It's rare for anyone from the NFL's draft class of 2015 to still be playing football, given the average career length for a professional football player. But the one member of the Kansas City Chiefs' rookie crop from that year who is still practicing his craft is a surprising one, and he's already found a home for the 2026 season.
Former Chiefs draft pick Rakeem Nuñez-Roches is heading back to Tampa Bay after signing a one-year deal with the Buccaneers. He spent the last three seasons with the New York Giants.
Nuñez-Roches came to the Chiefs as a sixth-round choice in 2015 and spent the first three seasons of his career in Kansas City. The man affectionately called "Nacho" would serve as a rotational lineman for the first year or more of his career and was even waived before his second season. However, the Chiefs promoted him from the practice squad at midseason in 2016, and Nuñez-Roches would go on to become an interior starter for most of his third season.
Despite Nunez-Roches' ascent up the depth chart, with 16 starts in his previous two seasons, the Chiefs decided to cut ties with him after the 2018 NFL Draft—Brett Veach's first draft as the team's general manager. After a failed preseason stint with the Indianapolis Colts, Nuñez-Roches caught on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and took his game to the next level.
Nuñez-Roches played in 68 regular-season games for the Buccaneers from 2018 to 2022, starting 22, and was part of the team's Super Bowl LV championship run in 2020. He then signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Giants in 2023 and became an important interior defender for one of the NFL's most talented defensive fronts. Last year, however, Nuñez-Roches saw action in only 9 games due to ankle and toe injuries, though he posted a career-high 3.0 sacks before landing on injured reserve.
Looking back, it wasn't center Mitch Morse or cornerback Marcus Peters who carved out the longest career, although those players certainly enjoyed prolific careers of their own. Now 32, Nunez-Roches is the one who has carved out an 11-year NFL career, an incredible story for a late-round selection. He already has 150 total games played in his career, including the postseason, and the Bucs are giving him a chance to begin the climb toward 200.