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The latest
“I’d definitely like to stay here,” Pennel said Tuesday night. “I know this is the place where I work well with the coaches, I love the fan base, I love the city and my family stays out here.
“I know it’s a business, but I told my agents and I told everybody in the Kansas City Chiefs organization that I’d like to be back.”
Chiefs’ Opponents Set for the 2020 Season | The Mothership
The schedule includes matchups with the AFC East and NFC South in addition to first-place bouts with the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens and AFC South champion Houston Texans. Kansas City will also make its first trip to Las Vegas in 2020 to clash with the Raiders.
Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu got the Chiefs to believe on defense | ESPN
“We’ve got great leadership on this team,” safety Daniel Sorensen said. “Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark, those guys have led us and kept talking to us: ‘Believe in ourselves, trust in ourselves, we’re going to get better, we’re getting better.’ You see that process and we continued to get better and better and better. When it came down to it, the defense was able to make some key stops and get the offense the ball back and let them do what they do.”
AFC cut candidates: Sammy Watkins, Jacoby Brissett in trouble? | NFL.com
Strong candidates for release
1) Sammy Watkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs: The regular season is ultimately the best way to judge an NFL player and Watkins’ 673 receiving yards in 2019 were his highest total in the last four seasons. If Sean McVay and Andy Reid couldn’t get consistent production out of Watkins, it’s hard to imagine who will.
With that said, that Super Bowl play against Richard Sherman will live in Kansas City lore forever, in addition to Watkins gaining 114 yards in back-to-back AFC title games. Somehow still just 26 years old, Watkins will get work again at a lesser price.
10. Chiefs DB Kendall Fuller (UFA)
Perhaps this is wishful thinking. For a couple seasons now, Fuller hasn’t been the player he was not too long ago, when he emerged as one of the league’s best slot cornerbacks. Before the 2018 season, after he’d just gotten dealt to Kansas City in the Alex Smith trade, I even ranked him as the 23rd best player under the age of 25 in the entire NFL.
That has not aged well. It’s been mostly downhill for him since then, as he hasn’t been able to replicate the success he found early on in Washington. In 2017 with the Redskins, he notched four interceptions and according to Pro Football Focus, allowed a 56.7 passer rating in coverage — only six cornerbacks finished with a lower passer rating.
He hasn’t been the same player since, but he’s still only 24 years old. Perhaps he’ll land in the right situation, get plugged into the slot, and re-emerge as a great player. I’m not quite ready to give up on him yet. I think he could be a great buy-low signing with clear upside.
32 NFL players who could use a fresh start this offseason, from QBs to injured stars | ESPN
Kansas City Chiefs
RB LeSean McCoy
He fell from favor at midseason because of a fumbling problem and was inactive in two of the three postseason games, including the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were searching for help in their backfield because of injuries but turned to other players instead. — Adam Teicher
Chris Harris Jr. retweets NFL Network video saying Chiefs would be a good fit for him | Broncos Wire
“I’m going to have to go with the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs,” Hall said. “I keep him in the division — he knows that division very well and anytime you don’t feel the love reciprocated, you want a little payback. So you want to see those guys twice a year.”
Harris also retweeted ESPN’s story that listed Kansas City among three potential landing spots for the cornerback.
Around the NFL
The 21 worst Super Bowl halftime show FCC complaints from 1,500 submitted | SB Nation
Each year, people from all over the country send strongly worded emails to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voicing displeasure about something they’ve seen during the Super Bowl broadcast. More than 1,000 complaints were lodged regarding this year’s performance by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (a few more than last year’s 55 complaints about Adam Levine’s nipples). Now, we must honor the Karens and Kevins of the world who desperately wanted to speak to the manager, and by manager, I mean government.
Antonio Brown directs latest apology at Ben Roethlisberger | ESPN
The former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver posted a photo of Roethlisberger smiling and slapping the back of Brown’s helmet when the two played together, along with a caption that praised Roethlisberger.
”Mostly you a little bit of me !” Brown wrote. “Yee yee !! I never realized how good I had it, got caught up in my emotion with everyone coming after me I really apologize for my actions sincerely man ! It’s never been another connection like what we done in the past decade. I appreciate you. Sincerely AB.”
NFL free agency: 9 guys who MUST be re-signed by current team | NFL.com
5) Byron Jones, CB, Dallas Cowboys
Lost in all of the Dak and Amari Cooper noise ... Oh, by the way, the Cowboys’ top defensive back is due a new contract.
I am a big fan of Jones. Great player. Great teammate who will do anything to win, including changing positions. He was a Pro Bowler in Year 1 as a full-time corner in 2018, and just enjoyed another fine campaign at the spot.
If the Cowboys weren’t so distracted with the Dak back and forth, this could be done. And should be. I would absolutely prioritize Jones over Cooper.
2. Buffalo Bills (never won Super Bowl): With two playoff berths in the last three seasons, an ascending quarterback in Josh Allen and a defense that’s ranked in the top three the past two years, they’re probably not going to sneak up on anyone in 2020. Sean McDermott’s team might even be ready to knock the Patriots off their long-held AFC East perch. But a coronation likely hinges on Allen’s continued development and the ability of McDermott and GM Brandon Beane to recruit a top-tier free agent or two to Buffalo with their $80 million war chest.
In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride
Film review: offensive takeaways from Super Bowl LIV
After hearing, watching and reading so many Super Bowl LIV recaps before being able to carefully re-watch the game, I fully expected to see more offensive struggles from the Chiefs. Instead, what I saw was the NFL’s top defense playing at a high level — and a quarterback playing at an even higher level, finding plenty of success moving the ball down the field. Even when they weren’t hitting, Mahomes had help with some nice play designs. His mobility also played a major role on scrambles and designed runs.
Report: Colorado to “reach out” to Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy
Last offseason, Bieniemy, 50, interviewed with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their vacant head-coaching positions, and he reportedly turned down an interview from the Arizona Cardinals. This offseason, interviews with the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants did not lead to a position.
While that must no doubt be frustrating, the likelihood of him moving from the pro to college ranks seems small. Given Reid’s track record of grooming head coaches — and the Super Bowl championship — there is no better position to be in than Reid’s understudy.
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