Why Brian Geraghty's Sean Roman Left Chicago P.D.

"Chicago P.D." has bid farewell to many characters in its 13 seasons, but Brian Geraghty had one of the shortest tenures on the show. The actor played patrol officer Sean Roman in season 2 and 3 of the series before his character was shot and injured in the line of duty and ultimately decided to leave Chicago to start over in San Diego. Behind the scenes, it turns out Geraghty wanted to pursue other projects and was able to do so since his "Chicago P.D." contract ran on a season-by-season basis.

The second installment in the One Chicago universe, "Chicago P.D.", was created by the great Dick Wolf and premiered in 2014, two years after the original series, "Chicago Fire," debuted. Following the Intelligence Unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department, "Chicago P.D." has proved as popular as the mothership series (unlike the swiftly-cancelled "Chicago Justice"), running for 13 seasons as of 2025 and showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Of course, along the way the procedural has had to say goodbye to a fair few cast members, including original star Sophia Bush, who played Erin Lindsay before leaving "Chicago P.D." in the fourth season. That particular departure was somewhat controversial since Bush made no secret of the circumstances under which she was leaving, saying that she was "really, really unhappy" on the show.

The same can't be said for Geraghty, who decided to leave "Chicago P.D." in order to pursue other opportunities. It turned out to be a smart move, as Geraghty has since appeared in several high-profile projects including Taylor Sheridan's celebrated "Yellowstone" spin-off, "1923."

Sean Roman first appeared in "Chicago P.D." season 2, episode 1, where he's partnered with Marina Squerciati's Kim Burgess. Over the next two seasons, Roman and Burgess developed a relationship, which was cut short at the end of season 3 when Roman was shot in the line of duty, leaving him with nerve damage in his right arm. After that, his career as a patrol officer came to an end and rather than work desk duty for the Chicago P.D., Roman decided to move to San Diego. For a brief moment, Burgess considered joining him but ultimately decided to stay in the Windy City, leaving Roman to depart solo in the season 3 finale, "Start Digging."

Unlike Yuri Sardarov's Otis departure from "Chicago Fire" in season 8, where the character was written out for dramatic impact, Roman's departure was Brian Geraghty's decision. As executive producer Matt Olmstead explained to TVLine at the time of Geraghty's 2016 exit, "When we wanted to do this Roman character, [executive producer] Dick [Wolf] in particular really wanted Brian Geraghty [for the role]." According to Olmstead, the actor had "a lot of choices" at the time the One Chicago universe was pursuing him, but the producers persisted. "We courted him and pitched him what the show could be," explained Olmstead, "and we were crossing our fingers that we'd get him. He is the most level-headed, decent human being you're going to encounter, and he's upfront. He was like, 'I don't know if I can commit to a seven-year contract. This sounds great, but I've got to take it year by year,' which Dick doesn't do very often. But the deal was made." However, it didn't take long for Geraghty to think about jumping ship.

With Brian Geraghty signing a season-by-season contract on "Chicago P.D.", he was free to end his tenure on the show at the end of each season — which is exactly what he did when Matt Olmstead checked in with him midway through season 3. As the executive producer put it, "[Geraghty is] also a producer and wants to get stuff off the ground that he's been working on and wanted to give us a heads-up and include us in the conversation." That heads-up was, evidently, a perfectly polite exchange, with Olmstead adding, "It was the most civil, level-headed, mutual fan-fest agreement and departure that I've ever been a part of, because he was just very decent about it."

As such, the writers wrote Sean Roman out of "Chicago P.D." in the season 3 finale. "I hope that we honored his request," continued Olmstead. "He gave us what we needed — two years of doing a really good job on a character that elevated the show. We shook hands at the beginning, we shook hands at the end, and he's off to do great things, I'm sure of it."

Geraghty certainly has done some great things since leaving the procedural, playing Ronald Pergman on the ABC thriller drama "Big Sky" and ranch foreman Zane Davis on Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" prequel series "1923," which sadly won't be getting a third season. He's also produced several projects, including 2015's "The Stanford Prison Experiment." Meanwhile, Sean Roman returned to the One Chicago universe when he showed up for a guest role in the season 7 episode "Burden of Trust." Roman also appeared in several episodes of "Chicago Fire" during the third and fourth seasons, and showed up in "Chicago Med" during its first season.