Chiefs Sign International Tight End, Release 3 From Ir

Friday’s official NFL transactions saw the Kansas City Chiefs host 10 players for tryouts and sign tight end Thomas Odukoya to the practice squad.

Odukoya was born in Amsterdam but played American football at two junior colleges before landing at Eastern Michigan for four seasons. He joined the Tennessee Titans in 2022 as an International Pathway Player. He has appeared in two NFL games.

Per Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest, Odukoya has signed to Kansas City’s practice squad with an international player exemption, allowing the Chiefs to keep a 17th player on the unit.

The Chiefs have kept tackle Chu Godrick as an exempted international player for the past three seasons. However, after appearing in four games last season, Godrick was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins earlier this week.

On Friday, the Chiefs reached injury settlements with three players who were waived/injured during Sunday’s final roster cuts. Quarterback Chris Oladokun, guard CJ Hanson and running back EJ Smith have all been waived from Kansas City’s Reserve/Injured (IR) list.

Players with less than four accrued seasons who are cut while injured revert to a team’s IR if unclaimed on waivers. An injury settlement has the player and team negotiate an estimated recovery timeframe and pay a prorated portion of base salary to cover the expected missed weeks.

The covered timeline rarely becomes public. After the settlement expires, Oladokun, Hanson and Smith will be free to join the active roster or practice squad of any of the NFL’s other 31 teams. A return to Kansas City will not be possible for an additional three weeks after that.