If his Twitter account is any indication, Jordan Ta’amu is rejoining the Kansas City Chiefs just in time for their latest postseason run.
On Tuesday afternoon, the 23-year-old quarterback, who signed onto the Detroit Lions practice squad on December 16 after being cut from Kansas City’s practice squad in late October, put out a message to Chiefs Kingdom.
Blessed be back in KC!! 🙌🏽 #chiefskingdom
The Chiefs have since made the transaction official, announcing the roster move on the team’s official website. Ta’amu’s contract with the Lions expired on Monday morning, according to Nick Jacobs of 41 Action News.
The former St. Louis Battlehawks star originally joined the Chiefs last April after the XFL folded, spending the entire offseason and early half of the year with the defending Super Bowl champions. Prior to his release, Ta’amu was also the first Chiefs player to test positive for COVID-19 back in early October.
The 6-foot-3, 221-pounder now joins veteran signal-caller Matt Moore on Kansas City’s practice squad, providing some addition options behind Patrick Mahomes and current backup Chad Henne.
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Chiefs Add to Patrick Mahomes’ List of Backups
Even with four quarterbacks now on the roster, Brett Veach and the Chiefs front office are not done fishing for talent behind Mahomes. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the team has also signed former Washington State QB Anthony Gordon to a future/reserve deal on Tuesday.
The Chiefs have signed former Washington State standout QB Anthony Gordon to a reserve/future contract.
No better place for a young QB to go and learn than in KC.
The 24-year-old verified the news on Twitter.
Like Ta’amu before him, Gordon also went undrafted last April, electing to sign with the Seattle Seahawks. Pete Carroll’s club elected to go with Danny Etling as its No. 3 quarterback, cutting Gordon following what was deemed by many as a “good training camp” performance.
By some early accounts, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound passer fits the mold of an Andy Reid quarterback and could potentially push Ta’amu for a roster spot next summer should Kansas City retain the latter in the coming weeks.
It is impossible to back up Mahomes but Gordon is a great candidate to “build an Air Raid-y game plan, throw the ball to Tyreek/Hardman on 95 shallow crossers, avoid sacks/picks” for 2-4 games.
In an NFL Draft prospect matching exercise prior to last year’s Super Bowl, CBS Sports compared Gordon to San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo.
As a Washington State quarterback, you probably know what type Gordon is. He’s a passer who gets it out quickly, mostly on underneath throws, and thanks to the variety of options at his disposal on every play, is pretty deft getting through his reads. But he doesn’t have a huge arm and, from time to time (see: too often) writes checks with his brain that his arm can’t cash. He’s a quick-decision based quarterback. And does every quick decision you make in life turn out to be a good one? Exactly. The same goes for Gordon.
Chiefs Bring Back WR Marcus Kemp
In addition to bringing Ta’amu back into the fold on Tuesday, the Chiefs also confirmed the signing of WR Marcus Kemp to the practice squad. In turn, the club has released DT Tyler Clark and placed CB Deandre Baker on the practiced squad injured list after the 2019 first-rounder broke his femur in a Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Both Kemp and Ta’amu were part of a larger group of players who tried out for Kansas City on Tuesday.
Kemp’s return, first reported by Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest on Monday morning, comes on the heels of a brief stint on the Miami Dolphins practice squad.
The 25-year-old’s status for the playoffs still remains to be seen. However, the odds of the Chiefs adding him to the active roster for Sunday’s AFC Divisional matchup against the Cleveland Browns are heightened with unlimited practice squad call-ups at their disposal in the postseason.
Kemp was again a special teams fixture during his sporadic 2020 campaign, which including being waived twice and being activated off the practice squad three separate times. Still, despite not suiting up in six games, the fourth-year wideout managed to play 37% of the team’s total special teams snaps in only 10 appearances, per Arrowhead Pride.
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Chris Licata is an NFL contributor covering the Kansas City Chiefs from enemy territory in Denver, Colorado. Follow him on Twitter @Chris__Licata or join the Heavy on Chiefs Facebook community for the latest out of Chiefs Kingdom!
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Chiefs Sign 2 Quarterbacks, Including Ex-Seahawks Tryout: Report