In an effort to shake things up at the trade deadline this year, the Kansas City Chiefs dealt away the off-field hero Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to the New York Jets. In the exchange, Kansas City got much-needed salary-cap relief and recently-waived tight end Daniel Brown. The Jets now find themselves looking to the veteran guard’s experience to fortify their offensive line.
Duvernay-Tardif was reported early Sunday morning as the starter at right guard in New York’s Week 11 game against the Miami Dolphins. According to The Athletic’s Connor Hughes, Duvernay-Tardif will be replacing Greg Van Roten, who has started all 10 games this season at right guard for the Jets.
SOURCE: The #Jets are changing up their offensive line.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, acquired via trade from the #Chiefs, will start at right guard today in place of Greg Van Roten
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) November 21, 2021
This will be Duvernay-Tardif’s first NFL start since the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV win over the San Francisco 49ers. The entire reason Kansas City traded Duvernay-Tardif was so that he could earn the opportunity to start and play, something they couldn’t guarantee him if he remained with the Chiefs. This will be Duvernay-Tardif’s 58th career start providing plenty of veteran experience on a struggling New York offensive line.
The Canadian native made headlines for opting out of the 2020 NFL season to help combat the COVID-19 spread in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec, working in a long-term care facility for a year. Armed with a medical doctorate, Duvernay-Tardif was praised and honored for his contributions and has continued to advocate the importance of vaccination and proper precautions to combat the deadly virus.
