Breeland Speaks gets a second chance with the Las Vegas Raiders

Breeland Speaks has finally found a home after being released by the Chiefs.

After a few weeks of unemployment, the Las Vegas Raiders have finally given former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Breeland Speaks a place to land.

On Friday, the Raiders made it official by signing Speaks to their practice squad as a way to see what the former Chiefs defender has to offer in a different coaching scheme and environment.

The Chiefs surprised some fans by releasing Speaks before the regular season began—meaning active roster cuts were due. While it was clear that Speaks had fallen out of favor, or at least behind others, due to missing all last season with injury, the fact that he was a second round pick still on his rookie contract made it one of the bigger shocks when looking at the team’s initial roster.

Speaks was actually the very first draft pick turned in by general manager Brett Veach in his post. Veach decided to trade up for Speaks in the 2018 draft in a move that was considered a reach at the time and became more of a head-scratcher every season. Speaks looked largely out of place in Bob Sutton’s defense during his rookie year, and a preseason injury kept him out during Steve Spagnuolo’s first year with the Chiefs.

From there, the Chiefs had simply added too much competition at the position to offer Speaks another chance. The team had clearly gotten over any investment and liked what they had in the locker room with fellow young prospects like free agent Taco Charlton and fifth round rookie Michael Danna. With Tanoh Kpassagnon, Alex Okafor and Frank Clark already locked into the roster as well, Speaks was the odd man out.

The Raiders will now hope to unlock whatever pass rushing potential that Speaks, who is still only 24, has at the pro level after a solid career at Ole Miss. In three seasons in the SEC, Speaks put up 9 sacks—7 in his final season—and 15 tackles for a loss. In his lone season with the Chiefs, he had 24 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble in 16 games (including four starts).