The Kansas City Chiefs‘ offensive line has faced a partial overhaul this offseason, with their being potentially up to three new starters on the unit since their decimation at Super Bowl LIX.
But one player who will not be returning to the team is former offensive tackle, Lucas Niang, who was just signed by the Washington Commanders on Wednesday, per Adam Schefter.
Commanders signed veteran OT Lucas Niang.
â Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 30, 2025
Why Did The Chiefs Originally Release Lucas Niang?
The Chiefs drafted Niang in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, hoping that he could become the team’s future at one of the tackle positions.
At 6’6, 315 lbs, with 34 inch arms, Niang looked like a prototypical tackle from a traits perspective. Combined with his impressive college tape – which saw him not give up a sack in either of his final two years at TCU, it seemed that the New York native might have a chance to become a bona fide starter in the NFL.
And he did – for a while. Niang started nine games at right tackle in 2021 after both veteran tackles, Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz departed the franchise.
A promising first season as a starter ended with injury, but the former TCU man still registered a solid 64.6 PFF grade as KC got knocked out of the playoffs by the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship.
After injury forced him out of much of the 2022 season, and in 2023 the team signed former Jaguars tackle, Jawaan Taylor to take his spot as the right bookend of the line. Niang did not manage to make it past final cuts last offseason, originally getting released in late August before being cut from the practice squad three months later, in late November.
What Are The Commanders Getting In Niang?
Niang showed he can play well on the exterior of the line back in 2021 as a first year. However, due to a patellar tendon tear, he started the following season on PUP and never managed to regain his starting-level capability, or push on to become a franchise-caliber tackle.
He is still very young, given that he’s been in the league for five seasons – although he did sit out 2020 during the Covid year – at just 26 years of age. So there is certainly hope that, now his injury concerns seem to have abated, he can move forward and try to become the quality of player Kansas City envisioned he could become.
There is not a huge probability that Niang will even make the roster, with the team currently sporting All-Pro, Laremy Tunsil, and first round rookie, Josh Conerly as their starting OTs. Niang will be competing with fellow ex-Chief, Andrew Wylie, and ex-Charger, Trent Scott, to be one of the swing backups.
But – on the good side, for Niang, at least he is back on track with organization, where he can hopefully start to play some football again.
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