The latest
Nine observations from Day 2 of KC Chiefs minicamp | Kansas City Star
Under-the-radar players to watch in the summer
The Chiefs will have their run test Thursday, so this was the last practice look until late July. With that in mind, here are four players on my radar:
Wide receiver Andrew Armstrong: The second-year receiver won’t threaten for any of the top three or four receiver spots, but he’s shown he might have the chops to make the back end of the room competitive.
Offensive tackle Kahlil Benson:
I entered Chiefs offseason work thinking the right tackle battle was a two-man race between Jaylon Moore and Esa Pole, but Benson looks to be a dark horse in the mix.
Linebacker Jeff Bassa: Leo Chenal is now a member of the Washington Commanders, meaning there is a vacancy to fill in terms of linebacker snaps. After what amounted to a redshirt year on defense, look for Bassa to get an opportunity to prove himself.
Cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace: Now in his third year in the system, Roland-Wallace seems to have earned the trust of Steve Spagnuolo. The only thing that could stand in the way of an expanded role is if Sneed proves healthy and productive.
2026 NFL season: What We Learned during first wave of minicamps | NFL.com
1) Mahomes deal could have ripple effect. Wednesday’s news of a historic contract extension for Patrick Mahomes likely tethers the quarterback and the Chiefs together for many years to come and could keep him a Chief for life. Mahomes is now under contract for the next eight seasons, through his age-38 year in 2033.
It’s not shocking that we arrived here. This is the perfect marriage of city and athlete. But it’s also a strong indicator that the Chiefs have no fears about Mahomes’ health coming off a torn ACL. Tom Brady suffered a similar injury at roughly the same stage of his career, and he went on to play 14 more years after that.
Major contracts such as Mahomes’ don’t just affect the athlete, his agent and team. It also has a league-wide effect, especially at such a premium position as quarterback.
I can imagine Lamar Jackson and other elite quarterbacks who are extension-eligible perked up a bit when the Mahomes news rolled in. It has a direct effect on Jackson and others, even if each of their individual situations may differ somewhat.
Even though Jackson has two years left on his deal, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in January that he wanted to get an extension done with Jackson prior to the new league year, which started in March. We’ve missed that first marker and are about six weeks from the start of training camps.
While there’s still time to get a deal done before games begin, Jackson could play this coming season and try to cash in — for more money — next offseason. He’s coming off a tough year, plagued by injuries and a weaker Ravens team in general than we’re used to seeing.
2026 NFL contracts: Next to get a big deal at every position | ESPN
Center
Top of the market: Tyler Linderbaum, Las Vegas Raiders ($27 million AAV)
Linderbaum’s deal is an enormous outlier. At $27 million per season, the new Raiders center represents a 50% leap on the prior record holder, which was Creed Humphrey’s $18 million AAV on his four-year extension with the Chiefs. No other player is remotely close to what Linderbaum landed, which is a product of both his unique talent and the league’s franchise tag and fifth-year option rules lumping all linemen together. The Ravens weren’t able to justify paying Linderbaum like a tackle, but the competition of the open market led the Raiders to pay Linderbaum like one.
We’ll see how Linderbaum’s deal pans out in the years to come, but the massive raise creates a real conflict for teams with elite young centers. I don’t think anybody sees the true top of the center market around where Linderbaum landed, but young centers should (and will) ask for a Linderbaum-sized contract in the future, knowing that the free agent market proved they can earn that sort of deal if they get there.
Next up: Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs
The best center on a rookie deal at the moment is Graham Barton, who has been excellent for the Bucs since being drafted two years ago. Todd Bowles even moved Barton to left tackle briefly last season while Tristan Wirfs was injured, a testament to the Duke product’s athleticism. The only issue is that Barton was a first-round pick, and as a result, he’s subject to the same concerns about franchise tags and fifth-year options that Linderbaum was with the Ravens. Barton might prefer to play out the five years of his rookie deal and hit free agency as a 27-year-old in 2029.
He might theoretically be joined in that 2029 class by Humphrey and Linderbaum, both of whom will be free agents after the 2028 campaign. I would expect both players to be negotiating extensions in 2028, and between the two, most NFL observers believe Humphrey to be the better center. There are seemingly annual concerns about Humphrey snapping the ball too low on a regular basis, but his quickness and ability to block defensive tackles one-on-one make him an essential part of the Kansas City offense.
Barring a turnaround from Cam Jurgens in Philadelphia, I’d expect Humphrey to be the first center to approach $30 million per season on a new deal, with Linderbaum and Barton close behind.
New Patrick Mahomes deal exposes the flaw in new-money analysis | Pro Football Talk
Sometimes, there’s a new contract that exposes the flaw in the new-money analysis. The new Patrick Mahomes deal, for example, adds two years and $239.05 million in new money. Under the new-money analysis, his new-money APY is $119.525 million — nearly twice the prior high-water mark of $60 million per year.
Mahomes isn’t the first player whose new contract leads to new years and new money that generate a ridiculously high new-money APY. Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s contract from 2025 was reported as a six-year, $330 million deal, for an average of $55 million per year. The new-money APY, given what he was due to make on his prior four-year deal, is close to $90 million.
Andy Reid jokes on Patrick Mahomes’ plans to spend money from record contact | USA Today
His head coach is all for the deal for what his star quarterback offers on and off the field.
“I think it’s great. He (Mahomes) said he was going to take all you (the media) to dinner. I’m not sure when that’s taking place,” Reid, said jokingly to the media on Thursday, June 11. “Listen, he’s done a great job as a professional and then off the field as a father and husband and so you got the whole package there. You guys have had a chance to watch him grow over the years in both those areas and so he’s a great representative of the organization and a heck of a football player.”
Mahomes’ contract makes him the first player in NFL history to have a contract valued over half a billion dollars.
Around the NFL
Broncos, head coach Sean Payton agree to new five-year contract | NFL.com
At the time, Denver had not experienced the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 50 during the 2015 season, and was bogged down by whiffing on the decision to acquire quarterback Russell Wilson. Payton helmed the Broncos to an 8-9 record in his first year, their best win total since 2016. Denver subsequently took on a then-record $85 million in dead cap to move on from Wilson, months later pairing Payton, known as a QB whisperer, with Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 draft.
The Broncos went 10-7 in Nix’s rookie season with an appearance in the Wild Card Round. Then, in 2025, Payton and Co. arrived earlier than even the most optimistic projections, capturing the AFC’s No. 1 seed by going 14-3, the second-best regular-season finish in franchise history. Nix suffered a broken ankle in a climactic Divisional Round victory over the Bills, leaving Denver with feelings of what could’ve been after the team was unable to overcome the Patriots the following week, but there’s reason to believe brighter days are ahead to help ease that regret.
Denver recognizes that and rewarded its head coach for the rapid rebuild, locking in the Payton-Paton duo for years to come.
Ex-Raiders WR Henry Ruggs denied parole nearly 5 years after crash | ESPN
Ruggs, 27, will be eligible for parole again on Aug. 24, 2027, and could appear before the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners next May.
“Mr. Ruggs, and our office, continue to feel the grief and loss suffered by Ms. Tintor’s family,” Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a Thursday statement, adding that they were disappointed by the parole board’s decision to deny parole.
During Ruggs’ appearance in May, Chesnoff urged the parole board to ignore Ruggs’ celebrity.
“Sometimes being high-profile makes it more of a burden,” Chesnoff said. “And I would most respectfully ask everybody to treat Henry the way they would anybody that comes before them, except for the fact that I think he’s tried to do as much as humanly possible to send a message that his behavior was unacceptable.”
Agent’s Take: Why Fernando Mendoza remains unsigned, and how Ty Simpson could factor in | CBS Sports
Why Mendoza hasen’t signed
Large signing bonuses in NFL contracts typically aren’t paid in a single lump sum. The exception is that lump-sum signing bonus payments have become customary for the first overall pick. The last time a first overall pick didn’t receive his signing bonus in a single payment was quarterback Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
The second overall pick occasionally receives his signing bonus in a lump sum as well. That was the case with 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter last year. Hunter, who signed his rookie contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on June 22, received his $30,566,628 signing bonus on July 15.
All six quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2024 draft also received their signing bonuses in a single payment. Bo Nix was the lowest-selected quarterback among the group, going 12th overall to the Denver Broncos.
The Raiders haven’t been paying first-round pick signing bonuses in a lump sum. The payment schedule for the previous three first-round picks — Ashton Jeanty (2025, sixth overall), Brock Bowers (2024, 13th overall) and Tyree Wilson (2023, seventh overall) — was 77.5% within 15 days of signing, 12.5% in mid-September and the final 10% in mid-October. Jeanty, Bowers and Wilson signed their respective contracts on May 9, May 10 and May 12, coinciding with the Raiders’ three-day rookie minicamp.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs trade Wanya Morris to Falcons amid right tackle competition
According to Fowler, offensive tackle Wanya Morris is being traded to the Atlanta Falcons; NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reported that the compensation coming back to Kansas City was a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Chiefs are also dealing a seventh-round pick in 2027 in the deal.
Morris has started 16 games for the Chiefs since being selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and will now join former Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in Atlanta.
Morris’ last start was at left tackle in Week 14 of the 2025 season, but Morris was injured on the first play from scrimmage and missed the remainder of the season.
Prior to that, Morris started 11 games on the blind side of quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the 2024 campaign. In that stretch, he allowed five sacks and seven other quarterback hits, per Pro Football Focus.
Social media to make you think
Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media
- Facebook: Like our page
- Instagram: @ArrowheadPride
- X: Follow @ArrowheadPride
- AP Staff on X: See complete list
- 90.9 The Bridge on X: Follow @909thebridge
