In mid-March, defensive lineman Charles Omenihu signed a one-year, incentive-laden contract worth up to $7 million to stay with the Kansas City Chiefs. The timing — late in free agency — suggests he explored other opportunities before ultimately deciding to return.

He more or less confirmed this when he met with local media members via Zoom on Wednesday.

“The time that I did miss held weight [with] teams,” admitted Omenihu, who played in just nine games and recorded 2.0 sacks after finally recovering from the ACL injury he suffered during the 2023 playoffs. “It would be difficult for anybody to look the same from [injury]. So those two factors were something that I dealt with in free agency. And then there’s a time when you come to a point in the decision-making that you do what kind of makes football sense at the time, you kind of throw your ego out of it.”

Setting ego aside meant betting on himself for his age-28 season. Having played under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive line coach Joe Cullen since 2023, Omenihu believed there was no better place in the league to maximize his production for a year.

“Coming back to an organization that I know… a system that, again, like I said, before I got hurt — I don’t like really moping in the past — but I was on a very good, very, very good pace, very fast, rapid pace. So, with that, getting a whole year, getting the whole offseason… I feel like it will bode well in my favor and also in the team’s favor, ‘cause I mean, I do well, we all do well.”

Omenihu’s 2023 season didn’t begin until Week 7, when he returned from a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Despite appearing in only 11 regular-season games, he recorded 7.0 sacks, including 5.5 over the final six contests leading into the postseason.

In the second quarter of the 2023 AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens, Omenihu strip-sacked quarterback Lamar Jackson, recovering his own forced fumble. On the next defensive play, he tore his ACL.

The defensive lineman would have to miss Kansas City’s Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers — and, more importantly in terms of his own outlook, the next 11 regular-season games of the 2024 season.

“It was tough, but like I said, factors that, honestly, I couldn’t control,” recognized Omenihu, who remained grateful he could appear in nine games, including the Super Bowl. “It’s just hard to be what I was coming off of that, seeing the growth and progress I’ve had in the offseason. I definitely could see that it was kind of crazy that I was playing… I wanted to do anything to be on the field with the guys and to help the team, so I pushed and pushed to do that, but obviously, when you take a step back and I go on the training where everything’s specific for me, it was kind of crazy that I was out there.”

Omenihu’s six-year career has featured its share of adversity. Drafted by the Houston Texans in 2019, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers following the dismissal of Bill O’Brien.

The trade brought Omenihu under the guidance of Kris Kocurek, the longtime Detroit Lions defensive line coach who had joined San Francisco in 2019 after a season in Miami. Under Kocurek, Omenihu tallied 4.5 sacks and 62 pressures in 2022 — production that led to a lucrative free-agent contract in Kansas City.

“Personally, I’ve been at the door of where I want to be, and then something happens,” he said. “Life is about adversity. Life is about overcoming it. And I think what keeps me at peace is now — knock on wood — there’s not any of that anymore, like, God-willing I’ll be able to play the home-opener, you know what I’m saying? So I’ll be able to play from Game 1.

“I haven’t been able to play Game 1 since my fourth year in the league. I’m going on Year 7. So, it’s tough, for sure, cause you feel like you put all the work in. I know that I’m a talented player, it’s like you climb the hill, climb the hill — and then a rock hits you in the face. Now, hopefully, I can climb this hill, and I don’t have too much debris hitting me, and I can just play Game 1 and show everyone exactly what I was before I got hurt, to be honest. And then also, with that, help the team and help the defense and give the defense and this organization a full, like I said, 20 or 21 games, whatever the case may be, to be like, OK, this is Charles Omenihu.”

Omenihu reports that he has finished rehab-specific training and is now focused on regaining the explosiveness, strength and power he showcased before the injury.

Many players throughout the league have motivation for one reason or another — it could be former teams, free-agency concerns or needing to sign a one-year prove-it deal.