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The Kansas City Chiefs have added another new face to their practice squad.
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Chiefs had hosted former Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints DT Devaroe Lawrence for a visit.
On Monday, Howard Balzer confirmed the signing of the 6’2,” 295-pound defensive tackle via Twitter. The team released newly-added practice squad TE Alize Mack in a corresponding move.
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On Saturday, Chiefs had visit with DT Devaroe Lawrence and signed him to the practice squad.
More on Lawrence’s playing history
The 27-year-old defensive tackle was most recently released by the Browns on November 27. Lawrence spent the better part of the past two seasons in Cleveland after they traded a seventh-round draft pick to the Saints just prior to the 2018 regular season. Ironically enough, New Orleans used that pick (No. 231 overall) to select TE Alize Mack, who was on the unfortunate end of today’s transaction by the Chiefs.
Before his release, Lawrence was having his best season to date, appearing in the Browns’ first 11 games and earning starts in the last two. His 2019 stat sheet includes eight total tackles, one fumble recovery, one pass deflection, and one interception which he recorded in Week 4 off of MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson.
The #Browns have waived DT Devaroe Lawrence.
Lawrence appeared in all 11 games, starting in two of them. He recorded eight tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery in that time.
He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Saints following the 2017 NFL Draft. Lawrence never appeared in a regular season game for New Orleans after being placed on the non-football injury list that August.
The Chiefs current practice squad
Kansas City’s practice squad roster remains at 10 players following the signing. Lawrence is now the third defensive lineman added to the group, joining DT Braxton Hoyett and DE Cameron Malveaux. The remainder of the unit is comprised of:
CB Alex Brown
WR/TE Jody Fortson
OL Ryan Hunter
TE Nick Keizer
RB Elijah McGuire
QB Kyle Shurmur
LB Emmanuel Smith
The Chiefs also recently called up WR Gehrig Dieter from the practice squad on November 18 when they placed DE Emmanuel Ogbah on the season-ending injured reserve list.
Lawrence receives high honor from past teammates
As Arrowhead Addict also noted, Lawrence won the support of his Browns teammates this preseason when they selected him as the player they would most want on their side in a street fight in a team survey.
“Have you not seen Devaroe?” asked Browns DT Larry Ogunjobi. “Devaroe will hold it down. If I’m with Devaroe and we’re in a back alley, I’m scared for the people in the back alley.”
Cleveland LB Christian Kirksey also offered his own backing of Lawrence.
“Devaroe, he crazy,” Kirksey said of the new Chiefs defender. “He’s really crazy in the head and that’s somebody you want on your side.”
It’s also worth noting that Lawrence finished second in team voting for “Who would you want on your team in an eating competition?”
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, who recently appeared on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, would approve.
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Chiefs Sign Former Browns, Saints Defensive Lineman