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Kansas City Chiefs News & Rumors

Chiefs RG Trey Smith In Line For Market-Topping Deal; Bears Could Have Interest

February 2nd, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Rory Parks

Per ESPN’s Matt Bowen, multiple teams believe Chiefs right guard Trey Smith is the best player eligible for free agency in March (subscription required). That adds even more credence to the November reports suggesting Smith could become the league’s highest-paid interior blocker if he were to hit the open market.

In the estimation of SI.com’s Albert Breer, it will be difficult for Kansas City to prevent Smith from testing the FA waters. After all, fellow O-linemen Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Jawaan Taylor are already attached to high-end contracts, and sources tell Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune the Chiefs are unlikely to move on from Thuney. In addition, CB Trent McDuffie and edge defender George Karlaftis are extension-eligible for the first time, and the league’s current preeminent franchise is already projected to be close to the 2025 salary cap. Since Smith’s franchise tag number would check in at roughly $25MM for the upcoming season with a corresponding cap hit, that is likely not a feasible option (the transition tag would not be much cheaper).

Even though Breer says it would not be surprising to see the club part ways with Taylor, only a trade would lead to any 2025 cap savings (and given Taylor’s $19.5MM base pay in each of the next two seasons and his generally underwhelming performance as a member of the Chiefs, it is difficult to envision much of a trade market forming). That said, Smith is one of GM Brett Veach’s most notable draft triumphs, as the former sixth-rounder has become one of the game’s best all-around guards with a 75.1% run-block win rate in 2024 (h/t Bowen) and a 95.6% pass-block win rate since entering the league in 2021 (h/t ESPN’s Dan Graziano (subscription required)). 

So, in light of KC’s struggles at the tackle spots, and since Thuney is under contract for just one more year, Veach may try to find a way to keep Smith on the roster. Indeed, Graziano believes the GM will do just that, and he predicts the Chiefs will authorize a five-year, $105MM accord ($65MM guaranteed) for the Tennessee product. The $21MM average annual value on such a deal would match Eagles LG Landon Dickerson’s at the top of the guard market, while the guaranteed money would represent a new high-water mark for guards.

If the Chiefs are unable to come to terms with Smith during their exclusive negotiating window, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (in the same Bowen piece linked above) names the Bears as a team to watch. Chicago GM Ryan Poles was on Veach’s KC staff when Smith was drafted, and one of Poles’ top priorities this offseason will be addressing the interior of his O-line.

Biggs adds that it would be unsurprising to see the Bears becoming a serious suitor for Smith should the Chiefs decline to pay up for him. And, as one GM told Biggs, “[Smith] just might get to free agency. The $20 million guard thing really scares some teams. Teams have seen how the top guard have been paid, and some of them, they don’t want to go there.”

Biggs does say a tag-and-trade involving Smith is a possible outcome. The Chiefs are plenty familiar with that process, having tagged CB L’Jarius Sneed last March before trading him to the Titans a few weeks later.

Chiefs, Nick Bolton Expected To Discuss Extension

January 30th, 2025 at 8:53pm CST by Ben Levine

The Chiefs and Nick Bolton are currently focused on their Super Bowl matchup with the Eagles. When the season ends, there’s a good chance the two sides discuss a long-term pact. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Chiefs and the linebacker are expected to discuss a potential extension after the season.

It’s not a huge surprise that the Chiefs would have interest in retaining the impending free agent. The former second-round pick has spent his entire career in Kansas City and has evolved into one of the team’s most dependable defenders, with Fowler noting that the linebacker is a favorite of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

After earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors in 2021, Bolton took his play to another level as a sophomore. He finished the 2022 campaign with 180 tackles, and he carried his production into the playoffs, where he notably returned a Jalen Hurts fumble for a touchdown during Super Bowl LVII.

A wrist injury limited the linebacker to only eight games during the 2023 campaign, but he still managed to return in time for the postseason, where he led the Chiefs with 40 tackles en route to another Super Bowl championship. He started all 16 of his appearances during the 2024 campaign, finishing with 106 tackles and a career-high three sacks.

Bolton may not necessarily lead this year’s free agent class, as the linebacker will be joined by the likes of Zack Baun, Dre Greenlaw, and Jamien Sherwood. Still, the 2025 campaign would represent Bolton’s age-25 season, so the free agent shouldn’t have a tough time attracting a lucrative, long-term deal. Considering the number of free agents the Chiefs will be looking to re-sign, there’s a chance the linebacker ultimately prices himself out of Kansas City.

Chiefs WR Skyy Moore Returns To Practice

January 30th, 2025 at 5:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Skyy Moore could be activated to the 53-man roster just in time for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs announced that the wide receiver has been designated to return from IR and was a limited participant at today’s practice.

Moore landed on injured reserve back in October thanks to a core muscle injury. Even with Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice sidelined, Moore struggled to carve out a role on the 2024 Chiefs prior to his injury. In six games, the wideout only garnered three targets without a catch.

At one point, Moore was expected to be a major part of Kansas City’s post-Tyreek Hill solution. He was limited to only 22 catches as a rookie, although he showed some promise in the postseason when he hauled in five receptions and a touchdown. He saw a somewhat larger role as a sophomore, appearing in more than half of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps in 14 games. Still, Moore was limited to only 21 catches while getting lapped by the likes of Rice, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the depth chart.

Following a lost 2024 campaign, Moore’s future in Kansas City is very much in doubt. The team added Xavier Worthy to their wide receivers room this past offseason, and while many of the team’s veteran WRs are set to hit free agency (including Brown, Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, and JuJu Smith-Schuster), their initial acquisitions were already an indictment on Moore.

With Brown having made a return from injury in time for the playoffs, the Chiefs current depth chart is pretty much full. Considering how much time Moore has missed, he’ll face an uphill battle to garner a Super Bowl roster spot.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/25/25

January 25th, 2025 at 7:38pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s standard gameday practice squad elevations in advance of championship Sunday:

Buffalo Bills

Kansas City Chiefs

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders

Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman Won’t Come Off IR

January 22nd, 2025 at 12:20pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced that wide receiver Mecole Hardman will not come off of injured reserve in the postseason after suffering a knee injury in Week 13, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Hardman was designated for return on January 1, so his 21-day practice window is set to expire today. He was not an effective pass-catcher in the regular season, recording just 12 receptions for 90 yards and no touchdowns. Hardman was efficient as a runner (60 rushing yards and a touchdown on just five carries) and also handled punt and kick return duties for much of the year.

The Chiefs offense wasn’t relying on Hardman to come back in the playoffs, but he does have a history as a postseason performer. His 791 all-purpose yards in the postseason rank 14th among all active players, ahead of players like Cooper Kupp and A.J. Brown, and he’s reached the end zone four times, including the game-winning touchdown in last year’s Super Bowl.

This year, though, Hardman will be watching from the sidelines with Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy, and DeAndre Hopkins serving as Patrick Mahomes‘ primary receivers. Worthy had five receptions for 45 yards in the divisional round, but Brown and Hopkins were shut out by the Texans in the divisonal round. Instead it was Travis Kelce once again leading the way with 117 yards and a touchdown on seven catches, extending his lead among active players in several postseason categories.

On special teams, the Chiefs will stick with Nikko Remigio as their primary returner, especially after he racked up 110 yards on three kick returns last week.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 19th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Two weekends of playoff football have come and gone, providing us with 10 more draft slots cemented into position as NFL teams continue to be eliminated from the playoffs. The top 18 picks were already divvied up at the conclusion of the regular season to the teams who failed to make the playoffs, while picks 19-28 have been determined over the past two weeks.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order has been determined by the inverted 2024 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. The playoff squads are being slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular-season record.

The league’s Super Wild Card weekend resulted in the elimination of Chargers, Steelers, Broncos, Packers, Buccaneers, and Vikings after their respective losses. Tampa Bay benefitted from the three-way tie in record with Denver and Pittsburgh, just as the Chargers did over the Packers.

The divisional round of the playoffs resulted in the elimination of the Texans, Rams, Ravens, and Lions. This time, Houston held the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, gifting it higher draft priority.

We are still at a place that, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

Here is how the draft order looks following two weeks of playoff football:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  23. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  24. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  25. Houston Texans (10-7)
  26. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Detroit Lions (15-2)
  29. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  30. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  31. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)

Titans Hire Mike Borgonzi As GM

January 17th, 2025 at 11:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Titans moved quickly after narrowing their list of general manager candidates to a group of finalists. With second interviews complete, a decision appears to have been made.

Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi is set to take over the Titans’ front office, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. A formal agreement had not originally been worked out, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes a five-year contract is now in place. Tennessee’s GM vacancy has been filled with plenty of time left in the offseason.

Six candidates took part in second interviews over the past few days. Borgonzi was among them, which came as little surprise given his experience and how close he came to landing a GM gig last year with the Commanders. After 16 seasons in Kansas City – including the past four in his role as assistant general manager – Borgonzi will depart the two-time defending champions to oversee the Titans’ rebuild.

Tennessee moved on from Jon Robinson late in the 2022 campaign, ending his seven-year run span at the helm of the franchise. Ran Carthon was brought in as his replacement, and the decision by owner Amy Adams Strunk dismiss head coach Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season seemed to set Carthon up for a long runway in his position. The Titans bottomed out this year, though, and while Brian Callahan was retained after one year as head coach, Carthon was let go.

Borgonzi was one of the top candidates in this year’s GM hiring cycle, interviewing as well for the Jets’ position. New York’s search continues, but one name has now been removed from the list of remaining options. Without a head coaching hire to make (which is still the case for both the Jets and Raiders), meanwhile, the Titans can move forward with a new power structure once the Borgonzi hire becomes official.

Kansas City and Tennessee have been connected on the trade front recently, with the swaps which saw cornerback L’Jarius Sneed head to Tennessee in the offseason and which sent wideout DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City ahead of the deadline this year representing recent examples. Borgonzi will aim to make immediate progress with respect to roster-building in his first GM opportunity, something which will include the No. 1 pick in April’s draft.

Chad Brinker joined the Titans’ staff along with Carthon, and he was promoted to president of football operations last year. He ran Tennessee’s GM search, and his connections to Borgonzi made this development one to watch for. Given the team’s announcement (during the statement confirming Carthon’s firing) that Brinker would “break ties” when it comes to key decisions, it will be interesting to see how much authority Borgonzi ends up wielding especially in the early portion of his tenure.

For now, though, attention will turn to building out the rest of the front office staff. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated notes the scouting department is an area which could see additions made in the near future, with former Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler being an option on that front. In any case, the Titans have found the executive who will be tasked with finding a franchise quarterback and returning the team to postseason contention.

Here is the final breakdown of how Tennessee’s search broke down:

OL Notes: Thuney, Packers, Cowboys, Bears

January 17th, 2025 at 7:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joe Thuney landed on the All-Pro first team at his natural left guard position, but as the Chiefs have struggled to find a left tackle solution this season, they had kicked their standout LG to that post. Although in-season free agency addition D.J. Humphries is healthy, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes Kansas City will leave Thuney at LT. This arrangement has featured Mike Caliendo at left guard. Humphries, who rehabbed an ACL tear for most of 2024 as a free agent, suffered a hamstring injury during his Chiefs debut. Thuney has fared much better than Wanya Morris or second-round rookie Kingsley Suamataia, the latter having won the job out of training camp. While the two-time reigning champions will have work to do at this spot soon, it appears their threepeat push will feature Thuney at LT the rest of the way.

Here is the latest from the O-line ranks:

  • The Packers have both their primary tackle starters (Rasheed Walker, Zach Tom) under contract for 2025, and Elgton Jenkins is tied to a lucrative extension. With Jordan Morgan‘s rookie deal going through 2027, Green Bay only has one key UFA-to-be on its offensive front. Four-year center starter Josh Myers is out of contract, but GM Brian Gutekunst labeled (via the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood) the blocker as having “his best year.” Perhaps more importantly, Gutekunst praised how Myers and Jordan Love work as a combo on offense. Although Ryan Kelly is the biggest name among available centers, Myers’ age (26) and experience (56 starts) will help him become one of the top interior O-linemen on the market. The Packers last faced a decision on a center in 2021, when they let Corey Linsley walk before drafting Myers. It will be interesting to see how they address the situation with Myers.
  • Also in Green Bay, Gutekunst noted that there could be some shuffling in the offensive line starters’ positions. Notably, he mentioned that Tom, who has started every game at right tackle for the past two years, could potentially shift over to the blind side, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Back in 2022, Tom’s rookie season, the Wake Forest alum started games at both left tackle and left guard, and Gutekunst believes Tom could play any of the five positions, though he lauds that the 25-year-old has established himself at tackle and could end up starting on the left side.
  • In the recent past Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have been extremely fortunate when forced to start rookie offensive linemen. Players like Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Connor Williams, and Zack Martin have all been players who immediately (or almost immediately) stepped in to great success on the offensive line in Dallas. This year, Jones hoped he’d be able to count to two rookies drafted in the first three rounds once again, starting first-round Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton and third-round Kansas State center Cooper Beebe for a combined 27 games. Guyton was drafted to replace departed veteran Tyron Smith, but the rookie was in a bit over his head this season. Out of 81 players graded at the position by Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Guyton graded out as the 73rd-best tackle, getting benched near the end of the season. Beebe faired a bit better in 16 starts but only ranked as the 16th-best center in the league, per PFF. According to Jon Machota of The Athletic, Jones admitted on a radio interview with 105.3 The FAN that he “probably got a little out over (his) skis thinking, ‘just plug those guys in.'”
  • Offensive guard Matt Pryor has bounced around quite a bit over his first six years in the NFL, getting traded halfway through his rookie deal from Philadelphia to Indianapolis before spending a year each in San Francisco and Chicago. In his sixth NFL season, Pryor, who had only filled in as a starter over his first five years, found himself starting 15 games this season for the Bears. According to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, Pryor wouldn’t mind putting down some roots, saying “he’d like to return” after the one-year deal he played on this season. He graded out decently (21st of 77) per PFF, so he could fetch some money on the free agent market, but it sounds like he’s interested in staying in Chicago.

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Chiefs Activate CB Jaylen Watson From IR

January 17th, 2025 at 4:46pm CST by Ben Levine

JANUARY 17: Watson has indeed been activated, per a team announcement. He will be in line to handle a significant workload on Saturday and beyond if the Chiefs manage another deep postseason run.

JANUARY 16: Jaylen Watson is expected to return from IR just in time for the Chiefs’ playoff opener. According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, the Chiefs are expected to activate their starting cornerback before Saturday’s divisional round matchup with the Texans.

Watson suffered a fractured fibula and tibia back in Week 7 that was expected to knock him out for the rest of the season. Instead, the former seventh-round pick has worked his way back in just a few months. Watson was a full participant at practice on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and Taylor believes the 26-year-old could play a majority of his team’s snaps this weekend. Of course, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was quick to caution that his CB will need to knock off any rust.

“I think these next two (practices) will be really important,” Spagnuolo said (via Taylor). “He needs to get up to the speed of the game — and it’s not regular-season speed. It’s playoff speed.”

After serving as a rotational defensive back through his first two years in the league, Watson took on a larger role in 2023. The cornerback started each of Kansas City’s first six games, appearing in 91 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. In those six appearances, Watson compiled 32 tackles and six passes defended, with Pro Football Focus grading him 30th among 117 qualifying cornerbacks.

As Taylor notes, Watson combined with All-Pro CB Trent McDuffie to limit opposing passers to a 60 percent completion percentage. When the likes of Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson, and Chris Roland-Wallace filled in, that number jumped to 67 percent, so Watson should provide a boost to the team’s defense.

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