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Automatic Ejections Now Possible, Plus Another Key Rule Change from The Mothership
The other rule the NFL has changed for the 2016 NFL season is that touchbacks will now result in the ball coming out to the 25-yard line, instead of the 20-yard line as it was previously.
The average touchback percentage for NFL teams last season was 57.4 percent, but the Chiefs were among the most likely in the league to bring the ball out on a kickoff return last season, despite how deep the kickoff was in the end zone.
The Chiefs brought out the ball on a kickoff 54.8 percent of the time, which ranked as third most in the NFL.
Chiefs have approximately $5.7 million in cap room from The Kansas City Star
After a flurry of moves that included several key re-signings and one major free-agent addition, the Chiefs currently have about $5.7 million in cap room, according to the NFL Players Association.
Considering the Chiefs will need about half of that to sign their draft picks this year, according to Joel Corry, that leaves the team with approximately $2.8 million to spend in free-agency.
Ranking the free-agent spending of all 32 NFL teams from ESPN
10. Kansas City Chiefs
Guaranteed money spent: $36.9 million
The Chiefs were big spenders with regard to guaranteed money they've handed out in new contracts. They've given more than $36 million in guaranteed money since the start of the new league year, most of it going to offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz ($15 million), linebacker Derrick Johnson ($9.75 million) and defensive lineman Jaye Howard ($8.26 million). This doesn't include guaranteed money for two players signed before the start of the league year, tight end Travis Kelce ($20 million) and linebacker Tamba Hali ($11.5 million). -- Adam Teicher
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expects to personally hear Chiefs' tampering appeal from The Kansas City Star
A designee can be someone else in the league office, which handed down the punishment, or someone from outside, but it appears that option isn't in play for the Chiefs, with Goodell citing the seriousness of the NFL's tampering policy.
"It's an important policy to us," Goodell said. "It's important from a competitive standpoint, so I expect I will hear it, and if they would like to do it in advance of the draft, we'll do it then."
Hunt told The Star on Monday that he would like the appeal to be done before the NFL draft, which begins April 28.
Commissioner Roger Goodell expected to hear Chiefs' appeal from Chiefs Digest
A firm date for the NFL to hear the Chiefs' appeal for violating the Anti-Tampering Policy apparently hasn't been scheduled yet.
But the Chiefs can expect commissioner Roger Goodell - not a league representative - to preside over the process.
"I do not know if it's scheduled yet," Goodell told reporters Wednesday at the league's annual meeting in Florida. "I know they did appeal and will accommodate the date. I do expect I will hear it. I haven't thought of any other alternatives at this point in time."
Picking 28th in the draft, are the Chiefs in no-man's land? from ESPN
For those with ESPN Insider access, analyst Todd McShay has an interesting story ranking the draft's top 104 prospects in six tiers. Prospects with similar grades are lumped into the tiers and McShay's work can give an idea which players might be available when the Kansas City Chiefs pick in the first two rounds (the Chiefs' third-round pick was taken away by the league as part of the penalty for tampering last year with prospective free agent Jeremy Maclin).
But McShay's rankings aren't good news for the Chiefs. He has only 21 players with first-round grades and the Chiefs won't make their choice until the 28th pick.
Chiefs move cornerback Jamell Fleming to safety from The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs have had some success in the recent past moving a cornerback to safety, as Ron Parker has flip-flopped between the two positions the last two seasons. Parker has developed into a solid starter with versatility, and the Chiefs apparently feel Fleming, a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012, has some of the same traits.
The club re-signed Fleming to a one-year deal a few weeks ago. He joined the team in September 2014 after being signed off the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad.
Andy Reid: Mitchell Schwartz gives Chiefs security at right tackle from ESPN
"You want to make sure you're secure on the edge, and at the same time, give the quarterback an opportunity to step up when he needs to with a firm inside three," Reid said. "Having two tackles, particularly in this division, ends up being very important."
Schwartz will join Eric Fisher, the left tackle, in the starting lineup. Schwartz played some left tackle in college at California, though he was strictly a right tackle in his four seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
Andy Reid, Chiefs had inside info on WR Rod Streater from ESPN
Streater wasn't a stranger to Andy Reid when he walked into the coach's office for his recent free-agent visit.
"I've known him for a long time,'' Reid said. "I'm kind of cheating on this because my son and he played together [in college] and then Britt also coached him at Temple, so I've got a little inside intel on him.
"Listen, as good of a player as he is, he's an even better person so you're getting a quality guy and also a guy who can play football.''
Kansas City Chiefs 2015 Year in Review: A Red-Hot Second Half from NumberFire
With just 16 regular season games in an NFL season, a five-game losing streak is really hard to overcome.
When that skid comes within the first six games of the season, playoffs are generally a pipe dream.
However, the Kansas City Chiefs overcame a 1-5 start -- and an injury to superstar running back Jamaal Charles -- to finish the year 11-5.
What went so right for the Chiefs that they were able to reel off 11 straight wins -- and 12 if you include their wild card win over the Houston Texans?
Kansas City Chiefs: Second-year player Steven Nelson to have increased role in 2016 from EndZoneScore
After relying on first-year cornerback Marcus Peters to immediately produce in his rookie campaign, expect the Kansas City Chiefs to again tap into the 2015 draft class for another cornerback to come in and produce in 2016.
Steven Nelson, a former Oregon State product, fell down draft boards due to the concerns that he lacked the size to fit in the NFL. Also, there were some question marks surrounding his overall collegiate experience, as the former junior college product played just two years with the Beavers before entering the NFL draft, but his ball skills and aggressive, physical demeanor were enough for Kansas City to pull the trigger on him in the third-round.
Curse them: A look at victims of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx from The NY Daily News
November 17, 2003: Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs were marching towards the playoffs, and home field advantage, before they got the SI cover treatment.
Starting 9-0, Kansas City was the most talked about team in the NFL.
But after quarterback Trent Green graced the front of the magazine, the team went 4-3, missed out on hosting playoffs games at Arrowhead Stadium and lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the postseason.
Ned Yost, Eric Berry, Becky Sauerbrunn to be honored by Sports Commission from The Kansas City Star
Kansas City's sports successes of 2015 are reflected in the 43rd Kansas City Sports Commission Awards to be presented at the annual banquet on April 18.
Royals manager Ned Yost, Chiefs safety Eric Berry and FC Kansas City defender Becky Sauerbrunn will be honored during the event at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown-Muehlebach Tower.
They'll join Sprint Center general manager and senior vice president Brenda Tinnen and Kansas City Police Chief Darryl Forte as award winners.
The waiting game: Life as an unsigned NFL free agent from ESPN
On the first couple days of NFL free agency, bags of money get handed out to the top-tier guys on the market, while the majority of the veteran players in the league sit and wait for the phone to ring. When the money dries up and the market slows, the common man of the NFL just hopes for another shot, another opportunity to play some ball. I've been there, and former Giants offensive guard Geoff Schwartz is in that situation right now.
I talked with Schwartz recently about the process. We swapped stories and discussed the free-agent process for the veterans of the NFL. Heck, the only thing missing was a couple of beers ...
2016 NFL Mock Draft: A post-free agency first-round projection from The Washington Post
28. Kansas City Chiefs
Key Acquisitions: OT Mitchell Schwartz
Positions of need: CB, OLB, WR, ILBThe Chiefs select: Houston CB Will Jackson
Long and rangy, Jackson's 4.3 40-yard dash got the public's attention, but NFL scouts have known about him for a while. His length, ball skills and recovery speed are valued in a secondary that lacks a game changing talent. With Justin Houston's injury now putting him on the shelf for the next 6-to-12 months, keep an eye on mercurial pass-rusher Noah Spence as well.
50 best football chants: 30-21 - roar-alongs, Glory and Jude from FourFourTwo
Turkey is a notoriously intense place for foreign teams to visit for a football match - "Welcome to the Hell" and all that - and Beskitas' fans seemed to have worked out the perfect chant to unsettle visitors.
Starting with what seems like a standard, if lengthy, ‘Woooah', it suddenly transforms into the closest that football has to the Haka: loud, co-ordinated and thoroughly intimidating. And the local fans achieved a world high when a few years ago they recorded a world record 132db sound level (since overhauled by Kansas City Chiefs, if you must know) to make them the loudest crowd in football at the time. (JT)