The Doc Is Out, But Will Be Missed In Kansas City

After seven and a half total years, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, The Doc, is now moving on from the Kansas City Chiefs. The team traded him before the Trade Deadline on Tuesday. LDT will now receive a fresh start with the New York Jets. In return, the Chiefs acquired Dan Brown, a tight end who has mainly been a special teams player.

Overall, this was viewed simply as a move to create any sort of salary cap space or cash availability from Kansas City’s perspective. According to Spotrac, the Chiefs gained just under $1 million in cap space with the trade. They will also retain $3.2 million of dead cap in 2021 and $2 million of dead cap in 2022, due to Duvernay-Tardif’s previously paid contract bonuses.

At the same time, the Chiefs may not even keep Brown for that long. It would not be surprising to see him released eventually. This is especially true when you consider the rest of the Kansas City tight end room, despite Brown largely being a special teamer.

Many will focus solely on the acquisition that was made player for player. However, from the Chiefs side of things, we would be remiss to not look back on LDT’s time in Kansas City. His impact was obviously felt both on and off the field.

Chiefs Tenure

Seemingly Out Of Nowhere

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif became the tenth player to be selected from a Canadian university when Kansas City selected him with the 200th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Canada and attending McGill University, he was also selected in the CFL’s 2014 Draft. Duvernay-Tardif opted to pursue his NFL opportunity, however. He began that 2014 season as the fifth guard on the Chiefs depth chart and did not appear in a game.

Fast forward to the following season in 2015, and Duvernay-Tardif made his first career start in the season opener at the Houston Texans. He appeared in every game that season while making 13 starts.

Moreover, Duvernay-Tardif became a mainstay over the next few seasons for the Chiefs offensive line. His physicality grew along with his technical prowess. The blocking he showed was generally pin point and urgent. This allowed LDT to earn a five year contract extension worth a total of $42.36 million before the 2017 season.

Setback And Bounce Back

Moving forward, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif saw his consistency cut short in early 2018. He suffered a fractured fibula on a down block in a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This occurred in Week Five of 2018 and forced Duvernay-Tardif to miss the rest of the regular season.

His return season was felt heavily. Patrick Mahomes received a determined effort from the right guard. Eventually, the 2019 season culminated with a Super Bowl championship. This wound up being his final game played with Kansas City. Duvernay-Tardif appeared in 60 total games (57 starts) with the Chiefs.

Selfless Leadership

While he made a lasting impact with the Chiefs in the red and gold, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was working towards something even greater off the field. He became the NFL’s only active medical doctor in 2018. Duvernay-Tardif graduated from McGill with a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (M.D., C.M.). And he even put that degree to use in a major way.

In the summer of 2020, Duvernay-Tardif became the first player to opt out of the 2020 NFL season. He chose to help fight the COVID pandemic while working as an orderly in his native Quebec, Canada. Duvernay-Tardif worked tirelessly for days and hours to do the best he could off the field, and more importantly, in a job where he was heavily depended. Due to his help against the pandemic, LDT was named the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the 2021 ESPYs.

Despite not seeing the field in 2021 before this trade, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif left a permanent impression on the Chiefs and Kansas City. He possesses many different talents. More importantly, Duvernay-Tardif has instilled compassion that has helped the health of the NFLPA, the health of his fellow Canadians and helped give comfort to the public.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles throughout the rest of this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.