Report: Chiefs sign former Saints defensive end Alex Okafor to three-year contract

According to a report from Terez Paylor, the Kansas City Chiefs have signed former New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Okafor.

According to Paylor, the contract is for $18 million over three years, with incentives that could bring it up to as much as $24 million.

Okafor, 28, was drafted as a linebacker by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played little in his rookie season but started 12 games in his second campaign, recording eight sacks, an interception, 11 tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits and three passes defensed.

He started 13 games in 2015 but wasn’t as effective as he had been the previous year, and he didn’t start any games for the Cardinals in the 2016 season after being placed on injured reserve last January.

Signed by the Saints in 2017, Okafor was converted to a defensive end, and started 10 games (recording 4.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits and four tackles for loss) before suffering an Achilles injury. He returned to the Saints in 2018 on a new two-year, $10 million contract, and started all 16 games, notching four sacks, nine quarterback hits and five tackles for loss.

The Saints voided his contract in February.

The insta-reaction from our own Matt Lane is that he sees more upside to Okafor than many do and also thinks he’ll be a role player at defensive end for the Chiefs.