Kansas City Chiefs rookie Lucas Niang has decided to opt out of 2020 season.
The Kansas City Chiefs have learned that a third player on the roster, rookie offensive tackle Lucas Niang, has decided to take the NFL’s offer to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, Niang made his decision known on Thursday which will force the Chiefs to move forward with another loss along the offensive line.
The Chiefs selected Niang, a prospect out of Texas Christian, in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. While the plan could be to keep him at tackle long-term due to the lack of depth at the position behind veterans like Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, the Chiefs planned on moving Niang inside for his rookie campaign in order to bolster the ceiling along the offensive interior.
At this point, the Chiefs have also announced two further losses due to players opting out and all have been on the offensive side. Starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was the first player in the NFL to opt out. Running back Damien Williams followed suit. The former stated he was concerned about overall risk and safety and said he was willing to use his medical training to help fight the coronavirus. The latter stated a late-stage cancer diagnosis for his mother made his decision for him.
Without Niang for the 2020 season, the Chiefs will now have him under contract for four more seasons starting in 2021.
The league has given players until Thursday, August 6 to make their decision to opt out or not.