Entertainment

Chicago P.D.’s Atwater Replacement Joins An Overlooked List Of Wolf Entertainment Stars

Nairavoice · Nov 2, 2026 · 4 min read

Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Chicago P.D. season 14, episode 4, called “My Eye, My Call.”Chicago P.D. wasted no time before delivering major changes in season 14, starting with the exit of LaRoyce Hawkins as Kevin Atwater. While Atwater got a much happier ending than many of P.D.‘s other departing characters, his absence left a major hole in the ensemble. The One Chicago drama introduced his replacement in the latest episode. This newcomer was a stranger to Voight and the rest of the Intelligence Unit when he first turned up to complicate their case, but fans of Dick Wolf’s TV universe may have recognized him immediately.

Even though Chicago P.D. has gone through many cast changes over the past 14 years, the Intelligence Unit is usually made up of five members working under Voight’s leadership. Budget cuts throughout Wolf Entertainment have meant episodes often lack one or more cast members, but Voight usually has five cops in his unit. Intelligence was down to Burgess, Ruzek, Torres, and Imani after Atwater left the Windy City, so season 14 needed another member of the team sooner rather than later.

“My Eye, My Call” introduced that new member: Officer Donovan “Penny” Watts, played by Naiqui Macabroad. Watts had been a beat cop in the 11th district for the past six years when his persistence in chasing down a case brought him into an Intelligence Unit investigation. While the team didn’t fully embrace his interference early on, he helped close the case by the end of the hour, and Voight invited him to join the unit. Intelligence officially has its fifth member, and One Chicago has its tenth Wolf Entertainment alum in NBC’s 2026 fall schedule.

Where Wolf Entertainment Fans Have Seen Naiqui Macabroad Before

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    Lori Allen/NBC</figure>

While it’s not unprecedented for Wolf Entertainment to recycle actors throughout the franchise to play multiple different characters, Naiqui Macabroad didn’t take long at all to switch from one NBC show to another. He previously appeared in the thirteenth episode of Law & Order season 25, called “New Normal.” That episode aired back in February, meaning that he returned to the franchise as a whole new character less than a year after first joining.

The franchise extends beyond One Chicago and the two current Law & Order shows on NBC, with CBS’ FBI and CIA technically existing in the same TV universe. That said, the NBC shows are far more closely tied to each other than with any of the series on CBS, so it’s especially notable when actors are recycled through Law & Order and One Chicago. Macabroad is the latest, but certainly not the only actor to do so.

Other One Chicago Stars Who Played Multiple Characters

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    George Burns Jr/NBC</figure>

Thanks to how quickly he switched from Law & Order to Chicago P.D., Naiqui Macabroad stands out among the actors who played multiple characters in Dick Wolf’s world. He’s definitely not the actor who came to One Chicago with the longest run in another NBC installment, with that honor going to S. Epatha Merkerson for her 17 seasons on Law & Order. Macabroad isn’t even the first former Law & Order guest to switch to One Chicago for a key role.

In fact, no fewer than 10 actors have transferred from one corner of NBC’s Dick Wolf universe to the other.

Benjamin Levy Aguilar is unique on this list for playing two characters within the same show. He became a series regular as Officer Dante Torres in season 10, but originally played Franco Chavaro as a one-off guest in season 7. David Eigenberg has been in the most episodes of One Chicago to date, with more than 300 across Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice. Merkerson easily has the record for the most episodes of the Law & Order shows before coming to One Chicago, with nearly 400 behind her as Lt. Van Buren.

Some of these cast members even played multiple Law & Order characters before One Chicago. Merkerson guest-starred in the original show for one episode before later coming on as a regular. Weber was on both Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: SVU, while Squerciati was on Criminal Intent and SVU.

Now, Macabroad is among their number. New episodes of Chicago P.D. continue airing on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire.