Patriots move Chukwuma Okorafor to reserve/left squad list, ending his time in New England
FOXBORO -- Chukwuma Okorafor's Patriots career is over after just 12 regular season snaps. New England moved the disgruntled tackle from the exempt/left squad list to the reserve/left squad list on Thursday.
With that move, Okorafor is now ineligible to return to the Patriots this season.
Prior to Thursday Night Football, the Patriots moved OT Chuks Okorafor from the exempt/left squad list to the reserve/left squad list.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 19, 2024
A team is granted a 5-day exemption when moving a player to the left squad list, but if the player does not return within 5 days, his season is…
After he spent his first six NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England signed Okorafor to a one-year, $4 million deal over the offseason with the hopes that he could switch from right tackle to left tackle. He struggled during the preseason and lost the starting job to Vederian Lowe, but started Week 1 after Lowe suffered an injury in the team's preseason finale.
But Okorafor only lasted 12 snaps into New England's Week 1 win over the Bengals before he was benched for Lowe, who was questionable heading into the game. Okorafor was reportedly upset with his role with the Patriots, and informed the team of his intentions to leave the day before their Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Though Okorafor struggled with the Patriots, his departure leaves New England extremely thin at the all important left tackle position. Lowe has been ruled out for Thursday night's Week 3 clash with the Jets with a knee injury he suffered late in Week 2, leaving rookie Caedan Wallace to protect Jacoby Brissett's blindside against New York. The third-round pick played right tackle at Penn State, but put in some work at left tackle during training camp.
We'll get you ready for Thursday night's Patriots-Jets game starting at 7 p.m. with Patriots GameDay on TV38 and streaming on CBS News Boston! After the game, tune in to Patriots 5th Quarter on WBZ-TV/TV38 for full reaction and analysis.