Clark Hunt

Extra Points: Jefferson, Maye, International Pathway Program

September 14th, 2023 at 9:42pm CST by Ben Levine

An undrafted wideout is working his way back to the field following a tragic car crash earlier this year. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston, the 49ers worked out Louisiana receiver Michael Jefferson today.

Jefferson earned third-team All-Sun Belt honors in 2022 after finishing with 51 receptions for 810 yards and seven touchdowns. Thanks to his performance, the receiver was projected to be a mid-round pick in the 2023 draft. However, Jefferson was injured in a car accident in April that killed another driver, and the player required multiple surgeries.

He was expected to resume his career in 2024, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported earlier this month that Jefferson had been cleared by doctors to “fly, take physicals and join a team.”

It sounds like his first opportunity could come in San Francisco. The 49ers are currently stashing four receivers on their practice squad in Willie Snead, Chris Conley, Tay Martin, and Isaiah Winstead.

More notes from around the NFL…

Saints safety Marcus Maye got six months of probation stemming from a 2021 driving under the influence charge, per ESPN’s Katherine Terrell. Maye will have his drivers license suspended for six months as a result of the plea deal, and he was also given 50 hours of community service with the opportunity to buy them out. Maye allegedly crashed into another car while driving on the Florida Turnpike and was initially charged with driving under the influence, DUI/damage to property and person, and leaving the scene of the crash. The player also continues to deal with a civil suit from the driver of the other car who is seeking $30K due to injuries.
The NFL International Pathway Program has expanded in scope since it’s inception in 2016, with the 2023 iteration allowing teams from the AFC West and NFC North to allocate an extra roster spot to an international player. According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the NFL will provide an international player exception to all 32 teams starting in 2024. There are currently 24 active players who participated in the International Pathway Program.
The NFL has established an ownership committee that will evaluate current ownership rules, potentially allowing “institutional capital” to invest in teams, per Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal. As Liz Clarke, Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of the Washington Post write, this committee could open the door to private equity firms buying stakes in teams, following the ownership rules previously established by the NBA, MLB, and NHL. Mike Klis of 9News in Denver reports that the committee includes Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, and Broncos owner Greg Penner.

Chiefs’ Chris Jones Seeking $30MM Per Season?

July 24th, 2023 at 10:41am CST by Adam La Rose

The contractual status of Chris Jones is the top talking point for the Chiefs at the start of training camp. The All-Pro defensive tackle is holding out while attempting to secure a new deal, one which would move him back up the pecking order in terms of annual compensation at the position.

Jones has one year remaining on his four-year, $80MM deal but an extension has been on Kansas City’s radar for some time now. To little surprise, the expectation remains that the 29-year-old is aiming to be the league’s second-highest paid D-tackle, behind only Aaron Donald. The gap between the two would shrink considerably if Jones were to get his way.

The four-time Pro Bowler is seeking an annual average salary of $30MM, writes Nate Taylor of The Athletic (subscription required). The reworking of Donald’s Rams deal from last year upped his AAV to 31.67MM, so a raise for Jones allowing him to essentially draw even with him would be quite noteworthy. It would also complicate the cap situation for the defending champions, who have premised their financial moves on retaining stars such as Jones, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce without making them the highest-paid at their respective positions.

“We really don’t think about it in the context of, ‘Who is the highest-paid player?” Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt said when asked about the Jones situation. “We think about it in the context of the Chiefs — and what’s best for the organization, not only this year but as we go forward. One of the challenges is the salary cap. It makes it tough to keep a championship team together.”

The DT market has seen a dramatic shift this offseason, with young performers in particular landing lucrative second contracts from their respective teams. Quinnen Williams (Jets), Jeffery Simmons (Titans), Dexter Lawrence (Giants) and Daron Payne (Commanders) have all inked extensions worth between $22.5MM and $24MM per season. Jones – who matched his career high with 15.5 sacks in 2022 and played a central role in the Chiefs’ latest Super Bowl victory – has shown a willingness to miss out on team activities in an attempt to retake the No. 2 spot ahead of that group.

The Mississippi State alum skipped Kansas City’s mandatory minicamp in the spring, subjecting himself to fines in the process. He will also incur a mandatory $50K fine for each training camp day which he misses amidst his contract dispute. A resolution may remain elusive if he intends to hold firm on his asking price, and if the Chiefs (who would likely see a notable increase in 2023 cap space by working out an extension) maintain their stance on Jones’ valuation.

Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes Have Not Begun Negotiations

May 22nd, 2020 at 9:04am CST by Rory Parks

At some point, the Chiefs and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes are going to agree to a long-term extension that will make Mahomes the highest-paid player in NFL history. But while we heard back in February that the two sides could finalize something after the draft, negotiations have not yet gotten underway.

In a Facebook Live event with Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan yesterday, Kansas City chairman and CEO Clark Hunt spoke about contract discussions with the face of his franchise (story via Jelani Scott of NFL.com).

“The negotiations are something we’ll be getting into this summer,” Hunt said. “But what he has said and what we’ve said, both sides is, he wants to be a Kansas City Chief for life, and that’s our mentality as well. We want him to play his entire career in Kansas City, and that’s what we’re going to be shooting for.”

Hunt had indicated before this year’s Super Bowl that a Mahomes extension would not necessarily get done prior to the end of the 2020 season, but it appears that his timeline has been accelerated (it’s amazing what a Lombardi Trophy can do for someone’s goodwill). At the same time, it also makes sense from the team’s perspective to make sure that there will be a 2020 season before paying a player — even a player like Mahomes — tens of millions of dollars in upfront cash. Perhaps that’s why negotiations have been pushed back to the summer.

Mahomes was hampered a bit by a knee injury in 2019, so his regular season performance was not quite as otherworldly as it was in his MVP romp in 2018. But he was brilliant in the Chiefs’ title run, which culminated in Super Bowl MVP honors.

For his part, the 24-year-old sensation says he has no intentions of going anywhere. “I want to make sure I do [my next contract] the smart way and do it the right way, and so I don’t know exactly which way that is, yet,” Mahomes recently said. “I know that my people and the Chiefs’ people will talk about it, and will do it at the right time and for the betterment for the team. But I’m excited to be a Kansas City Chief for a very long time, and I know that’s going to be handled the right way because of the people the Kansas City Chiefs have in their organization

Marcus Peters Fallout: Reid, Draft, Contract

February 23rd, 2018 at 8:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Andy Reid and Clark Hunt were not yet on board with Marcus Peters as a long-term Chiefs component, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). Concern inside Chiefs headquarters centered on a possible Peters extension, per Rapoport. The fourth-year cornerback is now eligible for a long-term deal, and it’s fairly clear the Chiefs had significant reservations about being the team that signed the accomplished corner to that contract. And that issue may have been forced this year. But Peters’ issues in the locker room played a key part in the franchise wanting to trade him, Rapoport reports.

The Chiefs knew Peters would demand to be the NFL’s highest-paid corner, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reports, leading to this preemptive strike. Peters is set to make barely $3MM this season, and the Rams are now responsible for picking up his fifth-year option — which they surely will given the timing of this trade. Peters skipped OTAs last year, and Paylor notes a possible training camp holdout could have transpired this summer. A 2016 first-team All-Pro and 2015 defensive rookie of the year, Peters received his best Pro Football Focus assessment for his 2017 work. Entering his age-25 season, Peters has 19 interceptions. He forced a career-high five fumbles in 2017.

Here’s more from the Peters front.

Rapoport reports this Rams/Chiefs deal will bring a package of picks to the Chiefs, but none of those is believed to be a first-rounder. That will mean the Chiefs still do not have a 2018 first-rounder after shipping it to the Bills in last year’s Patrick Mahomes deal. Kansas City picked up an extra third-rounder in January’s Alex Smith deal and collected a compensatory sixth-rounder in this draft as well. The Rams already shipped a 2018 second-round pick to the Bills for Sammy Watkins, so this latest trade could leave Los Angeles’ selection supply weakened.
Wade Phillips‘ strong personality should mesh well with Peters’ polarizing style, Bucky Brooks of NFL.com tweets, recalling a conversation he had with a veteran defensive backs coach when Peters was draft-eligible in 2015. Phillips’ ability to get through to Aqib Talib helped the Broncos’ mercurial corner craft the most memorable portion of his career, with Talib helping the Broncos to a Super Bowl title in his first season with Phillips and landing on the All-Pro first team in his second.
The 49ers were also interested in Peters, with the Browns’ interest being disputed, but the Seahawks were not exploring a Peters back back to Seattle despite his history in the city, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes. Peters was kicked off the University of Washington’s team during the 2014 season. Additionally, the playmaking corner measures just under 6-foot and has 31 1/2-inch arms. Pointing out the Seahawks haven’t drafted a boundary corner with arms shorter than 32 inches during Pete Carroll‘s tenure, Condotta writes Peters may not have been a fit in Seattle.

Latest On Chiefs’ GM Search

June 24th, 2017 at 11:20am CST by Ben Levine

Former Chiefs general manager John Dorsey‘s firing this past week was surprising for a number of reasons, including the timing. Terez A. Paylor of KansasCity.com writes how the late-June move was “unprecedented” and could lead to several complications for the organization.

As Paylor explains, the NFL is generally on “vacation” during this time of year, with most “player evaluators” fired after the draft to prevent them from passing along information to future employers. The writer also notes that Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt had previously said that he’d like to hammer out extensions for both Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid during this late-June timeframe. Following the firing, Paylor wonders if negotiation discussions may have broken down. Of course, on the flip side, a letter from Hunt earlier this week didn’t give any indications that contract negotiations had to do with the firing.

Either way, it will be particularly difficult for the organization to hire a replacement at this point of the offseason. If the Chiefs are eyeing someone from an outside organization, they’d have to get permission from the opposing team to interview that individual. As Paylor writes, few teams will be willing to grant that permission at this point of the year, as it’ll be presumably difficult to fill that spot in their own organization.

“Teams don’t want to lose a guy at this time of year because they’d be so hard to replace,” Senior Bowl director Phil Savage (and former NFL GM) said. “Most of these moves are made right after the season or after the draft, so you have all of May to get organized.

“I bet half of the teams are in NFL are out of country this week. To get a phone call saying ‘Hey, we want to interview your right-hand man,’ some teams would be reluctant.”

Paylor notes that the team could alternatively promote from within, with the writer suggesting co-directors of player personnel, Brett Veach or Mike Borgonzi, as potential candidates. Regardless of the team’s game plan, it will surely take some time before the Chiefs officially announce a replacement.

Reaction To Chiefs Firing GM John Dorsey

June 22nd, 2017 at 9:37pm CST by Dallas Robinson

On the same day they announced a four-year extension for head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs shocked the NFL world by firing general manager John Dorsey. Let’s take a look at some of the reaction and fallout from Dorsey’s dismissal:

Despite what owner Clark Hunt stated in the Chiefs’ press release, Kansas City and Dorsey did not “agree to part ways,” a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Rather, the Chiefs decided to fire Dorsey, and the decision was made by Hunt, not Reid, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
The Chiefs weren’t pleased with how Dorsey handled contract negotiations with the team’s premier players such as Justin Houston and Eric Berry, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Kansas City waited until the last minute to work out deals with Houston and Berry (after using the franchise tag on both), and the delay in talks ended up costing the Chiefs down the line.
Dorsey reportedly told a confidant that he and Hunt were “butting heads” within the past two months, tweets Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. Dorsey didn’t elaborate on the issue at hand, but it conceivably could have been related to how Dorsey handled Houston and Berry’s contracts, or about Dorsey’s own pact with the Chiefs.
Reactions to Dorsey’s firing — both inside and outside the Chiefs organization — were ones of immense surprise. Those around were the league were “stunned” and “dumbfounded,” per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), while Kansas City staffers were just as shocked,as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star writes. “It caught everybody off guard,” said a team source. “Nobody saw it coming. Nobody knows (what happened) because everybody is out of the building.”
Reid will not take on a more active role in personnel, according to Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. Reid, notably, was the Eagles’ de facto general manager from 2001-12. Additionally, Reid and the new general manager will both separately report to Hunt, the same arrangement utilized by the Reid and Dorsey tandem.

AFC Rumors: Hopkins, Chiefs, Ragland

August 6th, 2016 at 9:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

DeAndre Hopkins displayed his apparent dissatisfaction with the Texans known last week by staging a brief holdout, but the team is not discussing a new contract with the talented wideout. Rick Smith said, via James Palmer of NFL.com (Twitter link), no negotiations between Houston and Hopkins are transpiring right now.

The 24-year-old wideout, who is coming off back-to-back 1,200-plus-yard seasons, said on an NFL Network interview (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter) he’s not stewing over his contract situation. “It’s not something I sit here and think about. … What goes on off the field works itself out,” Hopkins said during the interview.

Owner Bob McNair said previously that the fourth-year receiver’s contract was going to come up in due time. Hopkins is set to make $1.5MM this season. Houston exercised Hopkins’ fifth-year option, putting him on their 2017 books for $7.915MM. As of now, that figure would rank 20th among wideouts in terms of ’17 earnings.

Regarding Hopkins’ situation, which isn’t unique in today’s NFL, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes the 2011 CBA overcorrected the previous problem of underperforming rookies anchoring payrolls. In allowing teams to wait a minimum of three seasons before giving deserving rookies raises, Florio notes the league not instituting a device that would ensure non-busts received their due earnings penalizes the players who do reward teams by outperforming their contracts.

Here’s more from the AFC on preseason eve.

Clark Hunt told media (including Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star) Eric Fisher‘s contract negotiations spanned barely two weeks in late July leading up to training camp. The Chiefs signed the scrutinized left tackle to a four-year, $48MM extension.
Hunt envisions the Chiefs revisiting Eric Berry‘s contract after the season. The franchise’s chairman echoed the reports that said the Chiefs and the All-Pro safety were too far apart on terms by July 15. “As soon as we have an opportunity next year, we’ll sit down with his representatives and see if we can work out a scenario where he could finish his career here. … We couldn’t close the gap this year, but next year’s a different situation,” Hunt said. “I can’t say that there will be anything fundamentally that happens that would make it possible, but it’s certainly something that we’ll talk about.” Berry will make $10.86MM this year as part of the franchise tag, one the 27-year-old talent has not signed and is not expected to for a while.
As he said in an interview with PFR’s Zach Links, ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher does not foresee Berry being in the Chiefs’ long-term plans. The ESPN.com writer noted that simply a year passing and the sides being back at the negotiating table doesn’t mean either will compromise. Berry stands to be one of the most pursued free agents after this season, should the seventh-year safety reach the open market for the first time. The Chiefs are projected to possess just $6.7MM in cap space in ’17, and Dontari Poe will also be a free agent.
The Bills will work out free agent linebackers on Sunday after Rex Ryan backtracked on his statement saying Reggie Ragland likely avoided ligament damage after suffering a knee injury Friday, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports. Ryan said the team is “definitely concerned” about Ragland’s knee, via Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (on Twitter). Buffalo’s second-round pick sustained the injury in a non-contact situation. The team is already expected to be without first-round pick Shaq Lawson for multiple games.
The Steelers are involved in multiple contract negotiations, with David DeCastro joining Antonio Brown as players with whom management is discussing deals.

AFC West Rumors: Berry, Broncos, Raiders

March 26th, 2016 at 2:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the first time since becoming an unrestricted free agent and subsequently receiving the franchise tag, Eric Berry discussed his allegiance with the Chiefs. The seventh-year safety “definitely” wants to stay in Kansas City “long-term,” according to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star.

GM John Dorsey has engaged in discussions with Berry’s representatives for months, and chairman Clark Hunt has gotten the impression the two-time first-team All-Pro defender values approves of the direction the Chiefs are going.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get a long-term deal with him done here in the next several months,” Hunt told media, including Paylor. “He’s certainly somebody that we would like to be a Chief for a very, very long time.”

Berry hasn’t signed his $10.81MM franchise tender, a figure that only one other safety — the Saints’ Jairus Byrd — is set to earn this season. Paylor writes the Chiefs, who possess $6.29MM in cap space, can slash that $10.8MM number by about half by signing Berry to an extension.

Here’s some more from the AFC West.

The division’s top three finishers last season each signed a player from a division rival, with the Chiefs adding Rod Streater after the Raiders brought in Sean Smith and Broncos poached Donald Stephenson. The Broncos signed Stephenson, a former third-round pick in 2012 whose career has underwhelmed to date, due to the versatility he could bring, Gary Kubiak told media (via Paylor). But the second-year Broncos coach identified Stephenson’s fit on the right side of their offensive line as one of the key factors in Denver deciding to sign him on Day 1 of free agency. Despite being eventually benched at right tackle after opening last season as the Chiefs’ left tackle starter, Stephenson figures to be the top candidate as of now to begin 2016 as the Broncos’ right tackle. Drafted to play right tackle, Ty Sambrailo — Denver’s 2015 second-rounder who slid to left tackle after Ryan Clady‘s ACL tear — may again see an offseason relocation, this time shifting inside to right guard.
Instead of meeting Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s salary demands or bothering with Colin Kaepernick, the Broncos should take Dak Prescott with the second round’s final pick, Woody Paige of the Denver Post writes. Paige likens the Mississippi State prospect to a version of Tim Tebow, whom the longtime columnist was high on during his time in Denver, only with a much better passing acumen. Generally sliding in as a Day 2 option for teams behind Conner Cook and the trio of signal-callers with first-round projections, Prescott accounted for nearly 4,500 total yards as a junior and completed a career-best 66.2% of his throws while throwing for a career-best 3,793 yards last season. The former Bulldogs dual-threat talent has a visit scheduled with the Broncos. Former Cowboys personnel man Gil Brandt told Paige a team will use a mid-round pick on Prescott and attempt to develop him into a “Cam (Newton)-like quarterback.”
Playing on a one-year lease at their 50-year-old stadium in 2016, the Raiders will pay $3.5MM in rent this season at O.co Coliseum after that figure stood at $925K last season, David DeBolt and Rebecca Parr report for InsideBayArea.com. The massive increase stems from increased costs of game-day security and other factors, Coliseum authority executive director Scott McKibben told the website. “We’re more or less trying to pass along some of these (costs) to the Raiders which is not unlike any other NFL team,” McKibben said. “I spent a lot of time visiting with a lot of other NFL teams and this has been customary throughout the league. And quite honestly at the end of the day the Raiders were very cooperative with us on that.” Seeking a new stadium despite discussions that haven’t progressed, the Raiders have courted other cities in which to settle, with Los Angeles and Las Vegas chief among them.

West Notes: Lynch, Washington, Manning

November 22nd, 2015 at 8:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marshawn Lynch will visit a specialist in Philadelphia, with a possible sports hernia injury, Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Pete Carroll noted after Lynch missed the Seahawks‘ victory against the 49ers that injury hasn’t been ruled out, and such a diagnosis would shelve Lynch for a while.

The Seahawks appear to be in solid shape due to Thomas Rawls‘ presence, however, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio didn’t mince words when characterizing what the rookie’s 255-total-yard day means for the 29-year-old Lynch’s future in Seattle, saying the sixth-year Seahawk will not be back with the team for a seventh season due to the gulf between the backs’ contracts.

With a cap number of $11.5MM, Lynch would be the third-highest-paid Seahawk in his age-30 season. Should the Seahawks take Florio’s advice and turn their backfield over to 2015 UDFA Rawls, who’s slated to make $530K next year, Lynch’s recent extension which runs through the 2017 season contains $5MM worth of dead money going into next season.

Here’s some more news coming out of the Western divisions tonight.

Former Cardinals Pro Bowl linebacker Daryl Washington continues to violate the terms of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Jay Glazer reported on Fox (as relayed by Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk). The 29-year-old Washington hasn’t played since Week 17 of the 2013 season due to his year-long suspension that hasn’t been revisited. Washington was scheduled to apply for reinstatement in March, and there are concerns his career is over.
Rams starter Case Keenum sustained a concussion during the team’s loss to the Ravens today, but he continued to play, losing a fumble that led to Baltimore’s game-winning field goal, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. A Timmy Jernigan sack that didn’t count due to an offside penalty negating it did the damage, according to Jeff Fisher. Media learned of Keenum’s concussion only when informed by the St. Louis media relations staff that the quarterback wouldn’t be available for postgame interviews.
San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer met with Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt to discuss progress on a path to a new Chargers stadium, David Garrick of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Hunt’s a member of a six-owner committee focused on Los Angeles relocation, and Faulconer’s met with five members of that newly formed coalition thus far. The two didn’t discuss the two LA stadium projects, Garrick reports, with the meeting instead focusing on San Diego’s path to green-lighting construction on its own. Faulconer’s plan features $350MM in contributions from city and county taxpayers, and after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent ruling to expedite an environmental review would put this proposal up for a city vote as early as June, but the Chargers have yet to resume negotiations with the city.
Gary Kubiak hasn’t decided if Peyton Manning or Brock Osweiler will start for the Broncos against the Patriots next week, Florio reports. The PFT scribe notes Kubiak said he’d have a difficult time benching Osweiler after his solid performance against the Bears, and if the fourth-year career backup follows it up with an upset over the Patriots, Kubiak’s previous declaration of starting Manning again when healthy will simply resolve itself when the first-year Denver coach deems the 39-year-old of insufficient health to recapture the job.

Chiefs To Retain Andy Reid, John Dorsey For 2016

November 1st, 2015 at 8:39am CST by Sam Robinson

Despite the Chiefs being one of the most disappointing teams thus far this season, team chairman Clark Hunt said both Andy Reid and GM John Dorsey‘s jobs are safe, even if this season spirals into a top-5 or top-10 draft choice, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter).

This lengthy leash from a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since January 1994 may not appease some fans, but the Chiefs did qualify for the playoffs at 11-5 two seasons ago after going 2-14 in 2012 under Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel.

Both Reid and Dorsey arrived in 2013, from the Eagles and Packers, respectively, and have yet to experience a losing season in Kansas City. Although their first seems likely this year, which necessitated the inquiry about the duo’s job status. They’ve gone 22-17 since arriving.

The Chiefs’ five losing seasons from 2007-12 probably help this tandem’s job security. They held top-10 draft picks in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013.

“I have confidence in Andy and John. … I think they’re the right guys to lead us. Not just this year, but going forward,” Hunt told media from London.

The Chiefs have several impending free agents — from Eric Berry and Sean Smith, to Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson — but the player most tied to the Reid-Dorsey regime will almost certainly be back as a result of this decision. A year after signing a five-year extension, Alex Smith will carry nearly $25MM in dead money onto next year’s salary cap, making a separation from the polarizing signal-caller unrealistic despite the Chiefs’ struggles this season.

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