During his stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars, K'Lavon Chaisson left much to be desired. Granted, several players who are drafted in the first round fail to make an impact in the NFL, but the Jags expected big things from the former LSU Tiger after drafting him 20th overall in 2020. In the end, they let him walk after four underwhelming seasons.
However, Chaisson latched onto the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 and began to show signs of the player Jacksonville thought he could be. He then signed with the New England Patriots the following year and proved that his turnaround wasn't a fluke.
And after a successful campaign in Foxboro, Chaisson signed a contract with the Washington Commanders that will pay him as much as $11 million next season. Surprisingly, though, Swiper was highly coveted in free agency. However, he recently explained why he ultimately chose to pay for the Commanders.
K'Lavon Chaisson explains why he chose the Commanders over the Saints
K'Lavon Chaisson recently stated on his podcast that he got a multi-year offer to sign with the New Orleans Saints. However, he chose to sign with Washington because he couldn't pass up the chance to sign with a contender.
"I got a three-year with the Saints. He said he trying to get up to 13. I think right now they're at 11, trying to get to like 13, " Chaisson told his agent (5:50 mark). "Year. And then, I got a one-year with the Commanders right now for like I think 11. Something like that."
When asked which offer he'd rather take, Chaisson chose the Commanders, arguing that they were in a better position than New Orleans.
"I'm not gonna lie, I think that Commanders one only because I feel like them [expletive], they're competitive. We're going to be in some type of playoff race, and [expletive] I'm going to have more opportunities to be ahead of the game. I don't know about the Saints, I don't know what they offense look like. To know we'll be playing from ahead to even have them rush opportunities," Chaisson said.
That Chaisson gets to pick where he wants to go just goes on to show how far he's come since leaving the Jaguars in 2024 and subsequently getting cut by the Carolina Panthers a few months later.
The Commanders signed the player the Jaguars envisioned when they drafted K'Lavon Chaisson
Players' readiness is always variable coming out of the draft, and K'Lavon Chaisson needed to work on his craft for a few years before he could make an impact. The Jaguars would've surely wanted to see him put it all together when he was with them, but short of going back in time, there's nothing they can do.
And that's the thing, you cannot blame Jacksonville for failing to develop Chaisson. He got several chances and got a clean slate every time a new regime came in. Nevertheless, he wasn't able to capitalize on his opportunities until he got kicked to the curve.
Now, K'Lavon Chaisson is betting on himself to prove that that he's worthy of league-wide recognition. Looking back, maybe the Jaguars should've been a bit more patient with him.
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