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Arrowheadlines: Another step towards a dynasty

Chiefs headlines for Wednesday, July 15

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NFL: Super Bowl LIV-San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The latest

Chris Jones’ deal with Chiefs the latest move toward a dynasty | ESPN

Jones and Mahomes are just the latest important, young players in whom the Chiefs have invested heavily. The Super Bowl champions have all of their core players now signed through at least 2021 while playing in the primes of their careers, setting up a possible dynasty run. Receiver Tyreek Hill is 26, defensive end Frank Clark 27, safety Tyrann Mathieu 28.

Throw in other good, young players such as receiver Mecole Hardman (22) and safety Juan Thornhill (25) and it’s reasonable to conclude the Chiefs will be on the top of their game not just again in 2020, but for years to come.

Of the core players, all but Mathieu, tight end Travis Kelce (30) and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (31) are signed at least through 2022.

It’s why the Chiefs’ unofficial mantra this offseason has been “run it back.”

Analyzing the Chris Jones and Myles Garrett contracts: Why the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns locked down their best defenders ahead of the 2020 NFL season | PFF

You can make a strong argument that Chris Jones is the best interior pass-rusher in the NFL not named Aaron Donald. Over the past two seasons, he has the second-best pass-rushing grade (91.7) at the position to go along with the second-best pass-rush win rate (18.9%). Since Jones came into the league, only Donald and Fletcher Cox have more total pressures or a better win rate from an interior alignment, and we only recently saw the kind of effect Jones can have in games.

Lamar Jackson on Mahomes’ deal: ‘I’ve got to get where he’s at’ | NFL.com

Lamar Jackson knows what he must accomplish to reach the heights Patrick Mahomes climbed this year.

“I’ve got to win me a Super Bowl. I’ve got to get where he’s at,” Jackson told ESPN on Monday.

Asked about Mahomes’ new contract, Jackson noted it’s “a crazy number,” but added, “he deserves it though.”

Tyreek Hill changes Twitter profile photo to Crying Jordan after funny camp moment | Kansas City Star

You never want to be the person getting burned or dunked on in a viral video.

But that happened to Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill this week. A clip of a soon-to-be 10th grader making a great leaping catch over Hill at a football camp went viral Monday.

The video has more than 2 million views but Hill wasn’t getting down on himself.

Pat Mahomes opens up to GQ about his potential, race in the NFL, and Post Malone tattoos | USA Today

“I’ve seen how people, on Twitter, have tweeted and said, ‘Oh, you’re not full Black,’” he told GQ. “But I’ve always just had the confidence and believed in who I am. And I’ve known that I’m Black. And I’m proud to be Black. And I’m proud to have a white mom too. I’m just proud of who I am. And I’ve always had that confidence in myself.”

As the son of a former Major League Baseball player, Mahomes also is aware of his privileged upbringing.

“The more I mature,” Mahomes told GQ, ”I’ve learned that I was blessed to be in the situation that I was in.”

Which NFL team had the best offense in the last decade? | Fox Sports

2018 Kansas City Chiefs

The 2018 Kansas City Chiefs were led by Mahomes, who was named NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year after the season. He threw for an incredible 5,097 yards and 50 TDs, while the Chiefs led the NFL in yards per game (425.6) and points per game (35.3), finishing the regular season 12-4 overall.

Kansas City scored at least 26 points in every contest and scored 30 or more in 12 of 16 games, and its offense had 5 Pro Bowlers and 4 All-Pro selections at season’s end.

Around the NFL

Source: Browns finalizing 5-year, $125M extension with Myles Garrett | ESPN

The deal, which is worth a total of $144 million over seven years, would make Garrett the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Garrett entered the offseason with two years left on his rookie contract after the Browns picked up his fifth-year option.

Blockbuster deal

The reported 5-year, $125 million extension would make Myles Garrett the highest-paid defensive player in annual average salary in NFL history.

Jason Peters returns to Eagles on one-year deal to play guard | NFL.com

Entering his 17th NFL season, the 38-year-old will tackle a new challenge moving to guard and likely swapping sides of the line. If it works out, Philly’s O-line — already one of the best blocking units in the league — got better. A right side of Lane Johnson, Peters and Jason Kelce could be bonkers.

City expects Eagles to play home games without fans in 2020 | Bleeding Green Nation

The Eagles are still going to be allowed to play, although without crowds. The Phillies will continue to be allowed to play, although without crowds,” Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.

Abernathy said NFL guidelines also “remind teams that local authorities have the ability to ban fans, so I don’t expect any issues.”

“We have been in communication with the Eagles. We have told them our expectations are that they don’t have fans,” Albernathy said.

Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey joins Patrick Mahomes in 99 club on Madden 21 | Clutch Points

While it hardly comes as a surprise that McCaffrey was tabbed with such a high rating, he is actually the only member of the Panthers to receive a rating over 90. Following McCaffrey, Panthers pass rusher Kawann Short was dealt a rating of 87 with wide receivers D.J. Moore and Robbie Anderson receiving ratings of 85 and 84, respectively. With ratings in the low 80s, Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson, center Matt Paradis, wide receiver Curtis Samuel and offensive tackle Taylor Moton were the only other Carolina players to attain ratings of at least 80 for “Madden 21.”

Trade interest remains for Jaguars DE Yannick Ngakoue | NFL.com

Ngakoue has vociferously and publicly campaigned for his trade since being slapped with the franchise tag.

Sides have until 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday to strike a long-term deal. If Ngakoue doesn’t get a multi-year contract, the most he can play on is a one-year deal. The defensive end franchise tag is worth $17.8 million in 2020. The 25-year-old has yet to sign the tender. Until he does, he’s not under contract and cannot be fined for skipping training camp practices, which are scheduled to begin later this month.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Five winners and three losers from Chris Jones’ new contract

Winners

Brett Veach: The young man has a plan. For all of our hand-wringing, it’s now clear that the GM knows what he’s doing. He’s certainly done a great job assembling championship-level talent. Now he’s executing on his #RunItBack plan to keep it going. We all knew the salary cap was somewhat of a myth — and that as long all parties were willing, the team could find a way to keep Mahomes and Jones long-term. Jones’ deal has basically the same guarantees the team would have owed him on two franchise tags — and with no signing bonus, it fits in nicely while the quarterback’s deal has a low(er) cap hit. Now comes the challenge of finding cheap talent to fit into the roles around the stars Veach has assembled. But we’re certainly not going to bet against him; he’s shown the ability to be creative and aggressive — even during an unprecedented pandemic.

Losers

Alex Okafor: It’s actually not just Okafor, but rather all of the players in his tier who could take a hit because of the way the Chiefs are building their roster. For the forseeable future, it will be top-heavy — meaning that mid-to-upper tier contracts for guys like Okafor, Sammy Watkins, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Damien Wilson might be less secure. It’s no coincidence that a couple of these guys have already taken pay cuts or have had contracts restructured. Before the 2021 season, many of them could be looking for new jobs.

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