The latest
Albert Breer’s 2026 NFL Draft Needs for Every Team Reveal a Compelling Theme | Sports Illustrated
Kansas City Chiefs
First round: Nos. 9, 29
Total picks: 9
Needs: CB, WR Edge, OT, S
What you need to know: Like the Giants and Jets, it’s fair to look at the top of the Chiefs draft, with three of the first 40 picks as part of the equation, as a mosaic. They’d like to infuse some youth into the defense and add a playmaker, and I wouldn’t overlook tackle as a need—both because maybe they aren’t quite sure
they can trust Josh Simmons yet, and because Jaylon Moore is in a contract year. So with that in mind, there’ll be a pool of players they’ll consider at 9 that I believe will include Tate, Tyson, Utah OT Spencer Fano, Bain, Delane and Downs. But the name that’s most intriguing to me is Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq, whom the Chiefs have discussed. I’m not sure if they’d take him at 9, or want him in a trade-down scenario, but he’d fit as a Travis Kelce successor, and might have as good a shot as anyone in the draft to be the focal point of some team’s passing game.
2026 NFL draft intel, notes: What Adam Schefter is hearing | ESPN
Chiefs cornering the market
The Chiefs have three top-40 picks (Nos. 9, 29 and 40), and many expect at least one of those to be used on a cornerback. Kansas City traded Trent McDuffie to the Rams, lost Jaylen Watson to the same team in free agency and is now left with its projected starting cornerbacks as Kristian Fulton and second-year player Nohl Williams.
At last month’s owners meetings, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid praised the play of Williams, who played 44% of the snaps last season; the team believes in him. But the Chiefs also have holes at the position that are expected to be addressed this week.
Kansas City Chiefs’ 7-round 2026 mock draft predictions | The Athletic
Round 1, No. 9: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State
Also considered: Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson, USC WR Makai Lemon, LSU CB Mansoor Delane
This is not who I would pick, but it is a direction I could see the Chiefs going after the top three edge rushers and receiver Carnell Tate already off the board.
My issue isn’t with Downs, the player. By all accounts, he has some of the cleanest tape in the draft and could help the Chiefs fill the leadership void created when they traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams.
My argument would be all about positional value. There are only three NFL safeties who earn $20 million or more per year, per Over the Cap’s data. Compare that to receiver (22 players) and edge rusher (19 players), and you can see that the NFL has made clear which positions move the needle most when it comes to dollars spent for on-field impact.
This sort of evaluation is why Downs ranks 46th on Kevin Cole’s analytical big board. Even in a perfect world, you’re getting impact that is slightly better than the No. 9 pick’s four-year, $31 million salary, with potentially no ability to hit the jackpot if the player exceeds expectations.
Louisville draft prospect describes what a Chiefs top-30 draft visit is like | The Kansas City Star
Recently, the Chiefs hosted Louisville defensive tackle Rene Konga, who is currently projected to come off the board on Day 3 (Rounds 4 through 7).
About Rene Konga
Konga is a 6-foot-3, 298-pound defensive tackle who played four years at Rutgers before transferring to Louisville in 2024. He spent the first of his two seasons at Louisville as a teammate of current Chiefs defensive end Ashton Gillotte.
“We have a good relationship,” Konga said in a phone interview with The Star. “Ash and I talk probably like once a week, if anything. We talked around the time of my visit, before my visit or whatnot, and then we play video games together. We used to watch film together back in Louisville. We lived in the same apartment building back in Louisville, so we (were) at each other’s house all the time.”
During Chiefs general manager Brett Veach’s pre-draft press conference, he spoke about signing defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga in free agency. But the GM was candid that he’d like to add two more defensive linemen before Kansas City gets into the thick of its offseason program.
Konga grew up playing basketball, and his football journey has included stops at defensive back, linebacker, defensive end and now defensive tackle. The prospect says he likely derives his explosiveness from playing hoops.
Chiefs Begin “Phase 1” of the Offseason Training Program | The Mothership
The Kansas City Chiefs took one step closer to football on Monday as the team kicked off the voluntary offseason training program at the team facility.
“Phase 1” of the program, which spans two weeks, is limited to meetings, strength training, conditioning, and physical rehabilitation before the on-field work begins in mid-May. Additionally, in contrast to recent years, this portion of the program will take place at the team facility rather than virtually.
“We’re fired up to get the guys back in the building. We had a nice turnout today, which I appreciate,” said Head Coach Andy Reid. “This is a time when the players can meet with their coaches and lift weights. There’re no coaches on the field, but the [players] can go out and throw – the receivers and quarterbacks.”
Chiefs Hall of Famer Nick Lowery writes book about overcoming rejection | KMBC 9
Nick Lowery built a résumé that stretches far beyond football.
A two-time All-Pro kicker, member of the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame, Harvard MBA graduate and advisor who has worked with multiple U.S. presidents, Lowery’s career is marked by success, but also by setbacks.
“Eleven rejections by eight NFL teams. The Jets cut me twice,” Lowery said.
Those early struggles helped inspire his new book, Naked and Alone with 80,000 People, a project he said took more than two decades to complete.
“It took me 24 years to write it,” he said.
The title reflects the pressure-filled moments athletes, and people in all walks of life, experience when everything is on the line.
Around the NFL
Jimmy Garoppolo is reportedly considering retirement | Pro Football Talk
Earlier this month, free-agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was reportedly “weighing a few options.”
One of those options includes not playing for anyone.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Garoppolo is considering retirement.
Garoppolo, 34, was a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2014. Traded to the 49ers, Garoppolo became the starter immediately. He signed after his first season a contract that made him, at the time, the highest-paid player in the NFL.
After the 2022 season, Garoppolo signed with the Raiders as a free agent. He then went to the Rams for 2024 and 2025.
Sources: Odell Beckham Jr. works out for Giants, takes physical | ESPN
The New York Giants had free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in for a workout and physical with the team Monday, sources told ESPN.
While a return to New York remains a possibility, no signing appears imminent, according to a source. It seems likely the Giants will wait to see how the draft pans out later this week.
Beckham, 33, has expressed a desire to play this season, and wants a return to the team that drafted him in 2014 out of LSU. He even met with Giants ownership and new coach John Harbaugh several weeks back at the NFL’s annual meetings to state his case.
The Giants have been open to a potential reunion and wanted to see how Beckham looked in person before proceeding. The 2014-16 Pro Bowl receiver has been training this offseason in Arizona.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Brett Veach believes in Chiefs’ environment for those who love football
“Learning over the years that we do have a great environment here,” Veach admitted. “If anyone is going to get the best out of any player, it’s going to be here, but even some of those players, it’s hard. I think just making sure we’re tweaking that process, and making sure we’ve identified the right players.”
“Nobody’s going to be perfect, you’re not going to always get Pat Mahomes and Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith in regards to just mental makeup,” Veach pointed out. “But the guys that you do ‘roll the dice’ for, the plan the approach, just working on that over the years.”
As Kansas City sets its sights on the 2026 NFL Draft, Veach hammered a point home that will be crucial to making the most of the nine picks available to the team this upcoming weekend.
“The mistakes you make are [on] guys that, at the end of the day, they just don’t love football,” Veach emphasized. “Even though you thought you were going to change them, you didn’t. I think that’s one of those things that we try to do better with that process… making sure we’re looking for the right traits and characteristics that do lend [themselves] to future change.”
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