GM Brett Veach continues to make moves to support the short- and long-term vision for the organization. He continues to balance winning now and setting the team up for future success. It’s been a busy offseason, with the potential for more work to be done.

Here are five thoughts about the news of the offseason, what has been done to this point, and what could be done in the future.

The significance of the Mahomes extension

The best news that Chiefs fans received all summer came when the team announced an extension for Mahomes that keeps him in Kansas City through his age 38 season.

Mahomes then one-upped that news by expressing his desire to be here for the duration of his career.

I don’t know if there were a ton of doubts that Mahomes wanted to remain with the team that drafted him, but the organization will be seeing a lot of changes over the next few years. It seems likely that he will be losing Travis Kelce following the 2026 season. Andy Reid would be 75 when the extension expires.

It seems unlikely that Reid will see the contract through. There will be significant changes that occur in this organization during Mahomes’ 30s. He will be the one leading this team into a new era — and a new stadium that doesn’t get built without his incredible contributions to the organization.

Another move coming?

The Chiefs were clearly motivated to get something done with Mahomes. Getting the extension complete in early June was a surprise — not traditionally the timeline in which they get deals finalized.

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It was a busy week for Kansas City sports, headlined by a flurry of activity out of Arrowhead before the Chiefs go dark until training camp. Here is where things stand heading into the weekend.

Chiefs Check-in: A Historic Week to Close Out the Offseason

This is the time of year when much of the Chiefs’ brass typically steps away for a much-needed vacation, and the next time we see them will be in St. Joseph, MO, for the start of training camp on a date to be determined in late July. But before checking out, Kansas City made sure to close out the offseason with a bang.

The Chiefs wrapped up mandatory minicamp Tuesday through Thursday, and the news came fast. Kansas City brought back cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who was traded to the Tennessee Titans two years ago. First-round rookies Mansoor Delane and Peter Woods signed their contracts, completing the 2026 draft class. Patrick Mahomes became the first half-billion-dollar quarterback in NFL history, signing a two-year extension worth $504.75 million that locks him in through the 2033 season, his age-38 season. And the Chiefs dealt swing tackle Wanya Morris to the Atlanta Falcons in a late-round pick swap.

As for minicamp itself, Mahomes continued his recovery from ACL and LCL surgery, participating with a brace on his left knee. Head coach Andy Reid sounded encouraged throughout the week, noting that Mahomes has been on a steady climb and projects to be able to do some things when training camp opens. The goal remains Week 1.

“I love what he did this offseason, the way he attacked the rehab,” Reid said. “He’s on course to take these next few days and get ready for camp.”

Delane, the top pick of the draft, was held out of minicamp with a shoulder injury but is expected to be ready for training camp. Reid noted that the rest of the rookie class has impressed, praising their aptitude and ability to pick things up quickly.

A notable subplot of the week was the buzz surrounding the wide receiver depth chart and a potential competition at right tackle among Jaylon Moore, Esa Pole, and possibly Kahlil Benson. Reid had plenty of good things to say about all three. On the injury front, Xavier Worthy and Jaden Hicks were limited to non-contact work, though Worthy is expected to be full-go by training camp following January shoulder surgery.

This is it for Chiefs football until late July. The next time they are all together, the pads will soon be cracking.

Want More Free Chiefs Content?

We are now partnered with Minute Media to serve as the publisher for “OnSI” to bring bigger and better-written Chiefs coverage. If you want to read breakdowns and instant analysis from talented writers such as Joshua Brisco and Jordan Foote, check out Kansas City Chiefs OnSI.

Royals Report: Pitching and Caglianone Carries KC to a Winning Week

The Royals managed to stay above water this week, going 4-3 against the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers to move to 28-41 on the season.

Kansas City took three of four from the Twins to open the week and looked to be building something before dropping the series against the Rangers. The story of the week, however, was Jac Caglianone, who was as hot as anyone in baseball over a four-game stretch. The outfielder slashed .692/.714/1.231 with nine hits and two home runs.

On the mound, Noah Cameron was outstanding, tossing six scoreless innings in his start. Luinder Avila, Stephen Kolek, and Seth Lugo each allowed just one run in their respective outings, making it a quietly solid week for the rotation.

The Royals will stay busy heading into next week, hosting three against the Houston Astros before hitting the road to face the Washington Nationals and returning home to open a three-game set against the Cardinals on Thursday.

KCSNU

Kansas Baseball’s Historic Run Comes to an End

The fun came to an end in Lawrence.

Kansas Baseball’s bid for its first College World Series appearance since the early 1990s was stopped by former Big 12 rival Oklahoma, which swept the Jayhawks in the Super Regionals, 8-1 and 13-2.

It was a resounding finish for the Sooners, but it does not take away from what Dan Fitzgerald’s program accomplished. Kansas finished the season with 45 wins, matching the 1993 College World Series squad and putting together what may stand as the best season in program history. Reaching the Super Regionals for the first time was a milestone, and doing it with a home regional and home Super Regional only added to the story.

The run is over, but the bar has been raised in Lawrence.

No. 1 Prospect in the State Stays Home for Kansas State

Kansas State made a strong statement in recruiting this week, landing a commitment from Cooper Ohnmacht, the No. 1 prospect in the state of Kansas and the 10th-ranked athlete in the country. The four-star recruit chose the Wildcats over Penn State, Wisconsin, and others.

Ohnmacht is a versatile 6-foot, 185-pound prospect who projects as a safety at the next level, though his production as a receiver offers flexibility. He finished the season with 57 tackles alongside 52 catches for 755 yards and is a two-time 5A state champion in the triple jump. Keeping the top in-state prospect home is a significant win for coach Collin Klein’s program.

Tigers Land Premier 2027 Wide Receiver

Missouri added a premier piece to its 2027 recruiting class this week, landing wide receiver Lawrence Britt out of Memphis. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound prospect chose the Tigers over Clemson, Florida, Texas Tech, and others following a visit to Columbia last weekend.

“The visit was great,” Britt told Missouri OnSI. “It left us blown away again.”

Britt wrapped up his junior season with 44 catches for 696 yards and 12 touchdowns and was the No. 12-ranked recruit out of Tennessee. It is another strong addition for Eli Drinkwitz as the Tigers continue to build toward 2027.

What to Watch This Week

Royals (28-41)

• Three at home vs. Houston Astros (31-39)

• Three on the road vs. Washington Nationals (35-34)

• Series opener Thursday at home vs. St. Louis Cardinals (37-29)

The headline of the week was Mahomes signing a two-year extension worth $504.75 million, making him the first player in NFL history with a contract valued at more than half a billion dollars and locking him in with the Chiefs through 2033, his age-38 season. As he posted on social media, he is “excited to be here for life,” and that should be music to Chiefs Kingdom’s ears.

“Over the last decade, Patrick has become one of the most iconic, beloved sports figures of all time,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement issued by the team. “He has helped lead our franchise to five Super Bowl appearances and three championships, he has been instrumental in shaping the Chiefs brand and putting Kansas City on the world stage, and on top of it all, he has been an outstanding role model in the community. Patrick is a generational talent and an elite human being, and I’m so excited he will continue to lead our team into the future.”

Entering his 10th season, Mahomes is a surefire Hall of Famer. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time league MVP, and a six-time Pro Bowler. Despite sitting out his rookie year, he is already 22nd all-time with 267 passing touchdowns, 33rd all-time in passing yards with 35,939, and fifth all-time in passer rating.

The playoff numbers are even more staggering. He is second all-time in postseason wins with 17 and touchdown passes with 46, trailing only Tom Brady in both categories, and currently leads all-time in postseason passer rating. He is sixth all-time in playoff passing yards, and he has played in fewer games than every quarterback above him on that list.

He is still the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards per game at 285.2, and if he plays long enough, the career records will get in line with his playoff ones. All, most likely, in red and gold.

Last season was the first blemish on an otherwise spotless career. It was his first year missing the playoffs as a starter and, more notably, his first year not reaching the AFC Championship Game.

When he went down against the Chargers, the Chiefs were 6-7 and attempting a game-winning drive. Even if they had pulled it off and moved to 7-7, making the playoffs would have been a long shot, if everyone inside Chiefs Kingdom was being honest.

Still, 2025 cannot all be placed on Mahomes. The offensive line remained a roller coaster, and the wide receiving unit was far from cohesive. What stands out from that season, though, is that despite playing just 14 games, a career low, Mahomes rushed for a career-high 422 yards. That number tells you more about how much he was carrying than any passing stat could.

Now the focus shifts to his recovery, and by all accounts, it is going exactly as you would hope. Head coach Andy Reid has been candid throughout OTAs and minicamp about what he has seen.

“I love what he did this offseason, the way he attacked the rehab,” Reid said to reporters. “He’s on course to take these next few days and get ready for camp.”

When asked if he could project a timeline, Reid was measured but optimistic.

“It looks like he’s going to be able to do some things during camp,” Reid said to reporters. “He did it out here, so I would presume in 40 days he’ll be even better than that. You go through peaks and valleys in rehabs where you might plateau for a little bit, and you don’t ever know when those are going to take place, but so far it’s been a pretty steady climb up the hill.”

Reid also made clear that the goal remains Week 1, but that Justin Fields is there if needed. Mahomes, for his part, has not wavered on where his head is at.

“That’s always going to be the goal,” Mahomes said of playing Week 1. “I don’t want to miss games. As a competitor and as a football player, I want to be there. I know it’s still a long ways away … All I can do is be great today and then continue to be great tomorrow, but I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten to because of that mindset.”

He also addressed the mental side of recovery, which has been as much a part of the process as the physical side.

“Especially at the beginning, there was things that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do yet, so those days were hard,” Mahomes said to reporters. “I always look back at the week – we’ll take some videos; I look at the week prior, and I’m making progress. I think as long as I am making progress, I have to continue to just do that.

Even though it might not be the perfect thing to do, I have to just keep reminding myself that I am making progress, I am getting better. You have to push yourself through those days. It’s not always perfect; it’s hard days, and you have to push yourself through because you know the end goal is where you’re trying to get to, and that’s just kind of how I am.”

Reid was asked a few weeks ago after an OTA practice whether he expected Mahomes to be this far along. His answer was telling.

“I don’t want to put anything past him,” Reid said. “People say, ‘Is he ahead of schedule?’ Who made the schedule? Everybody is different, and the way he goes about it is different.”

The résumé speaks for itself. If anyone was going to be the first half-billion-dollar quarterback, it was always going to be him, whether that be by his play or the way he has attacked his rehab following his first season-ending injury.

In 2026, that unit as a whole is going through a significant change. They’ve added top 10 pick Mansoor Delane, brought in Alohi Gilman to be a veteran leader in the secondary, brought L’Jarius Sneed back in the mix, and expect major growth from second-year corner Nohl Williams. It’s a lot of moving parts, but we also forgot to mention one name in that long list, and it might be the player that has the most impact in 2026; Kader Kohou.

Kohou is coming off a missed season in which he was recovering from an ACL injury, but his previous three years were nothing short of promising. He was quickly working his way up the “slot corner” rankings in the NFL while playing with the Miami Dolphins and was coming off a high-quality 2024 season. Obviously, returning from injury leads to some questions, but if Kohou can return to his previous level of play, he is not someone to gloss over during this secondary rebuild.

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Players who develop on a rookie contract are often the best value for their teams. This is especially true when those players are getting a significant percentage of the team snaps, because rookie contracts are very small compared to starting veterans. What this means is that teams who can draft players and get them on the field quickly have an advantage on teams that cannot develop players as quickly.

This week, I am writing about players in their first four years of the NFL. This analysis will include their first year, not just years 2-4. It will not include 5^th year options for first rounders, because that adds a whole extra layer of complexity for very little value add, in my opinion.

This graphic looks at meaningful contributors/starters across the entire rookie contract (first four years, ignores 5^th year options). Please do note that the definition for “starter” here is not the same one as I used last week! Since we are no longer limiting ourselves to rookies only, the definition that worked for first year players no longer works. Instead, the definition now is any player who played 50% or more of the team snaps during the regular season in games that player played.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OVERLAND PARK, KS — June 8, 2026 — KC Sports Network (KCSN) today proudly announced an exciting new media partnership with the KC Diamonds, the highly anticipated professional softball team coming to Kansas City.

Under the agreement, KCSN’s women’s sports program, Sports and SHEnanigans — hosted by Jillian Carroll-Letrinko — will become the “Official Podcast of the KC Diamonds”.

The arrival of the KC Diamonds marks a historic milestone for regional sports, bringing professional fast-pitch softball to one of the most passionate and dedicated sports communities in the United States. Through this partnership, KCSN will help connect fans directly with the players and coaches with a front-row seat to the team’s inaugural season.

What Fans Can Expect This Season

• Exclusive Insider Access: Regular, recurring interviews with KC Diamonds players, coaching staff, and front-office executives.

• Unmatched Multi-Platform Content: Original analysis, breaking updates, and behind-the-scenes perspectives that can’t be found anywhere else.

• Community & Corporate Synergy: Dedicated segments designed to highlight and support local businesses and sponsors that are stepping up to back the Diamonds.

“We are thrilled to welcome professional softball to Kansas City and to position KCSN at the forefront of its coverage,” said BJ Kissel, Co-Founder and CEO of KC Sports Network. “Jillian [Carroll Letrinko] and Sports and SHEnanigans have built a trusted platform for women’s sports in Kansas City, and partnering with the Diamonds allows us to showcase these world-class athletes while leveraging our network’s massive digital reach to support the local businesses that make this possible.”

New episodes of Sports and SHEnanigans covering the KC Diamonds will be available across all major podcast streaming platforms—including Apple Podcasts and Spotify—as well as video broadcasts at KCSN.com.

About KC Sports Network

Founded in 2021, KC Sports Network (KCSN) is an independent digital sports media company dedicated to delivering trusted news, in-depth analysis, and original coverage of Kansas City sports. Built by experienced content creators, KCSN’s full-scale digital footprint spans written reporting, podcasts, video, and community initiatives to inform, educate, and engage sports fans across the region.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE KC DIAMONDS BY CLICKING HERE!

Media Contacts

Sports and SHEnanigans

• Name: Jillian Carroll Letrinko

• Email: hello@sportsandshenanigans.com

KC Sports Network

• Name: BJ Kissel

• Email: bj@kcsn.com

KC Diamonds

• Name: Keaton Day

• Email: keaton@gamedaypartnerships.com

###

Cornerback is just one of several needs on this team that you could make an argument for. The current state of the roster seems to be focused around banking on young, unproven, and inexperienced players to fill gaps.

The salary cap situation does not lend itself to being able to fill every need they have. It would make sense, however, for the Chiefs to address at least a couple of them.

Here are five needs to the Chiefs still have as we head into the summer months.

Cornerback

The need: a proven veteran to raise the floor of the room

The Chiefs have some intriguing pieces to the cornerback room with rookie Mansoor Delane and Nohl Williams. Veteran Kristian Fulton showed promise when healthy at the end of the year.

The reliance on the continued ascent of the young cornerbacks plus the oft-injured Fulton could work out well for the team in the ideal scenario. The interest in Sneed makes sense because of his familiarity in the defense and a track record of success within the scheme.

He wouldn’t necessarily have to play a full time role in Kansas City, but could be a good fallback if things fall apart for the three previously mentioned cornerbacks.

Wide receiver

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For the first time in program history, Kansas Baseball is headed to the Super Regionals. The Chiefs wrapped up another round of OTAs, while the Royals continue searching for consistency after another difficult stretch. Here’s where things stand heading into the weekend.

Chiefs Check-in: OTA Wrap-up Notebook

The Chiefs wrapped up their second round of Organized Team Activities this week.

The biggest takeaway remains quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ continued participation just over five months removed from ACL and LCL surgery. Mahomes practiced with a brace on his left knee and, according to reports, participated in 7-on-7 work but not 11-on-11 drills, presumably to avoid unnecessary traffic around the recovering knee.

There wasn’t much in the way of major news, but several assistant coaches provided insight into some of the team’s newest additions.

New running backs coach DeMarco Murray had plenty of praise for second-round defensive end R Mason Thomas, whom he coached at Oklahoma, at least according to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Murray’s familiarity with Thomas appears to have reinforced Kansas City’s belief that they had landed the right player off the edge.

Special teams coordinator Dave Toub also offered a glimpse into how the Chiefs view some of their rookies. Toub said fourth-round defensive back Jadon Canady projects as a four-phase special teams contributor from day one and noted that fifth-round running back Emmett Johnson is already getting looks as a return specialist.

Speaking of the backfield, Murray praised the professionalism of newly acquired Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, while offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy described Walker as “a hard worker” and highlighted his competitive nature on the field, in his studies and in the weight room.

A few players were absent from practice. Tight ends Jake Briningstool and John Michael Gyllenborg, along with defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott, did not participate. Safety Jaden Hicks and wide receiver Xavier Worthy were present but working in non-contact roles, according to reports.

The Chiefs will hold mandatory minicamp June 9-11 before breaking until training camp in St. Joseph later this summer.

Want More Free Chiefs Content?

We are now partnered with Minute Media to serve as the publisher for “OnSI” to bring bigger and better-written Chiefs coverage. If you want to read breakdowns and instant analysis from talented writers such as Herbie Teope, Joshua Brisco, and Jordan Foote, check out Kansas City Chiefs OnSI.

Royals Report: KC Salvages Sweep After Taking Reds Series

The Royals continue to battle uphill.

Since last Friday’s recap, Kansas City has gone 2-4 and now sits at 24-38 on the season.

After being swept by the Texas Rangers over the weekend, the Royals bounced back Monday with a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone, and Lane Thomas each collected two hits, while Caglianone and Thomas homered. Luinder Avila earned his first victory of the season after allowing just one run over five innings.

Tuesday looked like it would bring another win. Noah Cameron turned in seven innings of one-run baseball while striking out eight and exiting after only 87 pitches. Unfortunately for Kansas City, the game unraveled after he left, and the Royals suffered another loss, this one in extra innings after blowing a 3-1 lead.

The club responded Wednesday, however, securing a series victory behind Stephen Kolek’s seven innings of two-run baseball. Vinnie Pasquantino led the offense with two hits, including a home run, in a 5-2 victory.

Taking a series from a winning Cincinnati club certainly qualifies as a positive step, even if the overall record continues to lag behind.

KCSNU

Kansas Baseball Keeps Making History

The hottest team in the region remains Kansas Baseball.

After winning the Big 12 Tournament, the Jayhawks carried that momentum into the NCAA Tournament, sweeping through the Lawrence Regional.

Kansas opened with a 6-3 victory over Northeastern before defeating Arkansas twice, 5-3 and 13-10, to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

The news got even better.

When Oklahoma eliminated No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech, it ensured the Jayhawks would host the Super Regional round in Lawrence.

Kansas now sits just two wins away from its first College World Series appearance since 1993. While the current Super Regional format did not exist at the time, this marks the deepest postseason run in modern program history.

The Jayhawks will host the Sooners, a former Big 12 rival, in a best-of-three series beginning Saturday.

What to Watch This Week

Chiefs

• Mandatory minicamp: June 9-11

Royals (24-38)

• Finish road trip with series against the Minnesota Twins (29-34)

• Return home for six games against the Texas Rangers (30-32) and Houston Astros (28-35)

Kansas Baseball (45-16)

• Super Regional vs. Oklahoma (36-22)

  • Saturday: 5 p.m. CT

  • Sunday: 5 p.m. CT

  • Monday: TBD, if necessary

Inside the locker room, though, the reception has been anything but mixed, and nobody spoke to Bieniemy’s impact more pointedly than Patrick Mahomes.

“There’s a standard that you have to practice with, and you have to play with,” Mahomes said. “He’s (Bieniemy) going to hold you to that standard, no matter who you are. From the first guy to the 90th guy right now, he’s going to hold you to that standard. I think that’s something; it’s hard to replicate, I think that’s the best way to say it.”

He added that the impact is felt well beyond the practice field. “That first meeting had me wanting to run through a brick wall,” Mahomes said. “It had me ready to go.”

Following Matt Nagy’s departure, some viewed it as more of the same. It was not an unfair reaction on its face, but there is a distinct difference between the two.

Nagy had been the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2017 before returning in 2022 and taking over the play-calling duties in 2023, following Bieniemy’s departure from his initial stint as OC from 2018 to 2022. In his second run, the offense peaked at ninth in the league and finished 16th and 20th over the past two seasons.

Many factors were out of Nagy’s control, including an unstable wide receiver group and Travis Kelce’s slight decline, and it should be noted that his offense won a Super Bowl and reached another. But there is no doubt it had grown stale.

For much of Bieniemy’s first tenure, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Kelce were in their prime, and the offense was truly elite. That does, however, include one season in which Kansas City ranked first in the NFL, with JuJu Smith-Schuster as the team’s number-one wide receiver. The Chiefs won two Super Bowl rings and never finished worse than fifth during that stretch.

Then there is what Bieniemy did most recently. The Chicago Bears finished 11-6 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The caveats are that this was Ben Johnson’s offense and Bieniemy was fresh off two poor seasons at the Washington Commanders and UCLA.

That said, the Bears rose from 25th to third in rushing yards per game last season, and that is where Bieniemy has always cut his teeth. He got the most out of Adrian Peterson in Minnesota, Jamaal Charles, Kareem Hunt, and Damien Williams in Kansas City, and that did not change in Chicago.

D’Andre Swift rushed for a career-high 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns, but the most underreported storyline was getting 783 yards out of seventh-round rookie running back Kyle Monangai. In Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles, both backs crossed the 100-yard mark.

With the addition of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker and fifth-round rookie Emmett Johnson, the Big Ten rushing leader, Bieniemy could provide a similar impact in Kansas City. It will likely be to a lesser degree, given how advanced Mahomes is over a quarterback like Caleb Williams and given that Reid has traditionally led a pass-heavy offense.

A legitimate rushing threat helps all areas of an offense. The Bears’ elite rushing attack last season helped shield Williams from pass rushers, limiting him to 24 sacks. The Chiefs have a potentially elite offensive line, and if defenses are forced to respect the run, they will not be able to pin their ears back nearly as much.

Chicago also ranked second in the NFL with 127 explosive plays, defined as runs of 10 or more yards and passes of more than 20 yards. Balance goes a long way, and Bieniemy is not afraid to insist on it.

Mahomes noted early in OTAs that Bieniemy has already made an impact on the schematic side as well.

“He has brought in a lot of concepts and a lot of things that I’ve really liked that we’ve added in now,” Mahomes said to reporters. “It’s good to have him back in the building and having that energy back.”

Beyond the run game, there is Bieniemy’s presence itself. Head coach Andy Reid made that clear when asked about what the new coaching staff has brought to the team.

“EB (Bieniemy) brings great energy. I mean, he knows everything (in the offense). He’s got it all down, and he can coach any spot and does a great job with it,” Reid said to reporters.

When asked if he feels the energy Bieniemy and new wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea bring to practice, Reid did not hesitate.

“Yeah, I think they love what they’re doing, and they’re not afraid to express that,” Reid said. “Players feel it. I think that’s healthy, and I think that discipline on offense is very, very important.”

Mahomes also noted that the younger players have not yet seen Bieniemy at his most demanding, suggesting the real test is still ahead.

“They still haven’t seen EB yet,” Mahomes said. “I’m not going to say he’s taking it easy; he’s pushing the guys, but he holds them to a standard. They haven’t had those days. It’s usually training camp when guys get tired, and they lose that will to finish and do all the exact right things, and that’s when EB’s going to hold you to that standard. We haven’t gotten there yet, but as long as you keep having good practices, we can prolong that as long as possible.”

Reading between the lines of what Reid, Mahomes, and Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith had to say, it sounds as though the accountability and attention to detail may have been missing over the past few seasons. It is unfair to blanket-blame Nagy for it, but it is fair to call it a strength of Bieniemy.

Smith summed it up as simply as anyone.

“Get it together, or he’ll get you together,” Smith said. “He’s going to coach you hard, but it’s coming out of a place of love.”

When the likes of Reid, Mahomes, and the Kelces of the world have accomplished as much as they have, it matters to have someone in the room who not only challenges them, but thrives off of doing so.

That can only help younger veterans like wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, too. It is just OTAs, but it appears the Bieniemy effect is already radiating through the locker room.

As a simple example, in the 2022 draft, both Trent McDuffie and Jaylin Watson were hits. I don’t think anyone would argue with that. But what level of hit were they? McDuffie was obviously the better player, but he was also a first-round pick that the Chiefs traded up for. Watson was a 7^th round pick. The expectations are wildly different. McDuffie was a big hit, for sure, but Watson is a much more significant return on investment.

So for today, I am going to limit this analysis to only what I am dubbing “significant contributors/starters”, and shortening that to “starters” for ease of communication.

I am going to be defining “starter” in a way that will feel a bit less intuitive than normal. Rookies do not often start every game in their rookie season. Some do, of course. But many are brought along much more slowly, and it isn’t until midway through the season that we learn their true role on the team.

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Here’s where things stand heading into June.

Chiefs Check-in: Mahomes Returns, OTAs Kick Off

The biggest takeaway from the Chiefs’ first week of Organized Team Activities was simple: Patrick Mahomes is back on the practice field.

Just over five months removed from ACL and LCL surgery, Mahomes participated in OTA work this week. While the Chiefs continue to be smart with their franchise quarterback, head coach Andy Reid said he has liked what he’s seen throughout the recovery process, and Mahomes’ presence on the field is another encouraging step toward being ready for Week 1.

The other positive injury update came at wide receiver. Reid indicated that Xavier Worthy is in a good spot entering the remainder of the offseason program, helping solidify a position group that has more questions than answers right now. It should be noted, however, that Worthy was in a non-contact jersey in the midst of recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Speaking of that offense, one of the more intriguing and perhaps under-talked-about storylines is the addition of Kenneth Walker III, who turned heads amongst his peers this week. Kansas City’s revamped backfield was one of the biggest storylines of the offseason, and Walker’s explosiveness could provide the Chiefs with a dynamic rushing threat they lacked all of last season.

Defensively, several young players also generated buzz during OTA practices, with Kansas City’s coaching staff beginning to evaluate how the revamped secondary and defensive front fit together following the NFL Draft.

As for Rashee Rice, Reid addressed the situation following Rice’s probation violation and recent knee surgery, indicating that the organization will continue supporting him while allowing the legal process and rehabilitation timeline to play out.

Up next for Kansas City is the second and final OTA session, June 1-3, before mandatory minicamp begins June 9.

Want More Free Chiefs Content?

We are now partnered with Minute Media to serve as the publisher for “OnSI” to bring bigger and better-written Chiefs coverage. If you want to read breakdowns and instant analysis from talented writers such as Herbie Teope, Joshua Brisco, and Jordan Foote, check out Kansas City Chiefs OnSI.

Royals Report: Another Losing Week

It was another week below .500 for the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City started strong, taking two of three from the Seattle Mariners, but finished the homestand on a sour note after being swept by the New York Yankees.

The bigger concern remains the health of the pitching staff.

Ace Cole Ragans was shut down for at least 2-3 days following a rehab outing in Omaha and will undergo further evaluation on his lingering elbow issue. Meanwhile, closer Carlos Estévez resumed playing catch after suffering a shoulder setback while rehabbing from the foot injury that landed him on the injured list in early April.

The Royals also designated Bailey Falter for assignment after the left-hander posted a 13.97 ERA across five appearances.

Offensively, there were not many standout performances. No Royals hitter batted .300 on the week, although Bobby Witt Jr. continued to provide power, blasting two home runs.

On the mound, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, and Stephen Kolek all turned in quality starts, while Noah Cameron narrowly missed the mark after allowing two earned runs in five innings. Starting pitching remains a non-issue up to this point in the season.

At 22-24, the Royals remain within shouting distance of the playoff picture, but they’ve slipped to 10 games behind the division-leading Cleveland Guardians and 5.5 games behind the final Wild Card spot.

KCSNU

Program-Changing Weekend For the Jaywhawks

The biggest story around the local universities continues to be Kansas baseball.

Kansas followed up its Big 12 Tournament championship by earning the No. 15 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, ensuring regional play would run through Lawrence. The win over No. 2-seeded West Virginia captured the Jayhawks’ first Big 12 Tournament title since 2006.

Kansas wasted little time rewarding the home crowd, defeating Northeastern 6-3 earlier Friday.

Now the Jayhawks await the winner of the Missouri State-Arkansas game for a second game tomorrow evening.

The math is simple from here: win Saturday and Kansas advances to Sunday in the driver’s seat. Lose, and the Jayhawks will need to battle through the elimination side of the bracket.

Regardless, the program is enjoying its most significant postseason run in nearly two decades.

What to Watch This Week

Chiefs

• Final OTA session: June 1-3 (Expect media availability from coaches and key players as the offseason program nears completion)

Royals (22-24)

• Three games at the Texas Rangers (25-31)

• Three games at the Cincinnati Reds (29-26)

• One game at the Minnesota Twins (27-30) before next week’s recap

Kansas Baseball

• Saturday, 5 p.m.: Regional winners bracket game

• Sunday: Either a noon elimination game or a 5 p.m. winners bracket game

• Monday, if necessary.

The Chiefs experienced a high turnover on the defensive side of the ball during the offseason.

Multiple starters – including cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, safety Bryan Cook, linebacker Leo Chenal, defensive end Mike Danna and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi – found homes across the NFL.

Perhaps the departures contributed to the Chiefs going heavy on defense during the 2026 NFL Draft with the selections of cornerback Mansoor Delane, defensive tackle Peter Woods, defensive end R Mason Thomas and cornerback Jadon Canady.

And make no mistake about it – a couple of Chiefs defensive players expressed excitement and fully embraced the additions.

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But close behind it is the presence of the man the Kansas City Chiefs are counting on to transform their running game: Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker.

It should not be overlooked that Walker was the prize of the offseason, and how that relates to the Chiefs finishing 16th and 20th in total offense over the past two seasons.

Walker signed a three-year, $45 million contract in March, and head coach Andy Reid made clear after Thursday’s practice that the early returns have been a sight to see.

“Stronger than an ox, I mean, he’s (Walker) put together now,” Reid said to reporters.

“He’s doing a good job. He’s got a ton of energy, and you can tell he loves to play the game, wants to learn what we’re doing here,” Reid said, leading up to describing his physical stature. “He’s coming from a great program, and he gets that it takes work to be good, and he’s willing to do that.”

It is hard to even quantify how significant Walker’s presence will be for this offense, but explosive plays are a good place to start. Walker amassed 33 runs of over 10 yards last season, with 10 of those gaining over 20, which ranked third in the NFL.

For comparison, the Chiefs found just 22 of those runs as a team, and only three crossed the 20-yard mark. For further context, two of those three came from Mahomes himself.

Those regular-season numbers were magnified in the biggest moments, too. In Super Bowl LX, Walker was the obvious MVP candidate when five of his 27 carries went over 10 yards. He rushed for 135 yards total in the Seattle Seahawks’ 29-13 drumming of the New England Patriots.

2025 was not a breakout season, either. Walker rushed for over 1,000 yards as a rookie out of Michigan State and crossed that threshold in scrimmage yards in three of his four NFL seasons. The Chiefs have not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Kareem Hunt’s rookie season in 2017.

That drought is worth putting into context. Over the past two seasons, Hunt was the team’s leading rusher, topping out at 728 yards. He proved valuable in short-yardage situations, ranking 12th in first-down rushes, but that was the beginning and the end of his value as a feature back. The shine from Isiah Pacheco’s rookie-year Super Bowl run had worn thin by the time he departed, and the Chiefs got next to nothing from the position for two straight seasons.

This offseason, Kansas City not only added Walker but also brought in Emari Demercado from the Arizona Cardinals, who is explosive in his own right as a third-down back, and Emmett Johnson, who led the Big Ten in rushing last season for Nebraska. The running back room has been completely overhauled.

Those additions should provide three key positives to the Chiefs’ offense. The first is explosive plays, as stated earlier. The second is that it should take pressure off Mahomes as he recovers from a significant knee injury and force defenses to account for a legitimate rushing attack, which should leave pass catchers with more space to get open.

Mahomes took notice of Walker early, and not just as a football player.

“First off, he’s a great dude. That’s the first thing I noticed,” Mahomes said to reporters. “You can tell he truly cares about football, and he cares about his teammates. If he’s not in the play, he’s helping the guys on the sideline, and he’s trying to learn and asking me questions and doing those things ... He’s going to help us a lot on this team, by his mindset and the football player that he is.”

The third benefit may be the one that flies under the radar most. From left to right, the Chiefs’ offensive line consists of a first-round pick at left tackle, a second-rounder at left guard, one of the league’s highest-paid centers, the highest-paid right guard in football, and a $15 million per year right tackle.

Four of those five are at their best when they are run blocking. Left tackle Joshua Simmons is known for his pass protection, and Creed Humphrey is just flat out good at everything, but the rest of that unit are road graders.

The biggest beneficiary that jumps off the page is Trey Smith. As Walker is a downhill runner, Smith is a downhill run blocker, the kind of lineman you can build a run game around. He consistently ranks at the top of the league in run blocking according to PFF, and he was highly regarded as such coming out of Tennessee in 2021.

Smith did not hide his excitement when speaking to reporters Thursday.

“Definitely excited to work with K9 ... I know he’s tough. It’s a pleasure, man. I’m really excited just to get going, to get this offense progressing,” Smith said to reporters.

He added a moment later: “I’m really excited to block for him, you know, being a former MVP. It’s a really cool thing to be able to have a running back like that.”

If Reid truly commits to the run game, which is slowly becoming in vogue across the NFL, this could be a match made in heaven, marrying truly talented running backs with a truly talented offensive line.

Canady started his collegiate career at Tulane, where he got on the field as a true freshman for the Green Wave. After two seasons, he transferred up to the Power 5 level and attended Ole Miss as a junior and senior, where he ultimately started 11 of 12 games as a senior.

Canady transferred to Oregon for his final year, where he started 13 games and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors while playing mostly nickel back but also moonlighting as a safety.

His best fit and most direct path to the field is going to be in that nickel role, but Canady has shown the versatility to play safety as well. That skill set is something Steve Spagnuolo has often coveted in his defensive backs in Kansas City, going all the way back to Tyrann Mathieu and Kendall Fuller. Canady is another player in a similar mold.

We got the Five Play Film Room up at the top to get an idea of who Canady is as a player, then we can dive into how he fits with the Chiefs currently and long term.

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With only a few picks remaining in the draft, GM Brett Veach selected LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier with the 249th pick. Heading into the season, Nussmeier was considered a round one sleeper for 2026. After an impressive showing in 2024, he elected to return to the Tigers for his senior season. An up and down year — mired with injuries and inconsistencies — saw his stock fall all the way to late day three.

Nussmeier flashes well beyond what you typically see in a seventh-round quarterback, but there are reasons he fell as far as he did. Can his talent be reclaimed? The Chiefs could have a high-quality long-term backup if they can help him find his peak form again.

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Most teams will have a couple of games with an advantage of 2+ days, and a couple with a disadvantage of 2+ days. Typically, it evens out for most teams, but there are always those teams on the upper and lower end of this rest differential. For this exercise, I want to first take a look at the Chiefs’ rest advantage (or disadvantage), and then take a look at the NFL as a whole.

The Chiefs start their season off with a Monday night tilt against the Broncos. The first game of the season is always the same for all teams, since no games have yet been played. Playing on Monday means the Chiefs lose one day of rest when they face the Colts in week 2. A one-day disadvantage, especially early in the season, is not an issue in any way, unless an injury or concussion pops up, and a player is not able to pass protocol to get back on the field.

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The Chiefs found themselves dealing with another difficult development surrounding wide receiver Rashee Rice, while the Royals continued searching for answers during another rough stretch offensively. Meanwhile, Kansas baseball keeps inching closer toward hosting implications for the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Here’s where things stand this week.

Chiefs Check-in: Wide Receiver Rashee Rice Is In The News Again

Unfortunately, the biggest news out of the Kansas City Chiefs this week once again involved Rice.

Rice violated the terms of his probation stemming from the 2024 vehicular incident and was subsequently ordered to begin serving his 30-day jail sentence immediately.

The timing is significant because it will likely keep Rice away from the team throughout portions, if not the entirety of OTAs and mandatory minicamp this offseason.

Not long after that news surfaced, another update followed. Per ESPN reporting, later detailed again by Chiefs OnSI’s Joshua Briscoe, Rice also recently underwent a cleanup procedure on the knee he injured back in Week 4 of the 2024 season against the Los Angeles Chargers.

In short, Rice will now spend the coming months simultaneously rehabbing from surgery while serving out the legal consequences tied to the off-field situation.

From a football perspective, it appears the Chiefs still believe in Rice’s long-term talent and role in the offense. But between injuries and off-field issues, it’s been an undeniably turbulent stretch for one of the organization’s most gifted young players.

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Royals Report: More Quality Starts, More of the Same Results

The Kansas City Royals continue to waste good pitching performances.

Kansas City dropped five of six games this week, avoiding a sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals before getting swept at home by the Boston Red Sox.

The lone bright spot came in the series finale against St. Louis, where Stephen Kolek tossed 6.1 scoreless innings, and Salvador Perez drove in both runs in a 2–0 win, including a solo homer.

Offensively, Perez and Jac Caglianone were essentially the only consistent producers all week. The duo combined for 11 hits and three home runs while the rest of the lineup continued to struggle finding timely offense.

That lack of support overshadowed another solid stretch from the rotation.

Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Seth Lugo, and Kolek all turned in quality starts, and Kansas City still went 1–5 in those games.

At 20–30, the Royals are losing the margin for error and are wasting strong pitching.

KCSNU

Jayhawks Playing for a Big 12 Title

The Kansas Jayhawks continue putting together one of the best seasons in the country.

Kansas defeated Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament semifinals and will now face the No. 2 seed West Virginia in today’s championship game at 4:30 p.m.

Regardless of the result, the Jayhawks have significantly strengthened their NCAA Tournament résumé over the last week and appear poised for a strong regional position heading into next weekend.

What to Watch This Week

Royals (20–31)

• Continue the homestand with two more against the Seattle Mariners (25-27) after dropping Friday night’s opener 2–0.

• Then host the New York Yankees (30–22) for a three-game set.

Kansas Baseball

• Big 12 Championship vs. West Virginia today at 4:30 p.m.