Arrowheadlines: NBC’s Mike Florio suggests new contract for Patrick Mahomes is imminent

The latest

Expect Patrick Mahomes to again be the highest-paid player in league history, before Week One - ProFootballTalk | PFT

Chiefs G.M. Brett Veach already has vowed to address the Mahomes deal after more quarterback contracts are completed. While Veach didn’t delve into any specifics, here’s what reasonably should be expected, based on our conversations with folks aware of the dynamics of the situation.

Expect Mahomes, before the season begins, to once again be the highest-paid player in league history.

The details will be interesting, and subject to differing interpretations. Because Mahomes has nine years left on his current contract, a new-money APY in excess of $52 million per year would be obtained simply by tacking three years and a penny more than $156 million on the back end of the existing deal.

The real question will become the value of the contract from the moment it’s signed. Also relevant to the analysis will be the full guarantee at signing, and the cash flow in the first three years of the revised deal.

Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed responds to Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill: We’re going to show him when he gets here | NFL.com

“I love that matchup with me and Davante. He’s a great player, great rival, too,” Sneed said. “Tyreek been talking a lot of trash, himself, this year. He talking about coming back to the Arrowhead. We going to show him, though, when he get there.”

Hill said in April that he was looking to be the Chiefs’ “worst enemy” in the matchup, the first time the wideout would get to face his former team of six years since relocating to Miami.

But Sneed dismissed Hill’s taunts, saying that while he’s heard what Hill said, he believes Hill will change his tone when the Dolphins get to Kansas City.

“I don’t really get into it, but I take notes on what he said. I see it,” he said. “I been on the internet and I see what he’s saying. We’ll see once he comes to the Arrowhead.”

NFL schedule 2023: Ranking Chiefs’ opener possibilities worst to best | USA Today

4. Cincinnati Bengals

You can’t go wrong kicking off the schedule with the league’s defining rivalry of the last two seasons. The animosity is organic, too, with the postseason’s “Burrowhead” tiff serving as the latest point of contention. That bitterness hasn’t dissipated, as Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce described the defection of former teammate Orlando Brown Jr. to Cincinnati this offseason thusly on a March edition of his podcast: ”It’s like watching your best friend just turn evil on you.” But if this clash does get set for early September, it will mark the fifth showdown in 21 months between the two sides. Maybe a little spacing – and letting each team find its peak form – would do everyone some good.

One last offseason move for all 16 AFC teams: Kareem Hunt to the Ravens, Jarvis Landry to the Titans | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: CB ANTHONY BROWN

Kansas City was smart to sign left tackle Donovan Smith and keep big-ticket free agent addition Jawaan Taylor on his natural right side, and they traded up in the second round for SMU wide receiver Rashee Rice to add needed depth to the receiver room.

The Chiefs’ young collection of cornerbacks played quite well en route to a Lombardi Trophy in 2022, but a veteran depth option with experience as a man cover cornerback could make a lot of sense to round out the offseason. Brown had a down year in 2022 yet earned a career-high 69.0 coverage grade in 2021 on more than 1,000 snaps, posting 12 pass breakups and three interceptions. He could be great insurance on the back end for Kansas City.

16 NFL free agents (Ezekiel Elliott, anyone?) to watch with draft over | USA Today

DE Frank Clark

He’ll be 30 this year and wasn’t especially productive in recent regular seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, though he consistently ate up plentiful snaps. However Clark has been clutch in the playoffs, averaging close to a sack per game in 12 postseason appearances for K.C.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Four quarterbacks, led by Caleb Williams, taken in first round | CBS Sports

Round 1 - Pick 32

Jordan Morgan OL

ARIZONA • JR • 6’6” / 320 LBS

The Chiefs could be looking to conserve salary cap space and moving on from Joe Thuney allows them to do it.

Around the NFL

Joe Kapp, Vikings quarterback in Super Bowl IV, dies at age of 85 | NFL.com

A standout signal-caller in both the National Football League and Canadian Football League, Kapp played 12 seasons of professional football altogether, most notably three campaigns for Minnesota in the late 1960s.

“Men like Joe Kapp are the cornerstones the Minnesota Vikings franchise was built upon,” Vikings owner/president Mark Wilf said in a statement on Tuesday. “Joe’s toughness and competitive spirit defined the Vikings teams of his era, and his tenacity and leadership were respected by teammates and opponents alike. We mourn Joe’s loss with his family, friends and Vikings fans around the world.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs’ rookie minicamp: 5 takeaways from the weekend that was

1. I think the Chiefs will sign a couple of tryout players from the workouts.

The camp saw 78 players in attendance — including 51 tryout players — and Reid alluded to keeping a few of them around during his post-camp press conference.

“It was good to get these guys in here, the rookies, and gave them a chance — a good tryout camp for a lot of these guys, and I think we’ll probably keep a couple of them,” said Reid.

Over the weekend, I posted some observations to my Twitter account, but here is a quick list of tryout players who caught my eye: tight end Connor Blumrick, linebacker Buddy Johnson, cornerback Ekow Boye-Dowe, offensive tackle Naasir Watkins — and, of course, Kansas State defensive end Wyatt Hubert, who made it to the Monday podium.

If the Chiefs were to sign a tryout player or two, they would have to cut somebody from their full 90-man roster.

I want to give an honorable mention to a non-tryout player — utility man Jerrion Ealy — a returner who worked with the running backs in this camp. In my view, he was the fastest player at this camp and worth being back on the radar (currently zoned in exclusively on Justyn Ross, who was ineligible for the camp).

“He can kind of do a lot of things for you from return game to wide receiver to running back,” said Reid. “He did wide receiver the latter part of last year, so (he’s) real smart (and) quick. He’s not the biggest guy, but he knows how to play the game.”

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