Former Oklahoma State Cowboys safety Tanner McCalister was released from the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad Tuesday, a day after a 31-10 home win over Denver to open the 2026 season.
The move, which was announced via the NFL transaction wire, is another reminder of how thin the line is between hanging on in the NFL and heading back onto the waiver wire — even for a player who spent four seasons in orange and black.
McCalister, a Rockwall-Heath product, arrived at Oklahoma State in 2018 after flipping from Arkansas. He began as a cornerback, shifted to safety, and became a fixture in Jim Knowles’ defense.
Official Cowboy records list 50 games, 26 starts (including 24 in a row to close his Stillwater career), 125 tackles and 12 pass breakups. He was a three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and earned a finance degree before using his extra year of eligibility.
His senior season in 2021 was his most complete: he started all 14 games, posted career highs with 42 tackles and six pass breakups, and added an interception that helped seal a win at Texas.
That year, OSU’s defense ranked among the nation’s best, and McCalister was one of the reliable pieces in the back end. When Knowles left for Ohio State, McCalister followed, starting 12 games in Columbus and leading the Buckeyes with three interceptions.
That extra year put him on NFL radars, even if he went undrafted in 2023.
The professional path has been the standard one for an undrafted defensive back: Cleveland as a rookie (three games), Denver (three more in 2024), a brief Jets preseason stop, then two separate stints with Kansas City.
The Chiefs first signed him to the practice squad in December 2025, let him go after the season, brought him back on a reserve/futures deal in February, waived him in final cuts, and re-signed him the next day.
Career regular-season numbers remain modest: six games, three tackles. He was not elevated for Monday night’s win.
Tuesday’s transaction was routine roster housekeeping. Kansas City reset the practice squad after elevating other players for Week 1 and added depth elsewhere.
For Cowboy fans, it is the latest chapter in a familiar story — a local kid who produced in Stillwater, followed his coordinator, and has spent three-plus years proving he belongs on an NFL roster week to week.
McCalister is 26. Players with his size (5-11, 191), versatility, and special-teams background often find another practice squad.
Oklahoma State’s secondary pipeline has sent plenty of those types into the league. Whether this cut is a pause or the end of the latest stop, the Stillwater résumé is already written: starter, scholar, and a piece of one of the program’s stronger defensive stretches.
