Chiefs news: CFL quarterback visits Arrowhead for workout

The Kansas City Chiefs are hosting a few tryouts on Monday, including a quarterback from CFL in Nathan Rourke.

The NFL window of the Canadian Football League is wide open at this point, and players who are able to impress an NFL franchise are officially able to jump leagues to sign in the U.S. One such player who is at least exploring such options is quarterback Nathan Rourke, who is spending Monday with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Rourke was a three-year starter with the Bobcats of Ohio University who went undrafted after finishing his collegiate career in 2019. He did, however, get drafted by the BC Lions in the CFL in the second round, a homecoming for the Victoria native.

Unfortunately for Rourke (and every other athlete), the 2020 season never happened in the Canadian Football League due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From there, Rourke largely served as an understudy for the 2021 season before taking over as the starting QB for the Lions in ’22.

Last season, Rourke completed 79 percent of his throws for 3,349 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. He threw 10 interceptions. He also added another seven rushing touchdowns on the ground. His success last season for British Columbia has turned heads in a number of NFL circles, which is why the Chiefs are not the only team who has worked him out so far. Other teams who have already taken a look include every other team in the AFC West, Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and more.

The Chiefs typically have two developmental quarterbacks on the roster through the spring before whittling down the competition as the summer arrives. For now, the Chiefs are leaning on Shane Buechele behind Patrick Mahomes and Chad Henne while Chris Oladokun is also on the practice squad. The intriguing part of all of this is that Henne’s contract is up and it might be time for Buechele to take the backup reins given his position on the team’s active roster.

CFL players aren’t eligible to officially sign with an NFL team until Monday, January 9, so now that Rourke has worked out for so many teams, we will only now get to see which teams were interested enough to offer him a deal.