Deadline Passes for Chuks Okorafor to Return to Patriots
The New England Patriots have placed Chuks Okorafor on the season-ending reserve list after the five-day deadline for him to return passed.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor’s 2024 season is over unless he can convince the New England Patriots to release him.
Okorafor suddenly left the team after being benched during New England’s Week 1 over the Cincinnati Bengals. He was placed on the exempt/left team list last Saturday. That list has a five day maximum.
When Okorafor chose not to return to the Patriots by Thursday, he was automatically moved to the reserve/left team list, ending his 2024 season — at least for New England. The Patriots could release Okorafor and allow him to sign with another team, though they would have little incentive for doing so.
The Steelers made such a move that benefitted the Patriots, when they released running back LeGarrette Blount after he left the field early during a game in 2014. Blount, who had spent the previous season with New England, ended up going back to the Patriots, and helped them win Super Bowl XLIX that season.
The Steelers could certainly use the tackle depth this season. They’ve been playing with just three tackles on the 53-man roster, with Broderick Jones currently backing up Dan Moore Jr. and Troy Fautanu. Backup Dylan Cook is on the injured reserve list with a foot injury suffered late in the preseason.
Okorafor was released by the Steelers earlier this offseason, 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 will end up seeing just over $300,000 of that money.
The 27-year-old native of Ibadan, Nigeria was the Steelers’ third-round pick 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 last season for comments he made on the sideline during a Steelers loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was replaced by Jones the following week and never regained a starting role in Pittsburgh.
The Patriots, meanwhile, lost 24-3 to the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
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