Arrowheadlines: Time is running out for the Chiefs to pick up Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s fifth-year option

The latest

Agent’s Take: A guide to fifth-year option decisions for 2020 first-round picks, including Chase Young | CBS Sports

No. 32 pick: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Chiefs

Fifth-year option: $5.461 million

The Chiefs aren’t picking up Edwards-Helaire’s option year. He was inactive for Super Bowl LVII after being activated from injured reserve. Isiah Pacheco, a 2022 seventh-round pick, had emerged as Kansas City’s primary ball carrier even before a high ankle sprain in Week 11 sidelined Edwards-Helaire.

Not long until the draft. Patrick Mahomes is excited

NFL Mock Draft 2023: Seahawks take top-five QB to succeed Geno Smith; Texans, Buccaneers, Giants all trade up | CBS Sports

Round 1 - Pick 31

Darnell Washington TE

GEORGIA • JR • 6’7” / 264 LBS

No, this doesn’t mean the Chiefs think Travis Kelce is done. It means that Brett Veach and Andy Reid are going to constantly surround Patrick Mahomes with dangerous weapons, and Washington fits that perfectly.

2023 NFL mock draft with all trades: Deals for all 31 Round 1 picks | ESPN

31. Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs get: 1-26, 5-169

Cowboys get: 1-31, 3-95

Let’s finish with the reigning champs, who could get flexible at the end of Round 1 in targeting edge rushers, right tackles or even tight ends to play alongside ageless wonder Travis Kelce in their 12 and 13 personnel packages. With extra selections in the fourth, sixth and seventh rounds, they have flexibility if they want to move around toward the bottom of the first round, as they did in moving up for Trent McDuffie a year ago.

This would be a move up for an edge rusher, where the Chiefs need to replace Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap. The Bengals, Saints and Eagles pick between Nos. 28 and 30 and could all be interested in edge options. At No. 27, the Bills probably won’t go in that direction, but the Cowboys should have more motivation to trade down after sending away draft picks to acquire Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks earlier this offseason.

Kansas City Chiefs Fans Rank Third in Research on Most Vocal Fanbases in NFL | Arrowhead Report

Doing research in an effort to find out which NFL teams have the most vocal fans in the league online, Gambling.com used the social listening tool Linkfluence to “analyze social media data for every fanbase in the NFL by looking at the number of posts that had been made using their team’s unique slogan” via hashtag on social media. For Chiefs fans, the iconic hashtag, “#ChiefsKingdom,” was used by the listening tool to gather data.

The results of this research lined up mostly well compared to expectation, as the Chiefs’ hashtag was used 488,141 times on social media — according to Linkfluence’s findings — throughout the 2022-23 season from beginning to end. This number trailed only the Buffalo Bills (691,764) and Philadelphia Eagles (1,043,322). Below is a list of the top five squads in online fan vocality:

Philadelphia Eagles: 1,043,322

Buffalo Bills: 691,764

Kansas City Chiefs: 488,141

Around the NFL

NFL Rumors: 49ers’ Trey Lance Eyed in Trade Calls with Brock Purdy Set to Be Starter | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, several teams have made inquiries to the 49ers about the 22-year-old quarterback.

Rapoport did note the 49ers haven’t been making calls to shop Lance, but they have listened when clubs have contacted them. No trade is imminent at this point.

The 49ers are in a strange spot with their quarterbacks right now. Purdy exceeded all expectations after taking over as the starter when Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken foot in Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins.

Calvin Ridley looking to prove he’s still a top NFL receiver | ESPN

What will he look like after nearly two full years away from playing in an NFL game? Can he be anywhere close to the same player he was in 2020, when he caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards? Is he still a game-breaker?

The Jaguars’ newest receiver has the answer: You’ll see in September.

“I’m trying to be humble, [and] I’ve been pretty good at football all my life, and I not only have been good, I also worked to be good,” Ridley said Wednesday in his first interview since he was cleared to return from his suspension for gambling on NFL games. “They say two years off. But what about the healing process? What if I got faster? What if I got stronger?

“Obviously I got wiser. Why can’t I be better?”

Tua Tagovailoa admits he considered retirement after difficult 2022 season | ESPN

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, the Dolphins quarterback recalled the difficult period in which he weighed both his health and his football future.

“Yeah, I think I considered it for a time,” Tagovailoa said. “Having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kind of conversations, but, really, it would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son — I always dreamed of playing as long as I could to where my son knew exactly what he was watching his dad do. It’s my health, it’s my body, and I feel like this is what’s best for me and my family. I love the game of football. If I didn’t, I would’ve quit a long time ago.”

Tagovailoa added that doctors and specialists told him that there’s no evidence he’s at greater risk for concussions or CTE in 2023 or beyond because he had multiple concussions last season, which played into his decision to return to football.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs NFL Draft 2023: Why the team doesn’t have to use a high draft pick on a wide receiver

Reid, Mahomes and Kelce

Remember when the Chiefs’ offense was expected to take a big step backwards because the team traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins? Me, too.

There’s a simple reason Kansas City continued to have the NFL’s No. 1 offense in 2022: it still has its trio of first-ballot Hall of Famers — namely, head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

Reid and Mahomes continue to be the Chiefs’ single biggest edge over every other NFL team. Reid could actually be the most creative play caller the league has ever seen, while Mahomes can be considered the most talented quarterback to ever play the game. Then there is Kelce, who can make a solid case for being the greatest tight end of all time.

With Reid, Mahomes and Kelce leading the way, having the best receiving targets shouldn’t be the goal. Instead, it should be to have the best all-around team around them — one that is very good across the board. The Chiefs don’t need a great receiving corps to reach the ultimate goal. Don’t believe it? Look no further than this past season.

So for the Chiefs’ brass to reach for a receiver in the first round — when there are more highly-graded players at other important positions available — would be nothing less than malpractice.

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