Patrick Mahomes

Chiefs Would Consider Trading QB Alex Smith This Offseason

January 6th, 2018 at 12:04pm CST by Ben Levine

[UPDATE: Chiefs Expected To Trade Alex Smith]

It sounds like trade rumors will hound quarterback Alex Smith once again. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Chiefs will be open to trading the signal-caller this offseason. The reporter notes that the front office won’t “actively seek out trade partners,” but they’ll listen to any inquiries.

Considering the veteran’s age and the presence of 2017 first-rounder Patrick Mahomes, Smith was mentioned in trade rumors last offseason. At the time, head coach Andy Reid and ownership offered their public support for the aging quarterback, and Smith responded with one of the best seasons of his career. The 33-year-old set several career-highs in 2017, including passing yards (4,042) and touchdowns (26). He also completed 67.5-percent of his passes and threw only five interceptions, leading to some early-season MVP rumblings.

Of course, Smith is set to make $17MM next season, and Mahomes looked solid during his Week 17 start (22-of-35 for 284 yards). As Rapoport mentions, the team could surely receive more than the pair of second-rounders they gave up when they acquired Smith from San Francisco in 2013. Still, the Chiefs earned the four seed in the AFC this season, and the reporter warns that the team could hold on to Smith if they make a run to the Super Bowl. In other words, trade talks surely won’t heat up under Kansas City’s season is officially over.

Rapoport lists a number of teams that could have interest in the veteran quarterback, including the Jets, Broncos, Jaguars, Bills, Browns, and Cardinals. He specifically notes that Arizona had interest in Smith back when he was on the 49ers, and he says the Broncos have already considered a pursuit.

Chiefs To Start Patrick Mahomes In Week 17

December 27th, 2017 at 11:56am CST by Sam Robinson

The Chiefs won the AFC West in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, and they’ll have a unique opportunity to gauge their first-round pick’s development because of their spot in the AFC standings.

Being locked into the No. 4 seed, the Chiefs will start Patrick Mahomes against the Broncos, Andy Reid said (via B.J. Kissel of KCChiefs.com, on Twitter). Mahomes has yet to play this season, but with the 9-6 Chiefs guaranteed to play in the 4-5 game next weekend, it marks an interesting chance to see Mahomes in action.

Alex Smith has been the Chiefs’ starter for the past five seasons. Smith’s been the longest-tenured Chiefs starter since Trent Green, but he has just one season remaining on his contract and saw Kansas City trade up from No. 28 to No. 10 to select Mahomes — their first first-round quarterback investment since 1983. Reid said Smith is having an “MVP-caliber” season and understands the team’s situation going into a meaningless Week 17 game in Denver (Twitter link via Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star).

So, it doesn’t sound like the Chiefs will have a Doug Flutie/Rob Johnson situation on their hands this weekend, regardless of how Mahomes performs (the 1999 Bills played Johnson in a meaningless regular-season finale then started the younger player over the incumbent in the Music City Miracle loss to the Titans in what’s turned out to be their most recent playoff game).

Mahomes will take the first-team reps in practice this week, with Smith running the scout team, Reid said (via Paylor, on Twitter). The Texas Tech product will face the Broncos’ 2016 first-round pick, Paxton Lynch, who will be making his second start of the season. While Lynch will be going against a backup-laden Chiefs defense, with Reid set to rest starters (Twitter link via Paylor), Mahomes will face a Broncos defense that’s been one of the best in the NFL this season.

West Notes: Broncos, Fitz, Mahomes, Rams

December 25th, 2017 at 4:19pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Broncos my have lost their 10th game of the season on Sunday, but they also got a glimpse at a potential quarterback target in Washington signal caller Kirk Cousins. Playing on his second straight franchise tag, the 29-year-old posted close to 300 yards and tossed three scores against a very formidable Broncos defense. It was a performance that made Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post ask, “is Cousins worth $30MM?”

In fact, many Broncos defenders seemed to think that he could be worth that type of investment this offseason.

“A lot of teams would literally kill to have a quarterback like that,” Broncos linebacker Von Miller said.

“He’s the real deal as a quarterback,” Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall added.

Kiszla proclaimed that Cousins is unlikely to get another franchise tag given just how detrimental a guaranteed cap number like that would be on the Redskins roster. This would mean that Denver would have the opportunity to invest a lot of money in the soon-to-be free agent QB.

Denver clearly needs to address their quarterback situation this offseason. It’s clear that Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler are more backups, with Paxton Lynch still needing major development even when he gets healthy.

There’s a lot of QB needy teams in the NFL, but the Broncos got a personal look on Sunday of what Cousins could bring to a team that’s been craving any sort of offense since Peyton Manning retired after their Super Bowl 50 run.

Here’s more from the NFL’s West divisions:

Even though Cardinals star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald signed a one-year contract extension during the season, that does not mean it’s a guarantee he will return to the football field in 2018. However, Fitz looks to be in a much better position to return than a year ago, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Rapoport suggests that the 34-year-old is much healthier than at the conclusion of the 2016 regular season. He’s also on track to post better numbers this year, as he’s just slightly behind his 2016 totals in receptions and yards, while just needing another touchdown to surpass his six scores from a season ago. Fitzgerald is a surefire Hall of Famer as well, but could also be motivated to surpass Terrell Owens on the all-time receiving list. He sits just a few hundred yards behind T.O. and would assuredly pass him if he remains healthy in 2018. Fitz has clearly shown that he can continue to play at a high level in his mid-30’s, so there’s hope from Cardinals fans he could return for another season in Arizona.
With their win yesterday, the Chiefs have clinched the AFC West and the fourth seed in the AFC. This means that rookie quarterback Patrick Mahomes could get the start or at least see a lot of playing time in a meaningless Week 17 game against the Broncos. But as expected, head coach Andy Reid wasn’t tipping his hand about how the team will approach the QB position next week. “We’ll get through Christmas and then we’ll get on with that,” Reid said. There had been some speculation that Reid may turn to Mahomes during the team’s midseason losing streak, but veteran Alex Smith has bounced back in a big way and led Kansas City to their second straight division title. Mahomes has been playing with the scout team and would probably be well served in getting some actual playing time in his first professional season.
While it was a very good day for a Rams franchise that clinched their first division title since 2003, the team was forced to deal with injuries to a pair of starters, reports Aiden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. Left guard Rodger Saffold was forced to exit the game with a rib injury, but head coach Sean McVay said after the victory that, “I think he’s OK.”. Gonzalez added that Saffold was “seen in good spirits” in the postgame celebration as well. However, linebacker Mark Barron‘s achilles injury could be worse than expected. The 28-year-old was a suprise inactive in Week 16 and has dealt with a variety of minor ailments throughout the season, according to Gonzalez. McVay wasn’t as clear with how his prognosis looked for the remainder of the season. “We’ll have some updates on that moving forward,” said the Rams head coach. If Barron should miss time, backup Cory Littleton would likely be forced into the starting lineup.

Draft Notes: Mayfield, Rosen, Cards, Nelson

December 9th, 2017 at 7:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

The expected recipient of this season’s Heisman Trophy, Baker Mayfield figures to generate plenty of opinions during the pre-draft process. Some of the immediate responses from NFL evaluators have been positive following the Oklahoma senior’s dominant regular season. Albert Breer of SI.com surmises from the several-dozen scouts he’s spoken to throughout the season that Mayfield should wind up as a first-round pick, his baggage notwithstanding.

“He’s extremely talented,” an AFC college scouting director told Breer. “Guys want to play for him, players believe in him, the staff believes in him. I’ve heard the comparisons to (Drew) Brees, (Johnny) Manziel, (Russell) Wilson, and there’s a little bit of all of them in his game. And he’s not Manziel in terms of the off-field stuff — he studies his ass off; he goes through his progressions; he’s not a typical spread QB. He has first-round ability.”

Mayfield’s height, around 6-foot, could be an issue for some teams. And his Big 12 background may as well. But Breer expects a first-round investment to occur.

Here’s more on Mayfield and other key prospects.

Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com polled five NFL execs regarding Mayfield’s best destination and didn’t get one definitive answer. While some quarterback-needy teams came up, two decision-makers mentioned the Saints and Chargers as Mayfield fits. Both suggest multiyear apprenticeships behind Brees and Philip Rivers. However, a source told Matt Miller of Bleacher Report Rivers’ resurgence has “basically shut down” the prospect of the Bolts making a quarterback-of-the-future pick in the upcoming first round. Rivers turned 36 on Friday.
Josh Rosen is the likeliest of the likely first-round quarterbacks to start from Day 1, a group of seven executives polled by Yahoo Sports concluded. The UCLA passer’s throwing motion is “as elite as it gets for a prospect,” Charles Robinson of Yahoo writes. That septet of execs rated Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Mayfield as the Nos. 2-4 prospects and likely first-rounders. Darnold’s elongated throwing motion and tendency to bail on plays, in the mind of some evaluators, could cost him the No. 1 spot. Allen received the “project” label in this piece, but the Wyoming product’s size/speed/arm strength combination could be enticing — especially come workout time.
On Allen, Miller notes the Cardinals are connected to the current junior signal-caller. Miller writes the Cardinals abandoned their first-round quarterback crusade after Patrick Mahomes went to the Chiefs at No. 10, with the team declaring it was going to delay its Carson Palmer succession strategy a year. Allen may be the next guy the Cards are eyeing, viewing his athleticism and potential — and presumably the likelihood he won’t be a top-two pick like the Pac-12 passers — as Mahomes-esque. That might not mean much at the moment, with Mahomes having yet to play, but Miller expects Allen to be a top-10 pick. That’s more than could have been said for Mahomes at this point in last year’s process. The Jets remain the team that’s done the most work on Allen, however.
In a post connecting teams with prospects, Miller notes the Bears are “all about” Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley. However, the draft analyst notes the Bears are expected to land a top-10 pick. Ridley, in his mind, does not qualify for such an investment.
Notre Dame’s offensive line figures to produce two first-round talents in tackle Mike McGlinchey and guard Quenton Nelson. While McGlinchy’s name has hovered on draft radars longer, Bucky Brooks of NFL.com notes Nelson is viewed as the better prospect among scouts. One scout declared Nelson was the best prospect he’d seen this season “by far.” Miller notes the Broncos have Nelson rated as the top offensive lineman on their early board.
Cowboys coaching and scouting sources told Miller the team doesn’t expect to be holding mid-first-round picks much in the near future, and he writes the team will pursue a higher-end pass rusher “while it can.” That’s bold thinking for a team that is 6-6 and has missed the playoffs in five seasons this decade, but the Cowboys did earn home-field advantage last season. And the need for an impact end remains.

Andy Reid To Hand Over Play-Calling Duties

December 3rd, 2017 at 9:25am CST by Rory Parks

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will hand over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy for the team’s game against the Jets today, as ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets. Reid will “continue to have oversight” of the play-calling, per Mortensen, which means that he will retain veto power over Nagy’s decisions.

Reid’s decision comes on the heels of a horrible stretch for Kansas City, which started the season 5-0 only to lose five of its next six. The Chiefs’ sputtering offense has been a big reason for its slide, and quarterback Alex Smith has experienced a precipitous drop-off in his quality of play after looking like a legitimate MVP candidate earlier in the season. Reid apparently decided enough is enough and is hoping a new voice in Smith’s ear will give him a bit of a boost.

As Mortensen observes (via Twitter), this is not the first time that Reid has done something like this, as he has temporarily ceded play-calling responsibilities to his offensive coordinators in both Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Even more interesting is Mortensen’s tweet concerning Smith himself. Although Reid has steadfastly supported his incumbent signal-caller — and just last week we heard that the Chiefs would only turn to rookie Patrick Mahomes this season if Smith were to get hurt — Mortensen suggests that, if Smith struggles against New York today, Mahomes could get the nod.

Nagy, of course, is a popular head-coaching candidate who could get his first chance to lead an NFL team this offseason.

Poll: Should The Chiefs Start Patrick Mahomes?

November 26th, 2017 at 8:33pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Chiefs looked to be one of the best teams in the NFL after a 5-0 start. However, the team has taken a nosedive as of late, losing three straight games and dropping five out of their past six.

A major reason for the hot start had been the outstanding play they’d been getting from veteran quarterback Alex Smith. Known as one of the better game managers at the position, Smith had been criticized for his inability to carry the Chiefs to victory on his own. However, Smith was a legit MVP candidate earlier in the year, throwing the ball down field more, while continuing to limit mistakes. The team already had a solid roster across the board, considering that they finished as the AFC’s second best team heading into the playoffs last season. Smith also was given exciting playmakers in TE Travis Kelce, WR Tyreek Hill and rookie RB Kareem Hunt.

Still, even with all these weapons and a weak conference, the Chiefs find themselves in a real fight to just make the playoffs. This has led to speculation that Kansas City could turn to rookie backup Patrick Mahomes for a little shot in the arm. Although the team clearly thinks highly of their 2017 first round pick, head coach Andy Reid stayed committed to Smith after the Chiefs loss today.

That’s not where I am at right now,” Reid said in today’s postgame press conference (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).

Reid is notably close to the vest, but even he can’t deny that his team is in a bad way right now. Replacing Smith with Mahomes would be a huge risk considering that despite his great raw ability, the former Texas Tech QB was classified as incredibly raw coming into the draft.

It’s a storyline that we didn’t think would hold any credence given the Chiefs fast start, but there might be increased noise to make this move if Kansas City can’t turn things around in the weeks to come.

QB Notes: Chiefs, Mahomes, Taylor, Bills

November 26th, 2017 at 4:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest on two quarterback situations to watch:

Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters after Sunday’s game that he didn’t consider replacing Alex Smith at quarterback. He also says he isn’t thinking about turning to Patrick Mahomes in KC’s next game. “That’s not where I am at right now,” Reid said (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Smith had a rough outing on Sunday, leading many to call for the first-round rookie to take his place. The Chiefs – who are still in the mix for the AFC West crown – have dropped three straight and five of their last six.
Bills coach Sean McDermott says “Tyrod Taylor is “our quarterback for next week,” (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). On Sunday, Taylor led Buffalo to victory over Kansas City, a win that snapped a three-game losing streak. It’s no surprise that Taylor will remain at the helm given the W and Nathan Peterman‘s ugly five-interception game last week. If the Bills continue to win with Taylor, it could push the team to reverse course and stick with him for 2018. The Bills have the option to retain Taylor for 2018 with a reasonable $10MM salary and a $6MM roster bonus. If they want to go in a different direction, they can cut him before the bonus date in March and eat just $1MM.
The Chiefs need to start thinking about a shift to Mahomes, ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher argues. The Chiefs were the league’s last unbeaten team at 5-0, but their playoff position is now in serious peril. It would be a lot for KC to ask Mahomes to take over right now, but Teicher is of the opinion that the Chiefs should make the switch if Smith falters again. Smith, entering his age-34 season, is under contract for 2018 at a $20.6MM cap number. The Chiefs can save $17MM and eat just $3.6MM by releasing him before June 1, however. Installing Mahomes as the starter could help the Chiefs salvage this season while better informing their big decision in the offseason.

AFC West Notes: A. Smith, Broncos, M. Williams

November 26th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Rory Parks

After jumping out to a 5-0 start this year, the Chiefs have lost four of their last five games, making themselves vulnerable to the surging Chargers and even the Raiders in the AFC West. The team’s offensive struggles have contributed to that swoon, and quarterback Alex Smith has fallen off a bit after a torrid first half. He is coming off a miserable performance in Kansas City’s loss to the lowly Giants last week, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the Chiefs would only turn to rookie first-rounder Patrick Mahomes if Smith were to get hurt. Smith will remain under center the rest of the year, though Kansas City still plans to shop him in the offseason as it prepares to usher in the Mahomes era.

Now for more notes from the AFC West:

New Chiefs CB Darrelle Revis will likely make his Kansas City debut next week, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Paxton Lynch is back under center for the Broncos, and Rapoport (video link) says they want him to start the rest of the year so they can fairly evaluate what they have in last year’s first-rounder. The team will run a much simpler offensive scheme for Lynch than what it employed under former OC Mike McCoy, and Lynch has been encouraged to simply do what he does best, which is run around and improvise.
We learned earlier today that the Raiders are likely to fire OC Todd Downing at season’s end, and that McCoy is an obvious candidate to replace him. Within that story, we cited another La Canfora article in which the CBS scribe reported that the McCoy firing might have been just the tip of the iceberg for the Broncos. He suggests that there is speculation that head coach Vance Joseph could be out after just one year on the job, and at the very least, that Denver could shake up other parts of its coaching staff.
Broncos GM John Elway has taken a lot of heat for his club’s 3-7 record in 2017, but Mike Klis of 9News.com says that criticism is largely unwarranted. In an interesting piece that pits Elway’s draft results against those of his long-tenured colleagues, Elway comes out near the top of the heap of NFL general managers, which makes Klis believe he will be able to turn the ship around in 2018.
We learned Friday that Chargers rookie wideout Mike Williams avoided an ACL tear during his team’s Thanksgiving Day win over the Cowboys, and Rapoport tweets that Williams has been diagnosed with a bone bruise. While Williams is expected to miss next week’s contest against the Browns, he will be week-to-week thereafter, which is a big deal for a team that has forced its way back into the playoff hunt.

Browns Eyed Trubisky, Mahomes, 2018 QBs Over Watson?

October 12th, 2017 at 8:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the second straight year, the current Browns front office is set to observe the team face a rookie quarterback upon whom it passed in that year’s draft. After Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott faced the Browns last season, Deshaun Watson will match up against the team he was often linked to in the pre-draft process.

But the Browns evidently had a multi-layered thought process behind moving past Watson, with Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reporting the team had Mitch Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes and Watson as their top three quarterbacks and likely in that order.

The Browns also bypassed Watson with their No. 12 pick in order to pick up a future 2018 first-rounder — their second high-2018 draft choice acquired from the Texans this spring — because of what’s being viewed as a superior class of quarterbacks likely set to be draft-eligible, Cabot reports. With two first-round picks and three second-rounders next year, the Browns would like to be “well-positioned” to draft a quarterback in the event DeShone Kizer is not their long-term solution. Considering Kizer was just benched for what Cabot notes will likely be for at least three games through the team’s Week 9 bye, that clock is ticking.

Cleveland may well have taken Mahomes, who had a private workout with the Browns before visiting the team in April, had the Chiefs not traded up to No. 10 and selected him, Cabot notes. Kansas City’s brass obviously shared the Mahomes-over-Watson line of thinking. The longtime Browns reporter adds some in the front office did want to draft Trubisky No. 1 overall, leading to “heated debates” before Hue Jackson and Gregg Williams‘ preferred player, Myles Garrett, went to Cleveland at No. 1 overall.

Jackson declined to say this week if he advocated for Watson, who has accounted for 10 touchdowns the past two weeks. The second-year coach also declined to speculate whether coaching Watson in January would have endeared him more to the team.

The Browns not viewing Wentz or Watson as the kind of game-changer they coveted is being scrutinized now that Kizer has been benched for 2016 practice squad signee Kevin Hogan, who has outperformed the second-round pick when summoned this season.

Viewing this demotion as a “temporary timeout,” Jackson anticipates returning to Kizer this season. The Browns are planning to obtain more evidence he’s the future to determine if the Notre Dame product is worthy of bypassing a signal-caller with all five of their 2018 first- or second-round picks.

West Notes: Raiders, Mahomes, Donald, Bolts

September 7th, 2017 at 6:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders decided to place second-round pick Obi Melifonwu on IR earlier this week, but the team is not counting on the safety missing his entire rookie season. Melifonwu is expected to return after eight weeks and be one of Oakland’s two IR-DTR players, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The UConn product is recovering from knee surgery and will use the season’s first two months to rehab. The Raiders have seen their top two draft picks struggle to see the field due to injuries thus far; Gareon Conley missed most of Oakland’s preseason work due to a shin malady. Both are eyed as contributors in a secondary that struggled throughout 2016.

Here’s the latest coming out of the West divisions before the defending AFC West champion Chiefs debut against the Super Bowl champion Patriots.

For now, new Cardinals guard Alex Boone will serve as a backup. “He’s just learning,” coach Bruce Arians told reporters (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). “We’ll see. Right now, it’d probably have to be an injury or someone really fail badly. … We’ll see. Right now, it’d probably have to be an injury or someone really fail badly.” Boone started for five straight seasons, lining up as a first-teamer for the 49ers and Vikings.
Despite Patrick Mahomes‘ impressive preseason, the Chiefs‘ plan remains to shelve the rookie quarterback throughout the 2017 season, Rapoport notes (video link). Rapoport also said the possibility of Mahomes sitting to start next season remains in play, adding the team drafted the Texas Tech product knowing he’d be a one- or two-year project. Rapoport adds the Chiefs believed Mahomes was the draft’s best quarterback and they thought four teams would pull the trigger to select him had they not made the trade up to No. 10. Alex Smith‘s contract may also dictate the franchise’s decision. The Chiefs can save $17MM by moving on from their longtime starter after this season, but it’s clear they see a firm line between Smith and Mahomes’ present readiness levels.
Chargers rookie Mike Williams is now off the PUP list but has yet to resume running routes full speed, Anthony Lynn said (via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). Recovering from a back injury, Williams has resumed catching passes. Rapoport reported the first-round pick’s likely return date will be in October.
If the Rams are going to sign Aaron Donald to an extension, the deal will have to make the defensive lineman the NFL’s highest-paid defender. Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com writes the team understands this. Von Miller‘s six-year, $114.6MM contract represents that standard presently, and Ndamukong Suh‘s six-year, $114MM Dolphins deal is the high-water mark for interior defenders. Los Angeles is not expected to have Donald this week as his holdout stretches into Month 3.
Sebastian Janikowski‘s small pay cut — from $4MM to $3MM this season — induced Rapoport to suggest this adjustment would free up space for a potential Donald Penn payment (Twitter link). The Raiders left tackle recently returned to the team and is entering the final year of his contract, but it’s clear the 34-year-old blocker is not exactly a content employee.

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