Arrowheadlines: Chiefs ranked as fourth-best roster in the NFL

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Ranking The Top 10 NFL Rosters Entering 2024 Season | The 33rd Team

4. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Of course, Mahomes and Travis Kelce get most of the flowers, and anyone who has watched the NFL during the last five years should know how much of a wrecking ball Chris Jones is. The rest of the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster is also quite good, and most of their key talent is back from their repeat Super Bowl victory.

The Chiefs will be right back in the Super Bowl mix this season.

Giving Mahomes two new receivers in Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown will help the passing game, but so will second-round OT Kingsley Suamataia. Neither starting tackle in 2023 was effective, and the team’s struggles to rely on a receiver not named Kelce or Rashee Rice is well-documented. It’s bad news for the league that Mahomes has more explosiveness around him.

The Chiefs’ defense has done more than its share of heavy lifting as they overcame an offense that slogged at times. Every starter is at least solid, but the loss of L’Jarius Sneed does present a challenging hole at cornerback. The young core of George Karlaftis, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Leo Chenal, and several corners vying for playing time will need to emerge as more impactful presences.

My early = picks for training camp’s pleasant surprises | Arrowhead Pride Premier

Remember these words: Nikko Remigio and Justyn Ross will get the hype; Wiley will get the snaps.

I kept close track of Mahomes’ targets during two days of mandatory minicamp, and I think the top three targets are probably expected: Rashee Rice (13), Kelce (11) and Brown (8).

The fourth most targets? Wiley, with seven. I think Veach has quietly been looking for a successor to Kelce for a long time, and, though I think Noah Gray does a lot of things well and is a reliable player, he doesn’t have that top-10 (tight-end) upside that Wiley just might.

“Very comfortable, smart guy,” Kelce said of Wiley. “I would say he’s a lot further along than I was as a rookie in terms of just understanding the offense and really seeing the field. He’s trusting what he’s seeing right now and I’ll tell you what, 15 ( Mahomes), 11 (Carson Wentz), the quarterbacks are on time with him. It’s fun to watch him kind of take off and get more comfortable out there.”

NFL 2024 over/under win totals: Best bets and predictions for all 32 teams | The Athletic

.Kansas City Chiefs

Under 11.5 (even)

We cashed on the Chiefs under last season (same number), as it was the first time with Mahomes as their starter that they didn’t win at least 12 games. And while Kansas City has boosted its wide-receiving corps (their 6.5 air yards per attempt was the second-lowest in the NFL), it will take some time to click. Plus, Andy Reid smartly doesn’t care much about the regular season anymore. Eleven wins — and maybe even 10 — seem pretty safe to win the AFC West again.

And it’s a good thing they don’t care, otherwise the Chiefs would have had their feelings hurt by what the NFL schedule makers did to them. Kansas City plays every day of the week this year except Tuesday, including games on Dec. 21st and 25th.

Best 2024 offseason move by every AFC team: Ravens, Texans win in free agency; Chiefs fix position of weakness | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs

Bolstering WR room with signing of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and first-round draft selection of Texas’ Xavier Worthy

Patrick Mahomes’ deep ball disappeared the moment All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins. Mahomes threw 41 touchdowns of 20 or more air years when Hill was around from 2018 to 2021, but since his departure he has only tossed such scoring strikes in the last two seasons.

That’s why the Chiefs made the two moves they did to acquire receivers with the ability to stretch defenses downfield. They selected Texas receiver Xavier Worthy, who ran a record 4.21 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, 28th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and signing Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, a 2019 first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens whose 10 career receiving touchdowns of 20 or more air yards since entering the league are tied for the 12th-most in the NFL in that span.

Allowing the best quarterback in football to reliably throw deep again is a big deal.

Kansas City Chiefs’ $40,000 Super Bowl rings appear to have typo | NBC News

The top, inside portion of the ring, which would push down on the wearer’s knuckle, lists scores of playoff games won by the Chiefs and the conference seed of each vanquished opponent.

The first postseason win, on that top line, was listed as a 26-7 triumph over “MIA [7],” i.e. the Miami Dolphins who occupied the No. 7 AFC seed of the tournament, according to the official images of the ring.

But in reality, the Dolphins were the No. 6 seed of the American Football Conference.

Taylor Swift streams Chiefs’ Super Bowl ring ceremony on social media | Fox Sports

“JOINING THE PARTY FROM LIVERPOOL LETS GOOOOOOOO,” Swift wrote with the Union Jack flag in the first of several comments. Swift, who’s currently on the European leg of The Eras Tour, posted after performing in her first of three concerts at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on Thursday.

Swift showed her excitement during the festivities with comments such as, “YESSSSSSS,” “CONGRATULATIONS” and “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.” She also dropped the heart eyes emoji when the rings were revealed.

Swift also expressed her appreciation for Hardman, who caught the game-winning touchdown in the Chiefs’ overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. “AND WE GET ANOTHER YEAR OF MECOLE,” she commented.

The ceremony went well into the night in Kansas City, meaning that Swift wasn’t able to stick around for the entire thing. “Gotta go to sleep it’s so late here love you guys,” Swift, who was six hours ahead in Liverpool, wrote in her final comment.

Vote expected Tuesday to help get KC Chiefs into Kansas | KSNW

Masterson is talking about lawmakers in the Kansas statehouse taking up a special session for tax relief, and Kansas Democrats and Republicans agree tax relief is on the way to Kansas residents.

But the Chiefs are also on the agenda.

“We can walk and chew gum at the same time. If there’s an opportunity, what does that look like? So we met with some of the Chiefs business people and I only had two questions for them. One, is this a serious deal, right? Is this the real deal or what are we doing? And the answer was yes,” said Masterson. “And my second question was why do we have to do this now? Why can’t I entertain this in January? I mean special session, we are trying to accomplish this tax deal in one day. But his (Chiefs leadership) answer was interesting to me. Having building in my (own) background, they (Chiefs leadership) basically feel like they are behind the eight ball already to identify a site and build a complex of that size (in) that’s a five year deal, right?”

Kittle claims Kelce doesn’t rub Chiefs’ Super Bowl wins in his face | NBC Sports

Speaking on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Kittle was asked if his fellow tight end pal Kelce ever rubs in the fact that the Kansas City Chiefs have beaten the 49ers in two recent Super Bowls.

“No, Travis and I are good friends, I’ve never gotten any type of animosity from Travis,” Kittle said. “He’s been nothing but a great friend, great sportsmanship.”

Patrick asked Kittle if Kelce ever gave him a hard time about the Super Bowl losses, prompting Kittle’s response.

“No, what a nice guy right?” Kittle told Patrick.

Finally, Patrick asked Kittle if he would talk trash Kelce if the roles were reversed and the 49ers had won those two Super Bowls over the Chiefs.

“No, I’d probably be the exact same,” Kittle said. “I’m not much of a sh— talker, Dan. I’m all for good vibes, just positive vibes out ther

8 Shocking NFL Trades That Would Impact Playoff Races in 2024 | Bleacher Report

Chiefs Get: OT Cam Robinson, 2026 Round 5 Pick

Jaguars Get: 2025 Round 3 Pick, 2026 Round 4 Pick

There is a reason no team in the history of the NFL has won three consecutive Super Bowls. It’s impossible in the salary-cap era to hold a championship-caliber roster together. The Kansas City Chiefs are just the latest example of this—as things stand today, the two-time defending champions will enter the 2024 season with their third starting left tackle in as many years.

Protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blind side sounds important.

To be fair, Cam Robinson has never been the left tackle the Jaguars thought they were getting with the 34th pick in 2017—at least not consistently. His 2023 season was marred by both injury and a suspension, and he’ll be a free agent in 2025. While speaking to the media, Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson acknowledged that Robinson needs to step up his game this year.

“Now the injury is out of anybody’s control,” Pederson said, “but talking about the suspension, right, and it’s about being a pro. And listen, these are conversations that Cam, we know, he’s had, and we’ve had, you know. I definitely like having him on the team. He’s fun to be around, brings a lot of energy out there and it makes us better.”

Around the NFL

Optimism growing for new-look Browns offense | ESPN

There was Watson, throwing the ball as aggressively as he had in any practice open to the media. Many passes went for chunk gains during seven-on-seven drills, including a completion in tight coverage to tight end David Njoku along the sideline. Another, a 50-yard pass that just bounced off wide receiver Elijah Moore’s fingertips in the end zone, was the longest reporters had seen Watson attempt.

“I’ve gotten to see him throw throughout the course of his rehab,” coach Kevin Stefanski said after practice. “I don’t know when it was but a while back, he looked very normal to me. So, that looked normal to me.”

As the Browns put a bow on offseason workouts with the final day of mandatory minicamp on Thursday, there is growing optimism in the new-look offense.

“It is juicy,” Njoku said. “I am not going to say anything else. Leave it at that. But I’m really excited for this year.”

Cam Heyward warming to idea of ending career elsewhere: ‘We know the reality’ | The Athletic

The Steelers’ three-day minicamp came to a close Thursday, wrapping up the last of the team’s offseason workouts. Unhappy with the lack of movement toward a contract extension, Heyward skipped all offseason workouts before showing up for the third and final week of OTAs even though he could’ve easily skipped the voluntary practices.

“That’s captain activity right there,” fellow defensive tackle Keeanu Benton said. “This is what he lives for. He lives to play ball, and this is his team. He is the captain of this team. Showing his face and him coming in and working is more credibility than him just saying, ‘I’m Cam Heyward.’ The rookies see what he does and how he works.”

Without any significant movement in extension talks, Heyward has accepted the real possibility that he will hit the free-agent market in March, and thus potentially sign elsewhere.

Commanders sign QB Jayden Daniels, No. 2 overall pick, to rookie contract | NFL.com

The Commanders have signed the No. 2 overall pick to his rookie deal.

Washington signed quarterback Jayden Daniels to a four-year rookie contract that includes a fifth-year option, the team announced on Friday.

Daniels’ four-year deal comes with $37.75 million guaranteed that includes a $24.3 million signing bonus, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.

The Commanders selected Daniels in April’s draft in hopes of the Heisman Trophy winner blossoming into a franchise quarterback.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Wanya Morris and Kingsley Suamataia in ‘good competition’ for left tackle

Head coach Andy Reid likes what he has seen from the two players — but is still keeping his cards safely out of view.

“They’ve both done a nice job,” Reid told Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney on Thursday. “I like the production that we’ve seen from them; both are young guys. We’ll see how it finishes up through camp. It’s a good competition.”

Morris started four games down the stretch of 2023’s regular season, taking 339 snaps at left tackle. Suamataia — then 20 years old — started 11 games at left tackle for BYU in 2023. It was the first time he had held down the left side of the line.

Both have traits the Chiefs want for the player protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ blind side.

Morris has a strong, lengthy physique that can overwhelm defenders. He also possesses 35 1/8-inch arms and a powerful lower half. Suamataia is an incredible athlete among offensive tackles — a rare combination of easy movement and raw power.

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