The NFL is of course the “National Football League”. But it is also said that these letters can mean “Not For Long” (not for long).
The American football machine is ruthless. She swallows and spits out players in the hundreds a year. If a top pick doesn’t produce as expected after two years, thank you, good evening. No time to wait. The CEOs will tell you: “the potential is the most dangerous thing, it will make you lose your job”. We are very, very, very far from the NHL …
There are approximately 2,000 players in the NFL today. In five years, at least 1000 of them will be elsewhere: in a lower league, at a car dealership, in a hospital …
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has learned this reality in recent months. He knew he was in danger of losing his starting job with the Kansas City Chiefs when he chose to take the option not to play in 2020 so that he could contribute to an immeasurably bigger team, the workers. health, then at the height of the fight against this terrible virus.
It was noble, laudable and the right thing to do. But the Chiefs decided to move on. The hand injury Duvernay-Tardif suffered during training camp admittedly did not help his cause, but the Chiefs already seemed to have decided to turn the page and give the rookie the right guard post. Trey Smith. Even before the start of the season, trade rumors involving Duvernay-Tardif were circulating in the United States.
On Tuesday, the Chiefs ceded the Quebecer to the New York Jets on the last day before the end of the trading period. In return, the Chiefs got Daniel Brown, a very little-known tight end who plays mostly on special teams and has only caught two assists in the past two seasons.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif at McGill University in 2020
Simply put, the Chiefs got very little for a player who was one of their starters when they won the Super Bowl two years ago. Obviously, Duvernay-Tardif was no longer part of their plans. Not only had he lost his starting job to Smith, but he was one of five players at the club not to don his uniform on game day until Monday night.
The good news is that the Chiefs have ceded Duvernay-Tardif to a team that needs reinforcement on their offensive line. He will first have to familiarize himself with his new organization and his new playbook, but the opportunity to play should present itself before the end of the season for Duvernay-Tardif.
This is a good bet for the Jets. There is no constraint on the salary plan, since Duvernay-Tardif’s contract will expire in March and they acquired it by sacrificing a marginal player. Within a young team, Duvernay-Tardif could become a key player – if he wants to continue his career …
A new adventure?
One could understand Duvernay-Tardif’s attachment to the Chiefs.
When he trained in front of NFL scouts in Montreal in the weeks leading up to the 2014 draft, the Chiefs rep was the one who led the practice. The Chiefs drafted him with the first pick in the sixth round. He signed a contract that made him a multimillionaire with the Missouri training. He was on winning teams his entire career with the Chiefs and won the Super Bowl. It was his first love.
No doubt Duvernay-Tardif would have preferred to stay in Kansas City if he had been able to play. But after seeing Patrick Mahomes get hit like a golf ball behind a patched offensive line against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl last February, the Chiefs decided to rebuild their quintet. They haven’t changed one or two players in the unit. They basically made a clean sweep. Like many of his former teammates, Duvernay-Tardif was no longer part of the equation.
But if he wants to continue playing in the NFL in 2022, he certainly can do so, whether it’s in New York with the Jets or with another team. Duvernay-Tardif will turn 31 in February, but he hasn’t played as much as a typical player of his age. So there is less physical wear and tear. He has the intelligence to adjust to a new team and can now be considered an experienced player.
The question is whether he will want to invest fully to do so. There are simply too many gamblers willing to do anything for it to be any other way.
If he feels rather that the time has come for a new adventure, Duvernay-Tardif will be able to say mission accomplished, even if it is not the end he wanted.
If he wants to taste something else, we all know that there will be plenty of opportunities. Medicine ? Philanthropy? Politics ? The world of communications? Deals ? All of the above?
The future will tell if Duvernay-Tardif will relaunch his career with the Jets. If he only needed an opportunity to play to regain his starting place in the NFL. But in any case, the transaction that sent him to New York was desirable. Divorce papers had been on the table for a long time and our national champion deserved better than watching games in sweatpants. He’s a little too hyperactive for that.