Chiefs reportedly had hoped to bring center Rodney Hudson back to Kansas City
Last Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Las Vegas Raiders were preparing to release center Rodney Hudson, a three-time Pro Bowler.
Hudson, who was drafted by the Chiefs in 2011, signed as a free agent with the Raiders in 2015. There was some chatter about the potential of a Chiefs-Hudson reunion, but that was scuttled Thursday when the Raiders traded Hudson and a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft to the Arizona Cardinals for third-round draft choice.
No one will ever know if the Chiefs really would have tried to add Hudson to their rebuilt line, but NBC Sports’ Peter King reported Monday that the Chiefs had been ready to swoop in and sign Hudson.
In his weekly “Football Morning In America” column, King wrote about the Chiefs’ signing of former Patriots offensive-lineman, Joe Thuney. King also said Hudson was on KC’s radar.
“The player they wanted but didn’t get is center Rodney Hudson, who got traded by the Raiders to Arizona,” King wrote of the Chiefs. “Hudson wanted to be released, not traded. And if he’d been released, I’m pretty sure he’d have been snapping to Patrick Mahomes this year. KC was ready to pay Hudson more than Arizona did.”
At first blush, this may seem like the Raiders wanted to make sure Hudson didn’t go to the Chiefs.
While that may have factored into the decision, Las Vegas was better off swinging a trade. The Raiders got a draft pick and won’t have any dead cap money (if there was any) because Hudson has two years remaining on a contract he signed with the Raiders ahead of the 2020 season.
For Chiefs fans who wanted Hudson to return, this ended up being a case of close but no cigar for that happening.
