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Patrick Mahomes says the Chiefs need to get back to having fun again

Kansas City Chiefs Mandatory Minicamp

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On Monday, the quarterback appeared on “Up & Adams” with Kay Adams.

A previously recorded interview with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes aired this morning on FanDuelTV’s “Up & Adams” with Kay Adams.

In the conversation, Mahomes opened up about the Chiefs’ wide receiver depth, the team’s mindset heading into the season and his thoughts on the offseason chatter — including his ranking on the NFL’s Top 100 list.

Blocking out the noise


The world is full of haters, and after a Super Bowl loss, they come crawling out of the woodwork. When asked about the outside talk this offseason and his mindset heading into the year, Mahomes made it clear: he hears the noise but is not interested in the back-and-forth.

“I’m honestly just ready to play football again,” Mahomes said. “I’ve had to just sit back and listen to people talk and talk, and I’m like — let’s just play football and handle it all out there. I don’t really want to talk about it. I just want to go out there and show who we are as the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Reclaiming joy


Kansas City’s expectations are sky-high, and sometimes that pressure can dull the joy of the game. At the end of the day, Mahomes said the team needs to get back to having fun again.

“I don’t want to say it was pressure, but last year, guys wanted to go out there and win every single week — not because it was fun, but because we were supposed to. Let’s go out there and have fun. The wins will come if we play the way we know we can play.”

Mahomes’ deepest wide receiver room yet?


A significant part of why Mahomes is optimistic? The depth at wide receiver this season. It might be the deepest group he’s had in his entire career.

“It’s going to be hard to make cuts,” he admitted. “We have so many great receivers — we could be eight, nine deep with guys I could see making this roster.”

Last season, injuries decimated the receiving corps. But this year? With everyone healthy, Mahomes sees firepower everywhere.

“It’s going to come from everywhere. Obviously, you got Rashee [Rice] coming back — he looks great. You’ve got Xavier Worthy, who came on strong at the end of last year. You’ve got Hollywood Brown, he’s healthy again... guys everywhere. We have so many weapons.”

Legacy over lists


Mahomes doesn’t seem phased by where he ranks on the NFL’s Top 100. For him, it’s never been about being No. 1 on a list; it’s about being number one on the field.

“I’m always myself, no matter if you like me or don’t like me,” he said. “You know I’m doing everything I can to win the football game.”

And as for any perceived slight about not being ranked No. 1?

“They can rank me wherever they rank me. At the end of the day, all I want to do is win Super Bowls.”

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025/7/7/24463111/chiefs-news-patrick-mahome-fun-again-in-2025
 
How many sacks for the Chiefs this season? Take the ‘Reacts’ fan survey

SPORTS-FBN-BUCS-CHIEFS-3-KC

Dominick Williams/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Let’s hear what you have to say about the Chiefs!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Kansas City Chiefs fans — and fans across the country.

Sign up here to answer weekly national NFL questions via email — or answer this week’s Chiefs poll right here.

Later in the week, we’ll bring you all the results of this week’s polls.
Click here to see recent results.

And be sure to check out
FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...fan-survey-july-11-how-many-sacks-this-season
 
Chiefs just out of top 10 in offensive weapons, per ESPN

NFL: JUN 12 Kansas City Chiefs OTA

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

While still out of the top 10, Kansas City still received its highest ranking in the last four offseasons.

On Tuesday, ESPN senior NFL writer Bill Barnwell released his annual column ranking the NFL’s best (and worst) playmaker groups, judging which front offices have given their quarterback a good supporting cast of weapons.

First, let’s review where the Kansas City Chiefs landed the last five offseasons:


Ahead of the 2025 season, Barnwell lists the Chiefs No. 12 — their highest ranking in four years.

While there were occasional glimmers of the old Travis Kelce, it’s fair to say Father Time might have finally gotten to the best tight end in NFL history. Outside of his one-game debut season in 2013, he set career lows in receiving yards (823), touchdowns (three), yards per reception (8.5, never previously below 10), yards per target (6.1, never once before below 8.0), yards per route run (1.6) and average yards after catch (3.5). He finished last in ESPN’s receiver score among all NFL players, although that owes in part to a Catch Score (zero) that’s way out of line with his historical rates. I’d argue that Kelce is still an above-average tight end with this skill set given how difficult it is to find real upside at the position, but I’m expecting something a lot closer to the 2024 version than the dominant 2022 edition.

The running back situation is also muddled after Isiah Pacheco‘s frustrating season, owing to a fractured fibula. It’s a little easier to project a 26-year-old runner to bounce back to form than a 35-year-old tight end, but then again, Kelce ‘s baseline was a lot more spectacular than Pacheco’s. Kareem Hunt was excellent in short-yardage and underwhelming at just about everything else when forced into the lead role as Pacheco’s replacement.

Instead, I’m cautiously optimistic about the Chiefs’ wide receivers, who have been disappointing for years. Rashee Rice was excellent down the stretch in 2023 and early in 2024 before tearing his ACL in Week 4, and with the injury occurring so early in the season, he should be closer to full health. And while it took Xavier Worthy time to rack up numbers, it wasn’t because he couldn’t get open. He averaged 2.0 yards per route run between Week 10 and Super Bowl LIX, where he finished the season with eight catches for 157 yards and two scores. If the Chiefs can somehow get full seasons out of Rice, Worthy and oft-injured third wideout Hollywood Brown, we could see something more like the younger, more explosive version of Patrick Mahomes. Of course, counting on getting 51 games out of those three players seems extremely optimistic, which is why Kansas City isn’t ranked higher.

My takeaway


Barnwell delivered Kansas City its best ranking since trading wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the 2022 offseason. The logic tracks.

As tight end Travis Kelce is entering his age-35 season, there is some skepticism about his ability to hit 1,000 receiving yards once again. A key point missing in Barnwell’s offering might be the coverage attention three healthy above-average receivers might take away from Kelce — which could reasonably lead him to a return to that type of production.

We have talked about it often on these pages: in 2024, the Chiefs planned to tilt their primary focus from Kelce to wide receiver Rashee Rice, but the early-season injury thwarted that objective. There is no guarantee of health for any NFL player, but should Rice be able to stay on the field, everyone else’s numbers — including Kelce’s — should be better.

The Chiefs hoped to select a running back on Day 1 or 2 of the NFL Draft, but the board played out in a way that they had to wait until Round 7. That means Kansas City will be banking on Isiah Pacheco’s return to health; the running back added weight this offseason to improve his durability for his contract year. Barnwell notes Kareem Hunt is back but does not mention Elijah Mitchell, who could surprise fans as a Jerick McKinnon-like wild card.

On paper, I believe the Chiefs have top-10 firepower, but I don’t blame Barnwell for stopping at 12 because that will depend on good health, something Kansas City lacked in 2024.



Barnwell ranked the rest of the AFC West as follows: Las Vegas Raiders, 20. Los Angeles Chargers, 22. Denver Broncos, 23. Read his evaluations of those offenses and the entire league here.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...t-out-of-top-10-in-offensive-weapons-per-espn
 
10 Biggest Questions: What will be the Chiefs’ best offensive line?

NFL: JUN 18 Kansas City Chiefs Minicamp

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

While it isn’t as drastic a change as we saw after 2020, Kansas City’s offensive line will again be different in 2025.

For the third straight year, I’m considering the 10 biggest questions I have for the Kansas City Chiefs for 2025.

Kansas City Chiefs’ fans are well aware that the team’s 2020 and 2024 squads sputtered out in their respective Super Bowls largely because they couldn’t move the ball. In each case, struggles on the offensive line were a big part of the problem.

So in each successive offseason, the team made significant moves on the line. In 2021, it signed left guard Joe Thuney, traded for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and drafted two young stars: center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith.

While their moves weren’t as dramatic this year, the Chiefs will go into the coming season with a new left tackle and left guard. After trading Thuney to the Chicago Bears, they signed tackle Jaylon Moore — formerly with the San Francisco 49ers — and selected former Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons with the 32nd pick of the NFL Draft.

By this time in 2021, we (mostly) knew what the offensive line would look like. While right tackle was a question — Lucas Niang and Andrew Wylie would compete for the spot in training camp — the other four spots were set.

That’s not the case in 2025. While Humphrey, Smith (and right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who was signed in 2023) are the clear starters at their positions, who will be the Day 1 starter at left tackle — or at left guard? What will be the in-season contingency plan for each position? What should we expect to see in training camp — and in Week 1?

Left tackle


Going into camp, this is the most interesting position. Simmons is recovering from a torn patellar tendon, but has been cleared to participate in practices. Under the circumstances, it seems likely that Moore (with a dozen NFL starts under his belt) will get the first crack at starting reps.

But how long of a leash will the veteran have? While the Chiefs aren’t paying Moore an outrageous amount of money for the position he plays, they did invest real money into his contract. If Moore has a great camp, that will be great. But what if his performances are up-and-down? How long would it take for Kansas City to make a change? Would the team be willing to do it before Week 1?

How Simmons performs will be a big part of the equation. We simply don’t know how the rookie will look in his first action after the injury he suffered in October. If he immediately performs as he did with the Buckeyes in 2024, there’s zero doubt in my mind he will be the starter — but that’s not a guarantee. Even after he’s fully recovered, there will still be hurdles for the rookie to clear.

So, how quickly can Simmons get up to speed? Do the Chiefs even want him to start Week 1, or would they prefer to give him more time to get into peak shape?

How Moore and Simmons play in training camp (and preseason) will be huge factors in determining what the Chiefs will do at left tackle.

Left guard


It now seems clear that second-year player Kingsley Suamataia will begin training camp as the starter.

But this might be a mistake. I liked Suamataia as a prospect — and I still have some hope for him — but he was an abject failure as the team’s left tackle in 2024. While there’s a chance he’s just not cut out to be a left tackle, his technique (and get-off from his stance) proved to be well below NFL standards. Maybe it will be easier for him at guard, but he still must prove he can play the position.

A lot will be riding on Suamataia being ready to start — especially if the starting left tackle is a rookie. If he can’t do it, who will be up next? Head coach Andy Reid has acknowledged that Mike Caliendo will also be competing to become the left guard. But if Simmons is ready to go, could we see Moore move inside? Could it be someone else on the roster — such as Wanya Morris, Hunter Nourzad or C.J. Hanson?

Right tackle


Reid (and offensive line coach Andy Heck) always say their goal is to have their five best offensive linemen on the field. Let’s say that by Week 1, Simmons is starting — and playing well — at left tackle, while Suamataia is holding on at left guard. But on the other side, Taylor continues to struggle. Is it possible that the Chiefs could move Moore into Taylor’s place? Will the Chiefs be willing to pull the plug on a player who will count $27.3 million against the cap this season?

If Taylor’s play doesn’t improve, I’ll be keeping my eye on this potential storyline.

The bottom line


Given the investments Kansas City has made in them, I would love for Simmons, Suamataia, Humphrey, Smith and Taylor to be the offensive line’s starting five. But it’s very possible that this won’t be the best group. There will be real competition at multiple spots — and we could even see changes during the season.

One thing is certain: the Chiefs will leave no stone unturned. Just as we saw last year, if something isn’t working, they will make changes. It may take much of the season for things to shake out — but as long as the offensive line is stable going into the playoffs, the team will have a shot.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025/7/9/24462601/chiefs-roster-what-will-be-the-best-offensive-line
 
2 Chiefs squads make list of the 21st century’s best NFL teams

Super Bowl LIV - San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

Kansas City won three Super Bowls after 2000, but only two of those teams made a new Yahoo! list.

On Wednesday, Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports published his ranking of the top 25 NFL teams of this quarter century. Two of the Kansas City Chiefs’ teams from this era made his list — both of them in the top 10.

6. 2022 Chiefs

14-3 · AFC No. 1 seed · Won
Super Bowl LVII

The Chiefs went 14-3, got an MVP season from Patrick Mahomes, and Steve Spagnuolo’s defense made strides that would help Kansas City reinvent itself during a dynasty. The three losses came by a combined 10 points, and like most Chiefs teams this era, it was clutch. The Chiefs’ late-game heroics included a last-minute drive to beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

2. 2019 Chiefs

12-4 · AFC No. 2 seed · Won Super Bowl LIV


The Chiefs’ first Super Bowl title team in 50 years was the peak of the dynasty, to date. They lost four games but each of them was by seven points or less. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill were the core of a great offense that had a remarkable comeback to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl.

My take


Not every Super Bowl winner made this list. No teams from 2003, 2012, 2018 or 2021 were included, while two teams each from 2013, 2014, 2019 and 2022 were listed. (Yes, the Chiefs had to share their honor with the 2019 Baltimore Ravens and 2022 Buffalo Bills — neither of which made it past the Divisional round of the respective season’s playoffs).

Schwab explained his logic this way:

Since 2000, there have been 10 NFL teams to outscore their regular-season opponents by 200 or more points. There are many ways to measure a team’s dominance, but point differential is a simple and arguably the most telling one.

But then Schwab revealed the problem with this reasoning:

And of those 10 teams that outscored their opponents by at least 200 points, exactly zero won a Super Bowl.

But that was OK with Schwab.

That’s variance in a competitive NFL with a one-and-done playoff format. The best teams don’t always win a title. Some of the greatest teams of the past 25 years didn’t even make the Super Bowl. The best team of the past quarter century — perhaps the best team in NFL history — didn’t get a ring. [Schwab is referring to the 2007 New England Patriots, who were undefeated until losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants]. It happens, and it has happened plenty over the past 25 seasons.

While I’ll give him credit for admitting his approach is “arguably the most telling one,” I don’t totally buy into Schwab’s logic. Personally, I think the NFL postseason formula — winning three (or maybe four) consecutive games against the league’s best teams — is arguably the most telling way to measure a great team.

Anyway, that’s what people told Kansas City fans when their favorite team hadn’t won a Super Bowl for 49 straight seasons.

So I understand why Schawb doesn’t include the 2023 Chiefs, who were 9-6 when they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day — and then won six straight games on the way to becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since 2004. But to me, that was an exceptional Kansas City team. It exhibited not only skill and talent, but also perseverance and character.

Still, Schwab includes the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on his list — even though they were 7-5 after losing to the Chiefs in Week 12. “This was a very good team,” writes Schwab, “that took a while to bloom.” I guess a team can only really bloom when Tom Brady is its quarterback.

So I suppose we’ve learned that we can’t expect one person’s opinion of the best teams over 25 years to match the views of every other person, can we? Perhaps Schwab would have been better off by not trying to explain himself.

“This is my list,” he might have said. “If you disagree, that’s too bad.”

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...wo-squads-listed-as-best-nfl-teams-of-century
 
Arrowheadlines: Jaylon Moore is the most likely to bust of all new players

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Chiefs headlines for Friday, July 11

The latest


Pre-Camp Breakdown: Examining the Chiefs Defensive Line | The Mothership

Coziah Izzard

An undrafted free agent signee from Penn State, the 6-foot-2, 298-pound Izzard recorded 78 tackles, 17.5 tackles-for-loss, nine sacks and two forced fumbles in 51 career games (with seven starts) over his five seasons with the Nittany Lions.

His 4.85 40-yard dash (which took place at his pro day) would have ranked second among all defensive tackles at the NFL Scouting Combine, and his 10-yard split (at 1.56) would have ranked first. Additionally, his 33.5-inch vertical jump would have ranked fourth. Those are all indicators of an explosive athlete.

2025 NFL Power Rankings: Where Does Every Team Stack Up Entering Training Camp?| | Bleacher Report

2. Kansas City Chiefs

Given how thoroughly the Chiefs have dominated the AFC over the past several years, it might seem weird to call Kansas City a flawed team. But that’s what we saw in a lopsided loss to the Philadelphia Eagles—the Chiefs were absolutely dominated in the trenches, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes spending most of the game either on his back or running for his life.

The Chiefs invested heavily in the offensive line in both free agency and the draft, including spending their first draft pick on Ohio State tackle Josh Simmons. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy told reporters that the unit came to OTAs determined to put last February’s failure behind them:

“It was a struggle from the second play of the game on. We never got into a rhythm. I feel like there were a lot of plays where we were one person off, whether it was a missed assignment, below-par fundamentals and technique, or poor play design. Their defensive line set the tone early on and made it tough for us in both the run and pass game. Our offensive line fought the entire game. The beauty of our team is nobody blames. We all stick together and start with ourselves and what I could have done better. We will use this as motivation to take two steps forward.”

Motivation is all well and good. But if there’s one question mark looming over the team entering training camp, it’s whether Kansas City’s new-look line is actually any better than the old one.

Predicting Every NFL Team’s Biggest Bust of the 2025 NFL Season | Bleacher Report

Kansas City Chiefs: OT Jaylon Moore

While the Broncos didn’t overpay to add Dobbins, the rival Kansas City Chiefs may have given a bit much for former San Francisco 49ers lineman Jaylon Moore. To land the 27-year-old, who has only 12 career starts on his resume, the Chiefs handed out a two-year, $30 million deal.

Will Moore play up to his contract? Probably not. Pro Football Focus ranked Moore 25th among tackles last season, but he played just 271 offensive snaps. Kansas City also used a first-round pick on Ohio State’s Josh Simmons, and if Simmons is ready to start as a rookie, Moore could be little more than an overpriced swing tackle in 2025.

Andy Reid’s One-Liner to Xavier Worthy Hints at Chiefs’ Offensive Plan in 2025 | SI

Chiefs wideout Xavier Worthy joined the Up & Adams Show this week and spoke to Kay Adams about how Kansas City’s offense could look different this year.

When Adams asked Worthy if the deep ball was going to be a big part of the offense in Week 1, Worthy relayed a simple message he got from Coach Reid.

“Coach Reid told us... when you get back, get your hamstrings ready,” Worthy said.

“Coach Reid told us… when you get back get your hamstrings ready”

Xavier Worthy on the deep ball being a bigger part of the Chiefs offense this year.@heykayadams | @XavierWorthy #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/vlabbXhxxG

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 10, 2025

Top 25 worst NFL coaching hires this century: From Bobby Petrino to Nick Saban to Urban Meyer and more | CBS Sports

15. Steve Spagnuolo (Rams)

Record:
10-38

Another example of a fearsome coordinator who couldn’t translate defensive genius to head coaching dominance, Spagnuolo is currently the face of the Chiefs’ perennially stingy Super Bowl-contending defense. Long ago, however, right after a separate successful stint running the Giants’ defense, “Spags” struggled to keep Sam Bradford upright and supported while the Rams bumbled through some of their last seasons in St. Louis.

Around the NFL


Demarcus Robinson pleads no contest to DUI charge, gets probation | ESPN

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Demarcus Robinson pleaded no contest this week to a misdemeanor DUI charge and was sentenced to three years’ probation.

Robinson’s plea and sentencing took place Tuesday in Los Angeles. He also was ordered to pay a $390 fine and to complete court-mandated programs, including a three-month alcohol education program, according to multiple media outlets that cited court records.

“Mr. Robinson has taken this process extremely seriously by already completing most of the terms of his probation. We expect that his probation will terminate early at the 18-month mark after which his case will be expunged,” Robinson’s attorney, Jacqueline Sparagna, told TMZ Sports.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride


Chiefs Salary Cap: Is there a looming crisis?

A new deal for Patrick Mahomes

The unconventional decade-long extension to which the Chiefs signed their quarterback in 2020 has certainly worked out for both parties. Still, years of annual restructures now have the face of the league scheduled to count $78.2 million against the salary cap in 2026 — followed by $74.4 million in 2027.

Veach will certainly not go into the next offseason with a fourth of the team’s salary cap space tied to Mahomes.

Enough years remain on the back end of Mahomes’ contract that Veach can continue using it as a salary cap bank for two more offseasons. But with the leaguewide quarterback market largely settled, it is probably time to start thinking about Mahomes’ next deal, which will almost certainly average over $60 million per season. Whether he will again be willing to accept a nominally lower average so that the team can spread out his salary-cap impact, however, will likely dictate how Kansas City’s contract finances will be handled for the rest of his career.

Social media to make you think


#Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo to Bengals QB Joe Burrow after last year's game: "Other than our guy, you are the best in the business."

(via 'Quarterback' on Netflix)pic.twitter.com/Efe4najsSp

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 8, 2025

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Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...is-the-most-likely-to-bust-of-all-new-players
 
Arrowheadlines: Trent McDuffie makes debut on NFL’s ‘Top 100 Players’ list

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Chiefs headlines for Saturday, July 12

The latest


8 NFL Players With the Best Chances to Turn Into Superstars in 2025 | Bleacher Report

Xavier Worthy

Speaking of finishing strong, Xavier Worthy did exactly that with 243 yards and three touchdowns in the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl for the Chiefs.

The 22-year-old is one of the fastest players in the sport, and there’s a clear path for him to become Patrick Mahomes’ No. 1 target in the Kansas City offense considering there is no established top dog and Travis Kelce is fading.

With his first full offseason under his belt for 2025, we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw shades of 2018 Tyreek Hill from Worthy in the fall.

Trent McDuffie Checks in at No. 81 Overall in the “NFL Top 100” Rankings | The Mothership

Another week, another member of the Kansas City Chiefs has appeared in the “NFL Top 100” rankings.

A week after center Creed Humphrey checked in at No. 93 overall in the annual rankings, cornerback Trent McDuffie landed at No. 81 on Friday. The rankings, which seek to list the league’s top performers as voted on by the players themselves, are gradually being released over the next several weeks.

NFL Top 100 Players of 2025:@Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie ranks No. 81 on the list! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/1e9E0OyCk5

— NFL (@NFL) July 11, 2025

Patrick Mahomes Reveals True Thoughts on Potential 18-Game Season | SI

Most notably, Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes, regarded as the face of the league by some, addressed the subject during an interview with CNBC that aired on Friday.

“I think that you’d have to find a way to have more bye weeks, more time spread out,” Mahomes said. “Because, I mean, you’ve seen the amount of injuries that have kind of piled up there at the end of seasons, and you want to have the best players playing in the biggest games. And so if there were a way to get to 18 games, I’m not—I’m not a big fan of it. But if there were a way, I think you got to add some bye weeks in there to give more time for guys’ bodies.”

Around the NFL


4 NFL coaches on the hot seat in 2025 you might not expect | SB Nation

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

It wasn’t long ago that McDaniel was considered one of the great young offensive minds in the game. He is clearly a strong offensive coach and he is a bright personality, but there have been some questions of leadership in Miami and that’s on the head coach. If the Dolphins flounder this season, McDaniel may be shown the door. And the Dolphins just might flounder. They had a suspect offseason and there will always be questions of the health of Tua Tagovailoa. If things go south in South Beach, McDaniel, who is 28-23 in the regular season and 0-2 in the postseason as Miami’s coach, may pay. If so, I could still see McDaniel, 42, having a future as a head coach and he could get a second chance fairly soon.

Sources: Bears extend general manager Ryan Poles through 2029 | ESPN

The Chicago Bears and general manager Ryan Poles have agreed to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2029 season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.

Poles had two years remaining on the five-year contract he signed upon becoming Chicago’s general manager in 2022. He is now aligned with head coach Ben Johnson, whose contract runs through the 2029 season.

ESPN first reported the Bears’ plan to extend Poles during the 2025 offseason in January.

Chargers RB Najee Harris injured in fireworks accident but expected to be ready for season, agent says | CBS Sports

Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris was injured during a Fourth of July fireworks accident, his agent Doug Hendrickson told multiple outlets.

In a statement, Hendrickson said Harris “sustained a superficial eye injury” but is “fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”

“Najee Harris was present at a 4th of July event where a fireworks mishap resulted in injuries to several attendees,” Hendrickson’s statement reads, via NFL Media. “Najee sustained a superficial eye injury during the incident, but is fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride


Chiefs Roster: Trey Smith has a bad taste in his mouth after Super Bowl

After being told that during Mahomes’ interview with Adams, Mahomes had called Smith “one of the best protectors in the business,” Smith beamed.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s something that I take a lot of pride in — and for him to say that means a lot to me. I lose sleep thinking about protecting Patrick. I know there are things I need to get better in my game to be the best protector that I can — and just be an asset for my team.”

Smith believes the team has acquired another player who can help protect Mahomes: the Chiefs’ first-round draft selection.

“I love his mentality and demeanor,” Smith said of former Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons. “Coming into it, I could tell he’s very talented in terms of his lower body and the capabilities that he has in terms of movement. And he’s a hard worker. [So] I love him already. I just want to take him under my wing and help him out in any aspect that he needs in his game. I’m just really looking forward to working with him.”

In the meantime, there’s the little matter of his own business with the team. Sometime before 3 p.m. Arrowhead Time on Tuesday, he and the Chiefs hope to have an agreement for a new long-term contract. But Smith — as he has done throughout the negotiation — volunteered little about it.

“I just leave it [in] the hands of my agents,” he explained, “and obviously, the front office staff of the Chiefs is elite. [So] at the end of the day, I just let them take care of it. I just have to focus on being the best version of myself, being the best football player and being prepared for training camp.”

Social media to make you think


And the highest ranked corner. Well deserved, @trent_mcduffie pic.twitter.com/YRDni3SHM1

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 21, 2025

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Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...ffie-makes-debut-on-nfls-top-100-players-list
 
Can you guess this Chiefs running back in today’s in-5 trivia game?

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Think you can figure out which Chiefs player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!

We’re back for another day of the Arrowhead Pride in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.

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The goal of the game is to guess the correct Chiefs player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.

Enjoy!

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025/7/13/24466780/sb-nation-chiefs-daily-trivia-in-5
 
Can you guess this Chiefs DB in today’s in-5 trivia game?

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Think you can figure out which Chiefs player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!

We’re back for another day of the Arrowhead Pride in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.

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The goal of the game is to guess the correct Chiefs player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.

Enjoy!

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025/7/14/24467392/sb-nation-chiefs-daily-trivia-in-5
 
A new ESPN ranking finally puts a Chiefs star in the right spot

AFC Championship Game: Buffalo Bills v Kansas City Chiefs

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

According to NFL executives, coaches and scouts, Kansas City’s quarterback is still the man to beat.

On Monday morning, ESPN’s Field Yates continued his yearly NFL positional rankings based on the voting of league insiders. This time, he focused on quarterbacks. While the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes has been taken down a peg (or two or four) in some of the rankings we have seen this offseason, the league’s executives, coaches and scouts see it differently.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Highest ranking:
1
Lowest ranking: 4
Age: 29
Last year’s ranking: 1

Mahomes’ grip on the top spot is loosening slightly. After dominating the voting with back-to-back No. 1 rankings in convincing fashion, Mahomes garnered around 60% of the first-place votes this year, which is still impressive but well short of last year, when he received all but one first-place vote.

He has finished eighth in QBR the past two years; from 2018 through 2022, he finished first or second four times. Rarely does Mahomes look as frazzled as he did vs. Philadelphia in Super Bowl LIV.

But context is key with these discussions, and Mahomes’ modest-by-his-standards performance in 2024 (3,928 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) requires a lot of it.

“OL in decline, particularly at tackle, WR group completely cleaned out by injury, [Travis] Kelce not near the same player,” a veteran NFL coordinator said about Mahomes’ supporting cast. “I thought he had more command of time/score/situation and better fundamentals from within the pocket than ever. He’s a one-man army. And no NFL coach wants to deal with him. Complete dawg. No one like him. Maybe [Joe] Burrow, but Burrow isn’t as dangerous as a player.”

Mahomes still leads the NFL in virtually every passing category — from passing yards to touchdowns and yards per attempt — since becoming the starter in 2018. No quarterback was more efficient on third down than Mahomes last season. He led the NFL in third-down QBR (90.4) with a league-high 53.1% of his passing attempts resulting in first downs.

An AFC scout noted that Mahomes “probably doesn’t have that same fear factor” from opponents that he had a few years ago but also expects him to bounce back in 2025, with a healthier receiving corps and a rebuilt offensive line.

Mahomes is squarely in his prime, but he must contend with three elite quarterbacks also in their late-20s arc who are gaining on him.

“Other guys played great,” an NFC executive said, explaining why he voted Mahomes fourth. “He took a little step back based off the last few seasons. I don’t expect it to last.”

My take


At last! A ranking that isn’t based on volume stats (such as passing yards, touchdowns and interceptions), goes well beyond what can be seen in a box score and — doesn’t mark down a top-tier competitor just to elevate a flavor-of-the-season player.

I mean no disrespect to Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and others all of whom deserve to be (and are) listed highly in this ranking — but Mahomes is still The Man. We know this because he led his team to consecutive Super Bowls with less-than-elite wideouts (and offensive tackles) at his disposal. The quote from the “veteran NFL coordinator” bears repeating:

“I thought he had more command of time/score/situation and better fundamentals from within the pocket than ever. He’s a one-man army.”

Someday, Mahomes won’t deserve that description. But this isn’t that day. Just ask the guys who have to figure out a way to beat him.

I’m well aware: some of those guys figured out a way to do exactly that in Super Bowl LIX. But the next time, that method won’t work — because Mahomes learns very well from his occasional defeats. The next time, they’ll have to try something else.

Good luck to them.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...-new-espn-ranking-puts-patrick-mahomes-on-top
 
Tuesday Takes: Who will be the next Chiefs assistant coach to be promoted?

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Which Kansas City coach is in line for a promotion? Let’s hear what you think!

In Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs have a coach who loves to see his assistant coaches move up the ladder — whether it’s for his own team or another one; few NFL coaches have had more of their assistants promoted into top jobs. Among those now on Reid’s staff, who will be next in line for a better job in Kansas City or elsewhere?

Let’s talk about it!

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...he-next-chiefs-assistant-coach-to-be-promoted
 
Breaking down the salary cap impact of Trey Smith’s extension

Las Vegas Raiders v Kansas City Chiefs

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Kansas City’s star guard will give the Chiefs some cap relief, but the team showed some financial restraint.

The Kansas City Chiefs managed to ink franchise-tagged guard Trey Smith to a four-year extension before Tuesday’s deadline. Rather than playing for $23.4 million on the franchise tag, Smith and the Chiefs agreed to a $94 million pact to make him the highest-paid guard in league history.

Mike Florio of NBC Sports soon reported the contract terms, potentially keeping Smith in Kansas City through 2028.

Smith is now guaranteed to earn $46.75 million over the next two seasons. For the coming season, he will receive a $10 million base salary on top of a $17 million signing bonus. The former sixth-round selection also gets a fully guaranteed $19.75 million base salary in 2026.

For 2025, Smith will now carry a salary cap charge of $14.25 million, and he is now set to count $24.25 million against the 2026 limit.

A $23.25 million base salary for 2027 is also already guaranteed for injury, and it fully vests on the third day of the 2026 league year. With Smith also able to earn a $250,000 workout bonus in each of the next three offseasons, he has likely secured a total of $70.5 million over the next three seasons.

No salary is guaranteed for 2028, the final season of the agreement. Should Smith remain in Kansas City on the contract, he will again make a $23.25 million base salary and be able to earn another $250,000 workout bonus. Playing out the entire four years would also allow Smith to reenter free agency in 2029, just before his 30th birthday.

Smith will have a scheduled salary cap charge of $27.75 million in 2027 and 2028.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Kansas City Chiefs
Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images

Most observers expected general manager Brett Veach to follow the familiar four-year precedent of two fully guaranteed seasons with a third season fully vesting early in the contract. The Chiefs did frontload the cap impact of Smith’s contract more than anticipated, with a lower-than-expected signing bonus paired with a higher first-year base salary than commonly seen.

While the Chiefs did substantially trim Smith’s previous 2025 cap charge of $23.4 million, they potentially could have cut it to under $7 million.

It will be interesting to see how the numbers impact the Chiefs’ already murky 2026 cap situation — or if Veach has other moves coming before the season, such as a potential extension for cornerback Trent McDuffie.

With the details of Smith’s contract, we estimate Kansas City to be about $20.6 million under the 2025 salary cap, with only days to go before training camp kicks off at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2025...he-salary-cap-impact-of-trey-smiths-extension
 
Andy Reid, Chiefs teammates happy to see Derrick Nnadi back in the fold

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When the Kansas City Chiefs traded to re-acquire defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi from the New York Jets on Sunday, some observers were puzzled.

By some metrics — in particular, his Pro Football Focus grade of 35.8 for the 2024 regular season, which ranked 142nd among 147 defensive tackles with at least 20% of their team’s snaps — Nnadi doesn’t look like a productive player. Many observers were glad to see him gone.

But head coach Andy Reid has a different view of the player who spent seven years in Kansas City after being selected out of Florida State in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

“I think [he’s] just a good inside player,” he told reporters on Tuesday, “and you can’t really have enough of those guys. He knows the system. So getting back in there, I think, is a positive.”

Nandi carries another positive that isn’t reflected in PFF grades: his reliability. Over seven seasons, he’s missed just one regular-season game. That matters to coaches.

“We’re always a little heavy on O-line and D-line,” added Reid. “I mean, that’s normally just to make sure we’ve got those areas filled.”

And even PFF recognizes something else: in the postseason, Nnadi tends to step it up a notch. His grade rose to 64.1 during 2024’s playoff run. To a team so focused on postseason success, that could be a significant factor.

So why didn’t Kansas City choose to keep him on the roster back in March? Because it didn’t have to.

Nnadi just hadn’t shown the production that would have landed him a big contract. The odds were good that the 29-year-old wouldn’t find a team willing to bring him aboard, so the Chiefs could afford to sit and wait. The Jets ultimately signed Nnadi to a Veteran Salary Benefit deal that paid him just $1.3 million — and cost them even less against the salary cap. Now, he’ll play in Kansas City on the contract he signed for New York.

And just as he always has, he’ll fit right in.

“I think that’s a great thing,” fellow defensive lineman Mike Danna said of Nnadi’s return. “Blessings for him. I think anytime you can bring [in] a veteran leader like him — a guy who is knowledgeable about the game [and] also knowledgeable about the system, [you should].”

Danna also noted that Nnadi is a terrific teammate.

“I’m happy to see him back,” he said. “There was a big smile on his face when he got here, so Nnadi hasn’t changed. [He’s] still the same guy. We’re lucky to have him again.”

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kans...dy-reid-teammates-happy-derrick-nnadi-is-back
 
In this week’s ‘Reacts’ poll, Chiefs’ fans think Travis Kelce will have a solid season

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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in Kansas City Chiefs fans. You can see all of the recent survey results here.

And be sure to check out
FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Kingsley Suamataia at left guard

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Even though the second-round draft pick ended up getting run off the field as the starting left tackle in 2024, fans seem confident that Suamataia will stick at left guard. Four in five Kansas City fans think he’ll last the season there.

Travis Kelce in 2025

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Chiefs’ fans are also pretty confident that the team’s superstar tight end (now engaged superstar tight end) will have a good year. Almost four in five think he’ll claim at least 800 receiving yards in what could be his final NFL season — meaning that very few expect him to fall off from his 2024 performance. A little more than one in four think Kelce will claim another 1,000-yard season — which would be his first since 2022.

2025’s MVP race

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During the offseason, we’ve heard a lot of talk suggesting Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes has peaked. Yet a plurality of NFL fans across the country think he has the best shot to win this season’s MVP award. Go figure!

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/nfl-...s-think-travis-kelce-will-have-a-solid-season
 
5 things we learned from the Chiefs’ initial 53-man roster

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This week, the Kansas City Chiefs released their initial 53-man roster and assembled the first edition of their practice squad.

As almost always happens, the Chiefs made a few surprising moves. However, it’s essential to note that as its needs change over the coming weeks, the team’s composition will continue to evolve.

Here are five things we learned from the first iteration of Kansas City’s 2025 roster.

1. Jalen Royals’ knee is a big question mark​

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After their final preseason game, I expected the Chiefs to keep seven wide receivers — which I thought was a high number. But Kansas City opted to keep eight wide receivers on its initial roster.

As soon as we learned that wide receiver Rashee Rice and the league had agreed on a six-game suspension for Rice’s role in a high-speed auto accident in March of 2024, this made sense. On Thursday, general manager Brett Veach acknowledged that before the cutdown, the team had been made aware that Rice’s suspension was imminent.

If that was the only problem the Chiefs were preparing to meet, seven wide receivers would have made sense. But they still kept eight.

This tells me that while they are hopeful rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals will be available to start the season against the Los Angeles Chargers next Friday in São Paulo, they have prepared for life without him if his knee tendonitis lingers longer than expected.

2. The Chiefs aren’t sure how much Mike Pennel has left in the tank​

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Last season, Pennel was Kansas City’s best run defender — so much so that the Chiefs chose to allow defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi to walk in free agency. But on Sunday, Kansas City brought Nnadi back through a trade with the Jets. Most assumed he would be a depth player behind Pennel.

So when the team released Pennel on Tuesday — and then didn’t add him to the practice squad — many observers were scratching their heads.

Throughout the offseason, the Chiefs had acted like the 34-year-old defensive tackle was in the plans for this season — and then in the 11th hour, they suddenly changed course.

Asked about it on Thursday, Veach said the team was trying to get younger on the defensive line — and then praised Pennel for his play in limited games last season.

It’s not hard to decipher the GM’s comments. Kansas City appears to be concerned about Pennel’s ability to play a full 17-game season — potentially followed, of course, by a three or four-game postseason. So this might not be the last we’ll see of the Topeka native — but we might have to wait a couple of months before we see him in a Chiefs uniform again.

If this is the end of the road for Pennel, he will forever have a place in the hearts of Chiefs’ fans. He has played a significant role in Kansas City’s title runs.

3. The Chiefs really believe in this group of running backs​

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Going into the 2025 NFL Draft, most analysts believed the running back class was one of the deepest in recent memory. With Kansas City’s starting running back Isiah Pacheco returning from an injury-plagued 2024 season — and with Kareen Hunt’s best days now behind him — many thought the Chiefs would bring some fresh blood to the position. The team made a move in that direction by signing veteran Elijah Mitchell in free agency, but then they waited until the draft’s seventh round to select Brashard Smith. Many took this as a sign that the team liked what it had in its backfield — and the point seemed even more clear when the team waived fullback Carson Steele on Tuesday.

Kansas City’s decision to bring Clyde Edwards-Helaire onto the practice squad appears to be more about having a player it trusts — who knows the offense, provides a veteran presence and is available in a pinch — than it is about what he actually offers on the field.

But if the Chiefs weren’t happy with their running backs, we’d think they would have placed a waiver claim on a guy like the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie back Damien Martinez. They didn’t.

4. Nazeeh Johnson’s placement on IR saved Joshua Williams​

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I had figured the former Fayetteville State cornerback was firmly on the outside looking in for the team’s 2025 roster — but when it was announced that Johnson would start the season on the team’s Reserve/Injured list, the door opened for Williams to return for his fourth season.

It remains to be seen if Williams will hold his roster spot once Johnson returns from IR. As of right now, he is the fifth cornerback on a team that has talented players ahead of him.

5. Cooper McDonald is going to be a fan favorite​

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The only thing people love more than a champion is an underdog.

So when an underdog makes the roster of a championship-caliber team, he’s sure to be a fan favorite. McDonald certainly fits that bill. When the former TCU linebacker was signed after a minicamp tryout, nobody expected him to make the team.

But his special teams play — and his ability to shine when given the opportunity on defense — forced the team’s hand, making McDonald the most unlikely player to make the roster.

If he pans out and turns into a regular contributor, it won’t be long until you see McDonald jerseys on the backs of tailgaters in Arrowhead Stadium’s parking lot.

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kans...-things-we-learned-from-initial-53-man-roster
 
Chiefs may have to count on JuJu Smith-Schuster to fill Rashee Rice’s role

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The situation surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals remains unsettled. Before Tuesday’s final roster cutdown, there was fear that he would be placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list as he continued to deal with tendonitis in his knee. That didn’t happen — and more recently, there were reports that the team expected him to be ready for the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.

But on Friday, head coach Andy Reid threw some cold water on that.

“Jalen continues to work to get himself better.” Reid told reporters. “We’ll see how it goes. I mean, it’d be a real rush [to be ready] for this week for sure. So it doesn’t look like he’ll probably make [it] this week, but [he] should be ready to go as we go down the road here.”

NFL teams don’t always count on fourth-round rookies to fill important Week 1 roles — but when they do, it’s often because a veteran player is unavailable. On Wednesday, we learned that wideout Rashee Rice would miss the first six games of the season under his long-anticipated NFL suspension. Royals seems to be the young player the Chiefs believe is best suited to take on Rice’s role — but if he’s unavailable, that responsibility will probably fall to the team’s most senior wide receiver: JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Reid believes the ninth-year veteran will be ready, willing and able to do the job — and that Patrick Mahomes won’t be afraid to throw him the ball.

“He’s in the best shape he’s been in in a long time,” Reid noted of Smith-Schuster. “So he feels very good — and we have a lot of trust in him. But most of all, Patrick has a lot of trust in him. So yeah: he can fill in that role for sure.”

While no NFL head coach wants to be without their top wideout, Reid thinks the team has been able to make the best of a bad situation.

“We had an idea that something was going to happen,” he said. “Whether it was now or later, it [didn’t] necessarily matter — but something was going to happen and it would probably be around that six-game area. And so, we went about business full steam ahead: [we] rotated guys in. Everybody got a chance to play that will have an opportunity to play here.”

And the head coach is, at least, happy that Rice had the opportunity to get some work in before he has to step away from the facility.

“He’ll be away for three weeks,” explained Reid, “and then he’ll be back in the building after that. [He’ll] able to work out here and do everything but practice. Then we’ll get him back after six weeks [in all].

“But we’ve got guys that are capable of playing here. We just have to go out and do it. Not that you don’t miss Rashee — I mean, he’s a heck of a football player. But we have other guys that are good players, too.”

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kans...th-schuster-may-have-to-fill-rashee-rice-role
 
Arrowheadlines: Chris Jones falls to 12th in NFL Top 100

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The latest​


Top 100 Players of 2025, Nos. 20-11: Chiefs DL Chris Jones, Steelers LB T.J. Watt fall out of top 10 | NFL.com

12 – Chris Jones

Kansas City Chiefs · DE


2024 stats: 15 games | 37 tackles | 9 tfl | 5 sacks | 1 FF

Chris Jones has been a defensive stalwart and star for the Chiefs for the last nine years, playing a significant role in the team’s continued playoff success and multiple Super Bowl rings. With an active streak of six consecutive Pro Bowls and three straight first-team All-Pro nods, he’s widely regarded as one of, if not the best interior defensive lineman in the game, and the Chiefs paid him commensurately ahead of last season with a $158.75 million extension that’s almost $6 million more lucrative per year than the next highest player, per Over the Cap. At 31 years old and entering Year 10, Jones hasn’t appeared to miss a step, and should remain a fixture in the K.C. scene into his mid-30s.

NFL Pro Insight for Jones: Chris Jones recorded the second-most pressures (61) among defensive tackles this season, with 26 (most) coming in under 2.5 seconds. Jones averaged the quickest get off at his position (0.85 seconds) resulting in the fourth-quickest time to pressure (2.67 seconds) among defensive tackles with at least 15 pressures this season.

Agent’s Take: Stefon Diggs, Deebo Samuel, Joey Bosa headline 15 bounce-back candidates for 2025 season CBS Sports

Taylor was surprisingly given a four-year, $80 million contract with $60 million in guarantees, of which $40 million was fully guaranteed at signing, in 2023 free agency. He hasn’t come close to living up to his contract. The Chiefs signed Jaylon Moore, who was a swing tackle for the 49ers for the last four years while on his rookie contract, to a two-year, $30 million contract, averaging $15 million per year as an unrestricted free agent in March. That’s Moore’s likely role again because 2025 first-round pick Josh Simmons appears to be Kansas City’s long-term solution at left tackle. Taylor’s days in Kansas City will surely be numbered with another disappointing season since his replacement, Moore, is already on the roster.

Bleacher Report’s NFL All-Quarter-Century Team | Bleacher Report

1st Team: Tom Brady

2nd Team: Peyton Manning

3rd Team: Patrick Mahomes

Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers also received votes at quarterback, but the top three were totally unsurprising.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the QB voting was the fact that Tom Brady didn’t receive 100 percent of the first-team votes. After winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and another one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady is unquestionably the most decorated quarterback in NFL history.

Of course, an argument could be made that Peyton Manning was the best quarterback of his era; he just wasn’t fortunate enough to be on teams as good as Brady’s. The five-time MVP and two-time champ trails only Brady and Drew Brees in all-time passing yards and still holds single-season records for yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55).

Patrick Mahomes is still playing and has a long way to go to catch Brady and Manning in career statistics. However, he has become the face of the modern NFL era. With three Super Bowl wins and five appearances in seven seasons as a full-time starter, Mahomes could retire tomorrow and be a Hall of Famer.

Bold NFL 2025 season predictions: Giants turn to Jaxson Dart early; Broncos win AFC West | The Athletic

Kansas City Chiefs: Defense is top three in sacks in 2025
K.C. finished tied for 18th with 39 sacks last season. So why might there be hope for a huge jump this season? For one, the underlying stats are on the Chiefs’ side; pressures are more reliable year to year than sacks, and teammates Chris Jones and George Karlaftis remained elite in that category a season ago. Add in a more healthy Charles Omenihu — he’s now 1 1/2 years removed from knee surgery — and an emerging defensive end rookie in Ashton Gillotte, and the Chiefs could easily end up with one of the NFL’s top pass rushes. — Jesse Newell

Debunking your favorite NFL officiating conspiracy theories | ESPN

The fix is not in.
While some teams were penalized more than others during a single season, the number of penalties called against individual teams evened out over multiple seasons, according to ESPN’s analysis. Being penalized more — in individual penalties or yards — did not mean more wins or losses.

“It tells us that we do not have evidence of any systematic bias in penalties called in the NFL over the past several years,” Cochran wrote in an email. “I am sorry for the fans who believe the NFL referees are biased against their favorite team, but it isn’t so.”

Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino, who was the NFL’s vice president of officiating from 2013 to 2017, said the league’s own analyses over time also found that penalties were not a “major factor” in wins and losses. Actions such as turnovers had a greater impact.

“I always said that to coaches. I was like, ‘Listen, you can have a year where you were on the wrong end of a bunch of calls,'” he said. “Over time, it tends to even out. It just does.”

Around the NFL


Parsons expresses relief, excitement for fresh start with Packers | ESPN

Micah Parsons was beginning to worry that his situation with the Dallas Cowboys might not get settled by the start of the regular season, which is why Thursday, as he was leaving the team facility after getting treatment on his back, he placed another phone call to his agent, David Mulugheta.

Mulugheta was putting together the final details on Parsons’ blockbuster trade and massive contract extension with the Green Bay Packers, but Parsons was getting impatient.

“I told him that day, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I need you to get something done soon,'” Parsons said. “I haven’t not played football this long since I was in seventh grade.”

Within a few hours, the Packers sent two first-round picks plus Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Cowboys. Green Bay also finalized a four-year, $188 million contract extension with Parsons that, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, included $120 million fully guaranteed at signing and $136 million in total guarantees, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride


Chiefs Roster: The 10 most intriguing players in 2025

2. Wide receiver Rashee Rice

Even without his six-game suspension to begin the season, there are a lot of angles about Rice that will make him intriguing in 2025. Coming off his injury, what kind of player will he be? After all, we don’t even know the level from which he is starting. Rice’s stats to begin 2024 were definitely on an All-Pro trajectory, but it was also just a three-game sample. Is that the caliber of player he will be over a longer stretch? There’s little doubt that Rice’s return will be helpful to the offense, but it’ll be interesting to see whether he’s truly an elite player.

3. Safety Jaden Hicks

It’s possible that safety Justin Reid’s importance to the Kansas City defense wasn’t fully understood. He wasn’t a superstar, but he did fill a valuable role in coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme. One of the league’s better tacklers, he was very good in run support — and could help defend tight ends in man coverage. He was a great blitzer, too. Reid could do many things in a defense that requires versatility from its safeties.

After his departure, the Chiefs don’t have a lot of talent at safety. While Bryan Cook and Chamarri Conner are fine, neither are as physically talented as Reid. But before he was drafted in 2024, I comped Hicks to Reid — and I think he’s the man to take Reid’s place. He has the length and closing speed to be good in run support. To get Hicks to work, I don’t think the team needs to tweak its scheme, but he does have to prove he can fill that valuable safety spot.

Social media to make you think

When everything is on the line, are you still willing to 𝗺𝗮𝘅 𝗼𝘂𝘁?

First episode now streaming: https://t.co/817Ijomoy5 pic.twitter.com/BmrPsaYJDS

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 30, 2025

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Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kans...ines-chris-jones-falls-to-12th-in-nfl-top-100
 
Chiefs preparing to see familiar — but highly respected — Chargers squad

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On Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs will open their 2025 regular season in São Paulo, Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers. Meeting with reporters before starting the week’s practices on Sunday, head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and cornerback Trent McDuffie shared their thoughts on the looming division opponent.

Mahomes moved on to preparing for the Chargers immediately after Kansas City’s final preseason game against the Chicago Bears — but after looking at the Week 1 game plan, the quarterback believes the coaching staff got there first.

“I think it’s a good game plan,” remarked the league’s biggest star. “I think coaches have kind of been on it even before we finished that last preseason game.”

Mahomes has a good feel for what Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter — whose unit allowed a league-low 301 points in 2024 — might bring, because Los Angeles could have been Kansas City’s divisional round opponent last season.

“Obviously, I have a good feel for stuff they did last year,” Mahomes noted. “You play them twice, and then we had that [postseason] bye week. So, I was watching Chargers film with the possibility of playing them in the playoffs last year. They’re a good defense; they’re a really good defense on every single level. They have great players. They’re coached really well by Coach Minter, and they’re going to come in with the right mentality.

“So it’s about us accepting the challenge, and I feel like we have a good game plan in so far. We’ll keep adding to that throughout the week, but you’ve got to be able to execute on a play-by-play basis in order to move the football, because they will capitalize on all miscues and take advantage of their opportunities.”

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The biggest offseason question surrounding the Chiefs has been the team’s young offensive line. A deep Chargers front seven led by veteran pass rusher Khalil Mack will be a good test.

“I think every step of the way so far,” remarked Mahomes of his blockers, “they’ve done a great job of getting better and better and kind of checking those boxes, and so this will be a great test for them. This is a prolific D-line with Khalil Mack — and really all [the others]. They have depth at edge and at D-tackle — and they were one of the best defenses in the league this last year. So, it’ll be another test for [our] guys — and I’m excited for them to go out there, accept the challenge and showcase who they are.”

Reid identified Mack — along with safety Derwin James — as difficult players to plan for.

“They’re a zone team,” observed the coach, “but the zones are tight, and they have a bunch of different combinations. Plus, they can play man — and they do that well — but the way their zones are, they do a heck of a job with that. You can see why they were ranked so high. They’re trying not to give up the big play, obviously, but at the same time, [making offenses] be unable to attack underneath. They’ve got good speed on the defense, and those front guys — 52 [Mack] is heck of a player and that number 3 [James] is not bad, either.”

The Chiefs will be playing without wideout Rashee Rice, who will be starting a six-game suspension. Mahomes knows losing Rice’s talents is a blow, but he trusts that general manager Brett Veach has built a receiver room that can overcome the third-year pro’s absence.

“Obviously,” said Mahomes, “losing a receiver of that magnitude — [who is] that good — it takes away from the offense in a sense. At the same time, Veach and [his staff] have brought in a lot of receiver depth so that guys can step up and take over that role in different spots. It won’t be just one guy. It’ll be multiple guys that will do some of the stuff that Rashee has done. Then, other guys will step up at other spots and make plays as well.”

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On the other side of the ball, McDuffie noted the Chargers’ strong running attack. In the passing game, there is no doubt they are built around second-year receiver Ladd McConkey, who remains less familiar to Kansas City than we might expect.

“Last year, we only played him once,” McDuffie reminded his listeners. “He was hurt that second time we played them, so we really don’t have [a lot of] film on him… The things that I’ve seen, I really like how he plays: his space [and his] separation out of the breaks. [He runs] really good routes — and you can just tell his timing with Justin Herbert over the course of the year really got better and better. So he’s a really good receiver — and I think it’s going to be a really good challenge for us on the back end to go out there and see what we’re about.”

However the Chargers attack the Chiefs, McDuffie knows he and his teammates will have their hands full.

“I think they do really good at just running their offense,” he noted, “and not caring what the defense throws at them. They’re really well-coached. I think they’re going to be a really good challenge for us — to go out there Week 1, be able to stop the run and make plays on the back end.”

Source: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kans...paring-for-familiar-highly-respected-chargers
 
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