Chiefs place Kelechi Osemele on injured reserve, sign Le’Veon Bell

The Chiefs have placed Kelechi Osemele on IR to make room for free agent back Le’Veon Bell.

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially placed offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele on injured reserve in order to make room for their latest signing, free agent running back Le’Veon Bell.

The Chiefs announced the moves on Saturday, which only served to finally confirm long-planned moves for both players.

It was clear from the moment that Osemele went down in Week 5 with a non-contact injury in the first quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders that he had suffered a serious injury. The official diagnosis was torn tendons in both knees, which happened while the Chiefs starting guard was trying to hustle downfield to block for a scrambling Patrick Mahomes.

In Osemele’s place, the Chiefs will likely turn to Mike Remmers at left guard, unless an issue surfaces at tackle.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ public courtship of Bell drowned out any real lingering effects of the team’s first loss of the season to the Raiders, a surprising 40-32 loss at home. The New York Jets decided to release Bell instead of keeping him which could trigger an injury guarantee for another year. The trade market was dry for this reason, but a few teams were hungry to sign him on the cheap.

The Chiefs ended up beating out a number of other candidates, from the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins to the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills. The official deal was for just over $1 million for one year with incentives for a million more. The move gives the Chiefs a proven tandem partner for rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and another weapon for Andy Reid‘s dynamic offense.