When the Kansas City Chiefs made their final roster cuts in August, rookie tackle Esa Pole — who had signed with the team in April as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State — was widely reported
to have cleared initial waivers and was planning to re-sign with the Chiefs on the practice squad.
As news slowly trickled in following cutdown day, however, we learned that the New York Jets had claimed Pole on waivers.
On Thursday, the Jets waived Pole after he had been a healthy scratch in each of their seven games. After clearing waivers on Friday, Pole was finally re-signed to Kansas City’s practice squad on Saturday.
After Saturday’s practice, head coach Andy Reid briefly addressed the decision to bring Pole back.
Reid noted that the team had been impressed that Pole had played at a high level at Washington State, despite having no high school football experience. Reid is pleased that offensive line coach Andy Heck will be able to develop a player whose potential has been promising.
“Big guys are hard to find that can move like he does,” Reid remarked, “and he had a decent training camp. He’s a young guy, and you’re always trying to develop those guys. Nobody does it better than Andy. He gets to get his hands on him again.”
