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The latest
Kansas City Chiefs introduce wide receiver Sammy Watkins | The Kansas City Star
In an increasingly pass-happy league, the Chiefs are pinning their hopes for the future on building an offensive juggernaut reminiscent of some of the all-time great NFL offenses: the early 2000s Colts or Chiefs, late '90s Rams or even the early-'90s Cowboys.
Dead serious.
Cowboys made ‘strong push’ for Sammy Watkins, report states | 103.3FM ESPN Radio
Apparently, the Cowboys were one of those teams, which we recently learned, according to a report from Jean-Jacques Taylor of 103.3FM ESPN Radio.
“It was very close… as in money couldn’t have been the reason,” Taylor said, as transcribed by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
Texans sign Colvin, Fulton, Henderson, Kelemete
Zach Fulton, 26, started 46-of-63 regular season games played with the Kansas City Chiefs over the last four seasons, while splitting time at guard and center, and has only missed one game in his NFL career (Week 17 of the 2017 season)
Breaking down Dustin Colquitt's new deal with the Chiefs | The Kansas City Star
Colquitt will earn base salaries of $1.015 million (2018), $2.45 million (2019) and $1.95 million (2020). His cap numbers each year will be $1.665 million (2018), $3.1 million (2019) and $2.6 million (2020). The Chiefs can reasonably get out of this deal after this season, when they could save $1.15 million in cap room by releasing him.
A breakdown of De'Anthony Thomas' new deal with KC Chiefs | The Kansas City Star
Thomas will earn a base salary of $790,000 this season. He'll also carry a cap number of $880,000. That means the Chiefs could release him and save his entire base against the cap.
Chiefs' Charcandrick West: May be squeezed out | CBS Ssports
With Spencer Ware (knee) expected back in the fold after missing the entire 2017 season, West appears to be the odd man out in the Kansas City backfield.
Burton brings versatility to Bears offense | ChicagoBears.com
Both Nagy and Eagles coach Doug Pederson are disciples of the Andy Reid coaching tree, and each run a version of the West Coast offense that emphasizes getting the ball to tight ends. In 2017, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was targeted 7.6 times per game, most in the NFL at the position; Eagles tight end Zach Ertz ranked tied for third at 6.9 targets.
The backup QB market should start to reveal itself in coming days. I’m told Chad Henne, for instance, is visiting Tennessee today — and will travel to Kansas City this evening for his second visit. Miami also in that mix.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) March 15, 2018
KC also an option for Matt Moore, another available QB.
Around the league
Five Takeaways: Alex Smith's Introductory Press Conference | Redskins.com
“Yeah, I feel like I’ve been waiting on this for a long time, right?” Smith said with a smile. “I think everybody knew, but funny rules and can’t talk about certain things and timing and deadlines and things like that. So glad it’s finally here, the ball can start rolling, you know, the sooner we can get to work, the sooner I can get to work. That’s what we’re all here for. So yeah, I mean, I’m excited about it, excited that this day’s here and kind of kick start everything.”
Cairo Santos to sign with the Jets | SB Nation (Jets)
Santos kicked with the Chiefs between 2014 and 2017. He was cut in September, but it seemed to be due more to injury than performance. He had made all of his field goal and extra point attempts to date before he was cut but had to sit due to a groin injury. He briefly caught on with the Bears briefly later in the season but the groin injury returned, leading to surgery.
Why NFL Free Agency Rewards B+ Players With A+ Contracts | Forbes
Quarterback Kirk Cousins reportedly signed a three-year, $84 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings — totally guaranteed. Has Cousins taken the Washington Redskins to the Super Bowl or dominated the league statistically? Would a team choose him over Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford or other veteran standouts? Not likely, but his new contract puts him atop the market.
Best remaining players, teams still in the quarterback market, more | ESPN
Here are the 10 highest-ranked free agents from our top 100 who are still on the market. Note that ages are heading into the 2018 season:
Ndamukong Suh, DT
Sheldon Richardson, DL
Tyrann Mathieu, DB
Kyle Fuller, CB
Eric Reid, S
Man gets 30 years for road rage killing of ex-NFL player Joe McKnight | ESPN
The man convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 road rage shooting death of former NFL running back Joe McKnight was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday.
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson dies at 90 | NFL.com
Tom Benson's rise in New Orleans -- the city where he was born and raised -- is quite a rags-to-riches tale. Judy Battista chronicles the best of times -- and worst of times -- for the late Saints owner.
Statement from Clark Hunt on the Passing of New Orleans Saints Owner Tom Benson | Chiefs.com
“My family and I are saddened by the loss of Tom Benson, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gayle and the entire Benson family during this difficult time. Tom was a tremendous partner and friend for more than three decades. His leadership helped the Saints bring hope to New Orleans after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, and he will be greatly missed throughout the National Football League.”
Browns trade veteran CB Jason McCourty to Patriots | NFL.com
The Browns on Thursday traded away veteran cornerback Jason McCourty and a 2018 seventh-round pick to the Patriots in exchange for New England's 2018 sixth-round pick.
Ndamukong Suh schedules visits with Saints, Titans | NFL.com
The New Orleans Saints will be one of them. A source informed of the situation told NFL Network's Jane Slater that Suh will be in New Orleans on Friday for a visit. Slater adds the source said "the visit will be important for both sides to make sure it's a good fit."
Proof that Colin Kaepernick hasn’t given up on NFL long shot | New York Post
The former 49ers quarterback was spotted working out at a Houston field on Thursday afternoon, going through a variety of dropback and passing routines with a small group of trainers.
At Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs press conference: 10 things from Andy Reid
The press conference was unique in that the Chiefs sat Reid side by side next to starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was also concurrently available to the local KC press.
Here were the 10 biggest items in my eyes from Thursday.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach: It’s hard to acquire guys like Sammy Watkins
“He was one of the best receivers coming out in a long time,” Veach said, sitting to the left of Watkins at his introductory press conference. “Everybody loved the guy. He went top 10 for a reason. As I said yesterday, Sammy Watkins is a scheme fit for every team in the NFL.”
Anthony Hitchens was the final man beat on the “Hill Mary.” Now he’s a Chief
“I was the last guy he made miss,” Hitchens said at his introductory press conference at the Chiefs practice facility Thursday. “We were in man-to-man, and he outran his guy and made everybody else miss.”