Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
At the 2023 53-man cutdown, the Kansas City Chiefs shifted three prospects to the long-term injured reserve after clearing waivers.
Those players were wide receiver Nikko Remigio, offensive lineman Jerome Carvin and linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi. When an organization does this, the unspoken plan is to stash said prospect on IR for the season. The Chiefs did this with wide receiver Justyn Ross in 2022, for example.
Unfortunately, the players aren’t always on board with that strategy. Fatukasi was already released with an “injury settlement” on September 1 and now Carvin will join him. According to KPRC2 NFL insider Aaron Wilson and the NFL transaction wire, the promising 22-year-old blocker out of Tennessee will make his departure from the organization with an injury settlement of his own.
#Chiefs released Jerome Carvin from IR with injury settlement
Remigio is now the last remaining rookie on the injured reserve along with second-year cornerback Nazeeh Johnson and veteran tight end Jody Fortson.
Explaining NFL Injury Settlement Rules After Chiefs Release Jerome Carvin
KSHB41’s Nick Jacobs hyped Carvin upon his arrival in KC, voicing: “Really pumped about Carvin reportedly joining KC. Great depth there and long-term starting potential.”
“Carvin is always willing to help in run blocking and pass pro,” he went on. “He is always looking for work. He has the size and anchor to keep opponents in check at the line of scrimmage. He has good lateral quickness for his size and is able to get his hips around if needed on a reach block.”
So, with the rookie now hitting the open market officially, it’s important to understand what an injury settlement actually is — and whether or not Carvin might ever return to Kansas City.
“Contrary to what some believe, a settlement is not a negotiation of price,” Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald once explained. “It’s really a negotiation of weeks. When a minor injury occurs, a determination is made for weeks that the player will miss due to injury. The options would be to hold the player until he is healthy enough to be released or to have the two sides agree right away as to the amount of weeks that the injury should keep the player sidelined.”
In other words, the Chiefs IR designation would end Carvin’s 2023 campaign, but the rookie likely believes he’d be able to play again this season. Hence, the negotiation.
“Once the weeks are agreed upon the team simply agrees to pay the player as if he was on the roster for those weeks,” Fitzgerald continued. “Teams and players have a 5-day window to agree to this settlement. Once the settlement occurs the player is again released from the team (in most cases exposed to waivers), except in this situation the player can return to the team, with a bit of a catch.”
Here’s the catch: “The player [Carvin in this case] is not allowed to return to the team [that released him] until the length of the settlement passes plus another 6 weeks.”
Now, we don’t know the details of Fatukasi or Carvin’s settlements but whatever they are, these prospects would have to wait an extra six weeks to re-sign in KC — while they can join any other franchise at the end of their injury settlement. So, although it’s not impossible that either will return at a later date in 2023, this news makes it unlikely.
NFL Writer Peter Schrager Picks Chiefs as Super Bowl Champion Once Again, Beating 49ers
NFL Network writer and insider Peter Schrager, of Good Morning Football, has built up a reputation as the crystal ball of the media industry when it comes to Super Bowl predictions. He picked the Chiefs last season, and has predicted the past four NFL champions according to his colleague Tom Pelissero.
Apparently, Schrager just locked in his 2023-24 selections on September 7.
The @nflnetwork‘s resident fortune-teller @PSchrags — who has correctly predicted the last four Super Bowl winners — just picked the #Chiefs over the #49ers 34-28 to win Super Bowl LVIII on @gmfb.
“The @nflnetwork’s resident fortune-teller @PSchrags [Schrager] — who has correctly predicted the last four Super Bowl winners — just picked the Chiefs over the [San Francisco] 49ers 34-28 to win Super Bowl LVIII on @gmfb,” Pelissero relayed.
A Super Bowl win for the Chiefs would mean their third Lombardi trophy under head coach Andy Reid and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes II.