Two years ago, Kelechi Osemele was a big part of the Raiders offensive line, which was at one time considered arguably the best in football. He was coming off two-straight Pro Bowl seasons, one of which he was named All-Pro.
Then the Raiders made a coaching change, which came with a scheme change, Osemele got banged up, and he was headed to the Jets for a swap of late-round picks.
His time in New York last just three games. He then had a pretty public disagreement with the team on whether he needed surgery on an injured shoulder. Osemele said he did and the team said he didn’t. Osemele defied the team’s orders and got the surgery anyway, so they cut him.
Now he’s headed back to the AFC West, but this time for the rival Kansas City Chiefs, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The #Chiefs are giving OL Kelechi Osemele a 1-year deal worth $2M max, source said. After a truncated year with the #Jets, he’s healthy and fills the void left by Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who opted out.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2020
When healthy, and in the right scheme, the 31-year-old Osemele is one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL. And the Chiefs face all three of his former teams this season.
What better team to join than the Chiefs who face the team that drafted him but let him leave instead of paying him, twice face the team that traded him three years into a five-year deal, and the team that cut him for refusing to play with an injured shoulder. Plenty of motivation for Osemele this season, that’s for sure.
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