Arrowhead Pride
When the Kansas City Chiefs traded to re-acquire defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi from the New York Jets on Sunday, some observers were puzzled.
By some metrics — in particular, his Pro Football Focus grade of 35.8 for the 2024 regular season, which ranked 142nd among 147 defensive tackles with at least 20% of their team’s snaps — Nnadi doesn’t look like a productive player. Many observers were glad to see him gone.
But head coach Andy Reid has a different view of the player who spent seven years in Kansas City after being selected out of Florida State in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
“I think [he’s] just a good inside player,” he told reporters on Tuesday, “and you can’t really have enough of those guys. He knows the system. So getting back in there, I think, is a positive.”
Nandi carries another positive that isn’t reflected in PFF grades: his reliability. Over seven seasons, he’s missed just one regular-season game. That matters to coaches.
“We’re always a little heavy on O-line and D-line,” added Reid. “I mean, that’s normally just to make sure we’ve got those areas filled.”
And even PFF recognizes something else: in the postseason, Nnadi tends to step it up a notch. His grade rose to 64.1 during 2024’s playoff run. To a team so focused on postseason success, that could be a significant factor.
So why didn’t Kansas City choose to keep him on the roster back in March? Because it didn’t have to.
Nnadi just hadn’t shown the production that would have landed him a big contract. The odds were good that the 29-year-old wouldn’t find a team willing to bring him aboard, so the Chiefs could afford to sit and wait. The Jets ultimately signed Nnadi to a Veteran Salary Benefit deal that paid him just $1.3 million — and cost them even less against the salary cap. Now, he’ll play in Kansas City on the contract he signed for New York.
And just as he always has, he’ll fit right in.
“I think that’s a great thing,” fellow defensive lineman Mike Danna said of Nnadi’s return. “Blessings for him. I think anytime you can bring [in] a veteran leader like him — a guy who is knowledgeable about the game [and] also knowledgeable about the system, [you should].”
Danna also noted that Nnadi is a terrific teammate.
“I’m happy to see him back,” he said. “There was a big smile on his face when he got here, so Nnadi hasn’t changed. [He’s] still the same guy. We’re lucky to have him again.”
