The latest
In a conversation with his brother Jason and new University of Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun, Kelce explained how he nearly committed to WVU after his visit to Morgantown, West Virginia. Calhoun was an assistant under Huggins there from 2007-12 and was Kelce’s point of contact at the time.
“You guys treat me like family. Like I had never been treated before,” Kelce said. “I was
Jason’s little brother and Cincinnati didn’t even give me this much attention.”
Jason Kelce had a hearty laugh at that statement. But Kelce was seen as a key recruit by the Mountaineers coaching staff.
“Trav, I’ll be honest man, you could hoop … you were a beast,” Calhoun said.
Kelce heavily considered the Mountaineers because of how Huggins ran his program.
“Just the camaraderie that you saw on the floor and how everybody on the bench was involved in the game,” said.
Ed Kelce, Travis’ father, made his son truly think about his decision after hearing Travis ponder taking a basketball scholarship over football.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You are a man of your word. You wanna be like these kids that commit to a university and de-commit and now the integrity of your word doesn’t mean anything?’” Kelce said.
Top Landing Spots for Kyle Pitts if Falcons Trade Star TE | Bleacher Report
On paper, the Kansas City Chiefs signed tight end Travis Kelce to a three-year contract, but in reality, it’s a one-year, $12 million deal with two void years added, allowing the player and team to rework it after the 2026 campaign.
Although Kelce is still one of the league’s most productive receiving tight ends, the 37-year-old is close to the sunset of his career. He contemplated retirement after the 2025 term and could do so again next offseason.
General manager Brett Veach can acquire Pitts to continue the elite lineage of tight ends in Kansas City’s recent history. Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez played for the team from 1997 to 2008. A handful of years after the Chiefs traded him to the Atlanta Falcons, they selected Kelce in the third round of the 2013 draft. One day, he’ll be in the enshrined in Canton, Ohio as well.
The Chiefs could pair Kelce with Pitts, who would take the franchise tight-end baton from the future Hall of Famer.
In this scenario, Kelce would likely see a reduced role, which would preserve him for the season.
Early in the previous campaign, head coach Andy Reid discussed managing Kelce’s snap count. With Pitts, he can do that and still get production out of the position in his offense.
4) Should Veach place greater emphasis on offense in this class? Or defense?
Back in 2022, Veach went defense-heavy. Seven of the Chiefs’ 10 picks were defensive players. And that draft class, led by cornerback Trent McDuffie and defensive lineman George Karlaftis, proved fruitful.
In 2023, five of Kansas City’s seven picks were defensive players; in 2024, five of the Chiefs’ seven picks bolstered the offense. Last year’s class was more of a split, with four defensive players and three offensive players.
The Chiefs ideally would follow a best-player-available approach to drafting this year. But it feels like KC might be better served by sticking to last year’s script.
In a perfect scenario, out of nine picks, Veach lands two cornerbacks, a defensive end, a defensive tackle and a linebacker. On offense, the Chiefs would land a wide receiver, a tackle, a tight end and a running back flyer.
Answer: A slight defensive lean makes the most sense, should the board support it.
Grading Chiefs’ Addition of Kaiir Elam | Sports Illustrated
While Elam’s newest contract terms haven’t surfaced, it’s safe to assume that the Chiefs gave him a lot less than he was expecting. He signed nearly a month into free agency and Kansas City waited for the market to reveal itself before reeling in Elam, the 23rd-overall pick in the 2022 draft.
The fourth cornerback taken in 2022, after Derek Stingley, Sauce Gardner and McDuffie, Elam’s career hasn’t followed a similar path.
The grade: B
But for what the Chiefs likely spent on him, knowing the competition he’ll create makes Kansas City better, and considering the huge hole at the position, the signing gets a decent grade.
Kansas City Chiefs Are Primed For A Bounceback | Fantasy Life
Crossover Appeal
Xavier Worthy also got a mention this week, and it had to do with how his role was altered after he suffered a torn labrum in the early going of the Chiefs’ opener against the Chargers in Brazil. Not wanting him to suffer reinjury, Worthy was not asked to run as many routes over the middle as he had in 2024. With his 4.21 speed not able to be utilized on these routes to get hit in stride and make plays, Worthy’s season was a letdown.
Getting Worthy at least a couple looks a game where he has the ball in his hands and is running at top speed can be scary to a defense. And fun for fantasy managers. That could also up his targets per route run, which topped 20% in just three full games he played last season.
With Mahomes already throwing about three months after his reconstructive knee surgery, there is room for optimism in KC.
Around the NFL
Jaguars sign pass rusher Travon Walker to four-year, $110 million contract extension | NFL.com
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft is locking it in with the Jaguars on a long-term deal.
Jacksonville is signing Travon Walker to a four-year, $110 million contract that includes $77 million in total guarantees and $50 million fully guaranteed at signing, per Walker’s agency. The team has since announced agreeing to terms.
His $27.5 million in average annual salary on the extension places him 12th among edge rushers, per Over the Cap, three spots behind teammate Josh Hines-Allen ($28.3 million).
Walker has posted two double-digit sack seasons over his four years in Duval, with 27.5 career sacks, 57 quarterback hits and 200 tackles.
Poles, Bears chairman George McCaskey and president/CEO Kevin Warren made their appeal in person at the league office in New York. The Bears argued that, under Resolution JC-2A, a diversity-driven provision to distribute draft picks to franchises that develop minority personnel into head coaches and GMs, they were entitled to the compensation in the policy’s spirit and intent.
However, the NFL confirmed that it considers Atlanta’s primary football executive to be Matt Ryan, who was hired by the Falcons earlier this offseason to their newly created position of president of football.
“I think we made a pretty compelling case,” McCaskey said Wednesday at the NFL’s annual league meetings in Phoenix.
Cunningham handled all of his team’s GM duties at the spring meeting, similar to many of his counterparts. Plus, as Bears fans adamantly pointed out, Cunningham was the Falcons’ representative in the annual GM photo. Ryan, his supervisor, was not.
ESPN owns NFL Network; now what? | Pro Football Talk
For years, the NFL had tried to unload NFL Network onto a broadcast partner. ESPN eventually bit, giving the league a 10-percent stake in the four-letter network in exchange for NFLN and other media assets.
The transition happened on Wednesday, April 1. So now what?
It remains to be seen. NFL Network will have, at least for 2026, its own draft coverage. And all NFLN employees with remaining time on their contracts have become ESPN employees. When those contracts expire, all bets are off.
As it relates to programming, NFLN becomes a spillover option. Already, NFL Network will handle a pair of UFL games that were due to be televised by one of the ESPN networks. NFL Network could, in theory, become a landing spot for other content, such as college football games.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
NFL will not discipline Chiefs’ Rashee Rice after closing investigation
The news virtually erases any speculation of Rice’s availability for the coming season, but that’s the extent of what it tells us about the nearly-26-year-old receiver and his future in Kansas City past 2026.
Rice is scheduled to enter unrestricted free agency next offseason. The team’s willingness to extend him before he hits the open market was likely not affected by the closed investigation.
Only the organization and its top decision makers can determine if Rice should be a long-term player for the Chiefs, not the league’s investigation or a civil lawsuit, which is likely still active.
Regardless, Kansas City is slated to have its most proven receiver available for the 2026 season opener. Whether or not quarterback Patrick Mahomes is back then, the floor of the Chiefs’ offense is raised when Rice is on the field.
From The Feed
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
