Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has not said his last word in the National Football League (NFL). He officially joined the New York Jets practice squad.
This was confirmed by his agent, Sasha Ghavami, in a text message exchange with The Canadian Press on Thursday afternoon.
The 31-year-old Quebecer, who graduated from medical school at McGill University in 2018, had given up on the start of the current NFL season since he had to start his medical residency at the latest. last July if he wanted to become a doctor one day.
His residency, which is to last two years, stipulates that his first obligations are for two months. Once this period passed, the colossus of 1.95 m and 146 kg (6 feet 5 inches and 321 pounds) could hope to obtain a break of a few months. So he wanted to be able to find a place in the NFL somewhere from September.
The opportunity finally presented itself with the Jets, the team with which he had concluded the 2021 season.
“LDT” became a free agent for the first time in his career last March. Since breaking through with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014, he had never been without an NFL contract in his pocket.
Duvernay-Tardif returned to Kansas City in 2021, hoping to return to his position. However, he broke his hand in training and missed a month of activities. Recovered, he has been an inactive player, with rookie Trey Smith becoming the Chiefs’ starting right guard.
In November 2021, Duvernay-Tardif waived his no-trade clause, allowing the Chiefs to trade him to the Jets.
The guard on the right side from Mont-Saint-Hilaire had then started in seven of the last eight games for the Jets (4-13), who had finished last in the Eastern Division of the American Conference.
Duvernay-Tardif started 57 of 60 games during his time with the Chiefs. He got his first NFL start in 2015 and helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on Feb. 2, 2020, against the San Francisco 49ers.