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Why Chiefs must prioritize pass rush help for Chris Jones | ESPN
“He’s developed into a great leader,” defensive line coach Joe Cullen said in October. “In the meeting rooms, he’s explaining to guys things I may be [going over], saying, ‘Hey Coach, can I give a point here?’ After practice, he’s working with the guys and coaching them up.”
In March and April, the Chiefs will have a chance to acquire a pass rusher or two to put alongside Jones.
The Chiefs could target Boye Mafe, the Seattle Seahawks defensive
end who recorded two sacks and four quarterback hits as a backup this past season. Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the Chiefs were interested in acquiring Mafe before the 2025 trade deadline. One reason was because of his production over the past two seasons: 15 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Other players the Chiefs might target are defensive end Jaelan Phillips (Philadelphia Eagles), defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers (Denver Broncos) and defensive end Kwity Paye (Indianapolis Colts).
With the ninth pick in the draft, the Chiefs could prioritize bolstering the defensive end position by selecting a top prospect such as Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. or Texas Tech’s David Bailey.
Terry Bradshaw on Kansas City Chiefs doubters: ‘Critics are idiots’ | Awful Announcing
“In the NFL, as a broadcaster, I get tired of the same old, ‘Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver and the Rams and 49ers,’ I thought the Seattle story was a really good story,” Bradshaw said. “It was good to see defense come back and dominate…and Sam Darnold just never got any respect, he’s Rodney Dangerfield…I was happy for him.”
And while Bradshaw may have enjoyed seeing two surprise teams run through the NFL playoffs, he’s not ready to count the usual suspects out next season.
“I was reading this morning about Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs and ‘has he lost it.’ And I’m like, are you kidding me? He went to five Super Bowls in six years and they’re going, ‘Has he lost it?’ Lost what? I’ll tell you what he lost, he lost a lot of players to injuries. Critics are just idiots. Idiots, man. They have no idea what they’re talking about.”
NFL rookie report cards: Grading and ranking every team’s 2025 draft class | NFL.com
Rank 20: Kansas City Chiefs
Grade: B-
Analysis: Neither Josh Simmons nor Nohl Williams eclipsed 50 percent of the Chiefs’ offensive/defensive snaps in Year 1, but both impressed in abbreviated fashion. Having entered the draft with a recently torn patellar tendon, Simmons fell to the end of Round 1, where the Chiefs happily scooped up a potential steal. A Day 1 starter on Patrick Mahomes’ blind side, Simmons looked the part, yielding just one sack in the first five games of the season, per PFF. But then he missed four games while tending to a family matter. After returning to the starting lineup in mid-November, Simmons continued to thrive … until a wrist injury ended his season on Thanksgiving. I remain high on Simmons’ raw talent, but he’s not gaining fans in the “availability is the best ability” crowd. Williams, on the other hand, was active for all 17 games, though his defensive snap totals varied during the first three months of the season. Then he received steady burn at outside corner in the last five games of the season — starting the final four — and performed well, recording four pass breakups, four tackles for loss and a sack in that closing stretch. With a number of Chiefs defensive backs hitting free agency this offseason, Williams could become a full-time starter in 2026.
2026 NFL predictions: Super Bowl LXI picks, MVP candidates | ESPN
Make one more big prediction about this offseason or next season.
Moody: Running back Travis Etienne Jr. will sign with the Chiefs during free agency. Etienne would be intriguing as a proven, versatile back who has surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in three of his four healthy seasons, including 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns in 2025. His ability to contribute as both a runner and receiver (5,136 career all-purpose yards with 32 touchdowns) would boost a Chiefs backfield that averaged less 4.0 yards per carry last season and failed to produce a running back with at least 200 receiving yards.
Several Local Prospects Invited to 2026 NFL Scouting Combine | The Mothership
First, here are the players from local universities who were invited to the event:
Missouri: WR Kevin Coleman Jr., DT Chris McClellan, DB Toriano Pride Jr., OL Keagen Trost, LB Josiah Trotter, EDGE Zion Young
Kansas: QB Jalon Daniels, WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr.
Kansas State: OL Sam Hecht, DB VJ Payne
Additionally, several players who attended local high schools were invited to this year’s Scouting Combine:
Wyoming TE John Michael Gyllenborg (Rockhurst High School)
Iowa OL Beau Stephens (Blue Springs High School)
Texas A&M EDGE Cashius Howell (Rockhurst High School)
Iowa State DT Domonique Orange (North Kansas City High School)
Arizona State LB Keyshaun Elliott (Richmond High School)
Oregon WR Malik Benson (Lansing High School)
Tennessee TE Miles Kitselman (Lyndon High School)
Around the NFL
Derek Carr potential landing spots: Four future teams if QB decides to unretire | NFL.com
Nine months later, momentum appears to be building toward a possible return to the NFL for the four-time Pro Bowler. NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Super Bowl Sunday that Carr could possibly unretire for the 2026 season if he encounters an interested party (or parties) with the right situation and coaching staff.
In an offseason that won’t include many quality options under center, Carr would instantly land at or near the top of the list. One fit with his old team, the Las Vegas Raiders, comes to mind given his history with new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak (Kubiak was the Saints OC in 2024) and Carr’s familiarity with the franchise, but because the Raiders are expected to draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in April, that reunion seems unlikely.
With this in mind, let’s explore a few potential landing spots for the signal-caller, who turns 35 this March.
Joey Porter: Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t good teammate, person | ESPN
“[Harrison] broke the brotherhood,” Porter said. “Then 7 [Roethlisberger] definitely broke the brotherhood. Out of anybody that should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steeler business. Because if we talk Steelers business, his a– is foul of all foul. The s— that he did is foul of all foul. He’s not a good teammate.
“Won the Super Bowl with him, but the person, he’s just not a good teammate. He knows that. Anybody in the Steelers building knows that, but we protected him because I’ve only won one Super Bowl and that was my quarterback. So do I love my quarterback? Yeah, but is he a good person? No.”
Appearing on Cameron Heyward’s podcast, “Not Just Football,” from radio row, Porter didn’t mince words about Harrison or Roethlisberger. Porter and Roethlisberger were teammates for three seasons, and the pair won Super Bowl XL together. During that stretch, Porter was a team captain, and he told Heyward that he was particularly frustrated by some of Roethlisberger’s actions as a rookie.
In one instance, Roethlisberger refused to sign memorabilia for teammates’ families, something that was common practice in the locker room, Porter said.
Super Bowl LX draws 124.9 million viewers, Bad Bunny 128.2 million | The Athletic
In a slight dip from last year’s record-breaking audience numbers, Super Bowl LX generated an average of 124.9 million viewers across NBC’s platforms where it was broadcast or streamed. That is down 2.8 million from last year, which set the mark for most-watched Super Bowl ever. It still ranks Sunday’s game as the second-most-watched show in U.S. history.
In the second quarter, the game reached 137.8 million viewers, the highest peak viewership in U.S. television history.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show reached 128.2 million people, down 5.3 million viewers from Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show last year, the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show ever. Named the most-streamed artist by Spotify in 2025, Bad Bunny performed his Spanish-language songs and highlighted Puerto Rican culture, including lively, joyful choreography and featuring a couple legally married during the made-for-TV performance.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
REPORT: Chiefs will hire DeMarco Murray as running backs coach
According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, the Chiefs will be hiring DeMarco Murray, the former NFL running back who has been on staff at the University of Oklahoma as running backs coach since 2020. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported Murray as an emerging candidate earlier on Wednesday evening.
After a seven-year NFL career that featured three Pro Bowl seasons and a 2014 campaign worthy of the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year award for the Dallas Cowboys, Murray spent one season analyzing college football in 2018 before joining the coaching staff at the University of Arizona.
He quickly moved on in his coaching journey to his alma mater, Oklahoma, where he was once a first-team All-Big 12 running back and developed into a third-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
At the age of 30, Murray retired from the NFL with 7,174 career rushing yards and 49 career rushing touchdowns, and he will be 38 years old in his first season as an NFL coach.
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