent at cornerback, the unit is not strong enough to keep a veteran performer like Fulton on the bench. The Chiefs paid $20 million for a two-year deal in free agency for good reason. When healthy, Fulton is a quality starter on the boundary who fits the Chiefs' scheme well. He's a plus asset on the field and a better option than some lower on the depth chart.
That said, Fulton was healthy enough to practice all week and yet is sitting out again. Perhaps if the Chiefs were coming off another blistering defensive performance and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo didn't want mess with some delicate rotation of exemplary players, that would be one thing. However, the Jags torched the Chiefs defense in a loss one week ago, so there's no excuse for Fulton being sidelined—save for the fact that K.C. might be taking it easy with his ankle for yet another week.
All of this brings us to an important question: why has Fulton not been placed on injured reserve? If you're going to treat him like fine china, then just give him a month to rest and open up a roster spot for someone who isn't such a wild card in terms of reliability. The Chiefs should have thought of this weeks ago, but instead they've basically been a man down for more than a third of the NFL season.
Fulton will undoubtedly become a positive contributor at some point down the road for the Chiefs—perhaps even as soon as Week 7—but yet another week on the team's inactive list is a disheartening turn. After a full week in pracice, it looked like Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, and Nohl Williams were going to get a boost in the secondary. Instead, it's just another week toward establishing a new tradition of seeing Fulton standing on K.C.'s sidelines in 2025.