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Six observations from Day 3 of Chiefs OTAs: Mahomes, Worthy & top standouts | Kansas City Star
With Rashee Rice unable to attend OTAs, Royals is seeing more time with Justin Fields during 11-on-11s and Mahomes during 7-on-7s. By my view, Thursday’s workout was a very early sign he may be putting a forgettable rookie season behind him.
During a 7-on-7 period with Mahomes, Royals torqued and fully extended his body to come back and make the catch, drawing a rise from the quarterback.
“It gives Jalen some great reps,” Reid said of the second-year receiver. “He looks strong out here and running well and that whole deal. It’s great for him. It’s great for him and the quarterbacks to see what he’s all about on repeated reps.”
Without Kelce, the tight ends had more drops Thursday than you’d like to see, but I thought Jared Wiley moved the best he has since November 2024, when he tore his ACL at practice. Granted, without pads, Wiley looked much closer to that form than he had all last season.
Power Ranking the NFL’s Top 2026 Comeback Candidates as Patrick Mahomes Returns to Field | Bleacher Report
1. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
There’s no guarantee Mahomes will win Comeback Player of the Year just by being healthy for most or all of the 2026 season.
Since winning his second league MVP in 2022, his passing numbers have steadily declined toward average. The Chiefs also have serious questions at wide receiver—especially with Rashee Rice recovering from knee surgery and unavailable for OTAs and minicamp while serving a 30-day jail term tied to a probation violation.
However, there is a good chance Mahomes will play for most, if not all, of 2026.
“He’s way ahead of schedule,” GM Brett Veach told SiriusXM Radio in early May (h/t NFL.com’s Kevin Patra).
If Mahomes does play the majority of the season, and if he helps Kansas City return to the top of the AFC hierarchy, it’s hard to envision another player passing him for CPOY.
Mahomes remains one of the league’s most electric offensive playmakers when at his best, and he’s facing real adversity for the first time in his career. The 30-year-old has never missed significant time with an injury and has never entered the regular season with Kansas City as an underdog.
Seeing one of the league’s brightest stars overcome the biggest challenges of his pro career could easily become one of the defining storylines of 2026.
Which NFL players have the most money at stake in 2026? | NFL.com
Rashee Rice, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Rice has put himself in a bad situation by continually making poor decisions. He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, and the Chiefs don’t yet know if they can trust him. That’s a very discouraging sign for such a talented player.
Since about midway through his rookie season, Rice has played like a No. 1 receiver. The problem has been the lack of playing. He’s been set back by injuries and, more concerningly, by a suspension. His recent drug-test failure was as much of a maturity test that Rice failed, compounding his issues.
Even as another possible suspension looms, with a threat of lost millions, this still represents the ultimate opportunity for Rice to rewrite his story. This coming season carries even more weight with the Chiefs coming off their first losing campaign in more than a decade and Patrick Mahomes working his way back from an ACL injury. A trustworthy Rice would fix a lot of Kansas City’s problems.
The character questions surrounding Rice wouldn’t vanish with a strong campaign, but that — along with some accountability — surely would help his chances of earning a long-term deal befitting of his immense talent. The way wide receiver contracts have blown up, that could mean a salary averaging north of $30 million. Or it could be a story of missed opportunity for Rice if he runs afoul again this season. The future is in his hands.
Watch out for these 5 Kansas City Chiefs UDFAs who can steal some of the spotlight from veterans during OTAs | A to Z Sports
Chiefs CB Zelmar Vedder can show off his best trait
Given that the passing game is on full display, cornerbacks often have the opportunity to show off their coverage skills. Vedder was very good at forcing incomplete passes during the 2025 college football season at Houston. The 6-foot-3 and 195-pound corner ranked 25th in forced incompletion percentage (19%) in 2025 among draft-eligible FBS cornerbacks with at least 100 snaps. For context, that’s a higher rate than fourth-round pick Jadon Canady. Mansoor Delane ranked fourth at 31% forced incompletion rate. He was only targeted 32 times and allowed 17 receptions with six forced incompletions per PFF.
Mahomes brutally trolls Kelce over Guardians ownership | ESPN
Travis Kelce may never live down his disastrous ceremonial first pitch.
On Wednesday, Kelce told ESPN that he would be joining the ownership team of the Cleveland Guardians as a minority investor. Kelce grew up watching Cleveland baseball and told ESPN that “I’m just a kid from the Heights living the dream.”
Kelce was also recently seen courtside at Game 3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ series against the New York Knicks alongside his fiancée, Taylor Swift.
His Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes, however, temporarily dressed that dream as a nightmare.
Mahomes congratulated Kelce on social media by posting a clip of the tight end throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Guardians game in 2023 — one which saw Kelce fire the ball into the grass about halfway to home plate.
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Puka Nacua says he’s ‘grateful’ to Rams for support after lawsuit | ESPN
Wide receiver Puka Nacua said he is “grateful for the support” from the Los Angeles Rams organization after a civil lawsuit was filed against him in March.
On Thursday, Nacua spoke for the first time since the lawsuit was filed by a woman in Los Angeles alleging Nacua made an “unprovoked antisemitic statement” and later bit her on the shoulder. The lawsuit cites gender violence, assault and battery, and negligence.
Nacua declined to address specifics about the lawsuit and night in question, calling it “an ongoing legal battle.” In March, Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, said in a statement obtained by ABC News that Nacua denies the allegations in the lawsuit “in the strongest possible terms.”
When asked about the allegations Thursday, Nacua did say it was “a moment for me to learn from some of the situations I was putting myself in and then also having just an awareness of how I’m conducting myself in and out of this football field.”
Jets’ Kenyon Sadiq has hernia surgery. Aaron Glenn expects rookie TE to be ready in training camp | AP
Sadiq, the 16th overall selection in April out of Oregon, was the second of the Jets’ three first-round picks this year and is expected to have a big role in Frank Reich’s offense as a pass-catching threat for quarterback Geno Smith.
“Sadiq had a minor procedure, so he won’t be out at practice today,” said Glenn, whose team began voluntary organized team activities on Wednesday. “It’s something that he dealt with — and we knew about — going to his last year of college, and he dealt with it during rookie minicamp (in early May).
“And we wanted to make sure we got that done right after rookie minicamp so he’ll be ready to go during training camp.”
NFL moves up date of the cutdown deadline to 53 players | Pro Football Talk
The NFL has informed teams that this year’s cutdown deadline to 53 players has moved up by two days compared to what it was in recent years.
Teams must get to the 53-player limit by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 30 this year.
Waiver claims are due at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 31.
The season begins on Wednesday, Sept. 9, which is a day earlier than usual, with the Seahawks hosting the Patriots.
The 49ers and Rams play in Australia the following day.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs Trade Talk: ESPN simulates 2 offers for KC to add a player
The first offer addresses the pass-catching unit in the Chiefs’ offense, just not in the way most rumors suggest. Solak simulates a trade for the Chicago Bears’ tight end Cole Kmet instead of targeting a wide receiver.
The lack of effort to improve the tight end position this offseason is an underrated hole in the organization’s plan to weaponize the run game. When looking across the league, especially looking at the teams ahead of the curve in scheme, it feels closer to a necessity than a luxury to have strong depth behind a star tight end like Travis Kelce.
One of the most important factors in achieving a more effective, well-respected rushing attack is having the threat of unpredictability on any given snap. Teams like the Los Angeles Rams value formations with two or three tight ends because the “heavier” personnel provides a blocking advantage compared to three-receiver sets without sacrificing eligible pass catchers in formation.
So the Rams invested in having quality depth, employing four tight ends who each surpassed 200 receiving yards and scored at least three times in 2025, a huge factor in quarterback Matthew Stafford’s MVP season and Los Angeles’ NFC Championship appearance.
So any experienced tight end would be a worthwhile addition, considering that Noah Gray is still the only proven player behind Kelce, and even then, that proof was absent for much of last season compared to the previous years.
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