Former Iowa State offensive lineman (2007-11) and Super Bowl champion Kelechi Osemele signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.

This signing is something both parties needed.

The Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl in February, were picked by some NFL Draft experts to take an interior offensive linemen, guard or center, in the 2020 NFL Draft, but the Chiefs didn’t select an offensive linemen until the third round where they took tackle Lucas Niang.

Osemele began his career with the Baltimore Ravens, who he won the 2012 Super Bowl with. He played for Baltimore from 2012-15, then was a member of the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders from 2016-18 and spent last season with the New York Jets. 

Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who played 14 games for the Chiefs last season at right guard, announced he is sitting out the upcoming season as a COVID-19 precaution. He has spent recent months assisting as an orderly in a long-term care facility in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

While the Chiefs have options with returning players, such as Martinas Rankin and Mike Remmers, to take over Duvernay-Tardif’s spot, Osemele provides more experience than those two, plus adds his raw ability. 

Osemele has started 96 games since turning pro in 2012 and is a two-time Pro Bowler and was a First Team All-Pro player in 2017.

Charles Goldman of Chiefs Wire, a USA Today page focused on the Kansas City Chiefs, said, “At his best, Osemele is known as a finisher and a force in the ground game. He has long arms, quick feet and powerful hands.”

Goldman also wrote Osemele will bring a certain mentality, “it feels Kansas City has been lacking since the early 2000s.”

While Osemele had major success in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the same can’t be said for his 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Out of the 32 games in the last two seasons, Osemele has only played 14 of those games. He played in only three games for the Jets last season and was cut by the team Oct. 26.

He was cut by the team after getting a shoulder surgery to fix a torn labrum the Jets did not approve of and as a result, he was fined in addition to being cut.

The Jets team doctor said the surgery could wait until the offseason. 

He was fined because the team doctors cleared him to play, but according to The Athletic, Osemele’s agent, Andrew Kessler, said, “There is no debate regarding his injury and that the second doctor who evaluated Osemele said the need and timing for surgery is based on his symptoms.”

The Athletic’s Connor Hughes wrote in an article published Oct. 18, “Jets doctors, Kessler confirmed, provided Osemele with Toradol before each start to numb his pain and allow him to play. Those doses weren’t efficient, though, which is why Osemele prefers surgery.”

He got cut eight days later.

Now this saga is behind Osemele and he may have moved on to a better situation for him.

If Osemele can stay healthy for the majority of the 2020 season, he may help the Chiefs in their efforts to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

The Chiefs have all of their major pieces back, including Super Bowl MVP and 2019 NFL League MVP Patrick Mahomes, who just signed a 10 year, $500 million contract. 

Signing Osemele was a good addition for Kansas City because they got him for a much cheaper price ($2 million) if he didn’t have the injuries.

In the last four seasons, Osemele’s yearly salary was between $4.4 million and $9.7 million in addition to roster bonuses. 

So the Chiefs got a former Pro Bowler for half to two-thirds his base salary over the last four years and for nearly the average salary of guards in the NFL ($2.2 million).

If Osemele can stay healthy in the 2020 season, he could see a lot of playing time and be a strong finisher of an offensive lineman for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs already have All-Pro players in Mahomes, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce, so having a physical offensive lineman like Osemele who can create holes for runnings backs Damien Williams and Clyde Edwards-Helaire and protect the quarterback could be huge. 

Throughout his eight-year career in the NFL, Osemele has started 96 games (averaging 12 games per season).