Former Chiefs linebacker Nate Orchard continues journeyman route with Packers

Former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nate Orchard has a found a new team with which to play—a feat that’s a bit harder for a guy like Orchard (at least in terms of the word “new”) considering his journeyman status.

Orchard just signed with the Green Bay Packers earlier this week and was given a spot on the team’s practice squad. Orchard should only be a familiar name to Chiefs fans who pay close attention to the comings and goings of the transaction wire, because he was only on the active roster for less than a month back in the 2018 season. During his short stint with the team in October of that season, he played in a single game without any meaningful stats.

The Cleveland Browns were the first team to believe in Orchard and they made him their second-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. While he started 11 games his rookie campaign, Orchard lost his second season to an ankle injury and would play only one more season as a rotational linebacker in Cleveland before being cut shortly before the 2018 season.

Nate Orchard is now with his 10th NFL team.

From there Buffalo Bills tried him out for a month, then came the Chiefs. By November, he’d been released from both teams but there was still a lot more interest to come from various NFL franchises.

In 2019, the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins gave him opportunities before he landed with the Washington Football Team for a solid year. In 2020, however, he was let go later in the season but that didn’t stop both the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans from taking chances on him as well. Even earlier this year, the Packers are the second team to give him a chance after a failed stint with the Minnesota Vikings.

All in all that means the Chiefs are one of 10 teams to officially sign Orchard. That’s an impressive career for a journeyman as Orchard is now in his seventh season in the NFL.