Former Steelers OT Back in NFL after Quitting on Team in 2024
Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor has found a new home in the NFL, after quitting on his team last season.
Okorafor signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets worst $4 million on Wednesday, making his return to the league after a significant absence.
Okorafor had been signed to play with the New England Patriots in 2024, but he left the team after just one game. The Patriots suspended him without pay, and Okorafor ended up sitting out the entire season before New England released him.
Okorafor was released by the Steelers in 2024, two years into a three-year contract extension, in a salary cap-related move. He signed a one-year deal in New England that was worth $4 million, but ended up seeing just over $300,000 of that money.
The 27-year-old native of Ibadan, Nigeria was a third-round pick of the Steelers in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he spent the first six seasons of his career in Pittsburgh. After playing sparingly as a backup in his first two season, he replaced the injured Zach Banner in Week 1 of the 2020 season at right tackle, and held that job for most of four season.
Okorafor was benched by the Steelers in 2023 for comments he made on the sideline during a Steelers loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was replaced by rookie tackle Broderick Jones the following week and never regained a starting role in Pittsburgh.
With the Jets, Okorafor will likely compete with Max Mitchell and Carter Warren to replace Morgan Moses at tackle opposite 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu.