Chiefs headlines for Monday, March 31
The latest
2025 NFL Draft hats explained: What each team’s pin means | The Athletic
The Chiefs’ pin bears the number “142.2.” No, that’s not Andy Reid’s favorite radio station, it’s the decibel level Chiefs fans achieved at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 29, 2014, achieving a world record for the loudest crowd noise. It happened during a Monday night game against the New England Patriots. They beat Tom Brady and the Pats 41-14 that night.
Chiefs Have Quiet, But Critical Decision to Make in 2026 | SI
The Pro Football Network recently ranked the top 100 players to become free agents next offseason. Kansas City has several critical players set to hit free agency in 2026, including veteran cornerback Jaylen Watson. PFN ranked Watson 49th-best free agent available in 2026.
“After a part-time defensive role during his first two seasons, Jaylen Watson became the unquestioned No. 2 cornerback for the Chiefs in 2024. Unfortunately, Watson wasn’t actually on the field most of the season, as a broken fibula and tibia caused him to miss the final 11 regular-season games,” PFN said.
“He did return for all three playoff games and performed well when healthy, allowing 6.9 yards per target in coverage with zero touchdowns. Assuming he can stay healthy in 2025, Watson should be in line for a hefty raise.”
However, if you ask him, he puts the credit firmly in the hands of his grandmother and emotionally retold the story of how she pushed him to American Football stardom and a $158,750,000 contract.
“I don’t think there’s enough flowers that I can give for my grandmother, Flora Evans,” Jones told Heart of the Kingdom. “She would always tell me, ‘If you want to be the best, you’ve got to be able to put the most work in.’
“That kinda stayed with me throughout life: moving out of my parents’ place, moving in with her, sleeping on a two-seater couch. Kind of instilled the will of having faith, belief, and putting God first.
“My whole goal moving to Houston, Mississippi, was to play for my basketball coach. I really had no desire to play football, but the coach wanted me to play, I felt like I could volunteer to play.
“Throughout time, I found the hidden talent that I didn’t know I had and I think my grandmother seen it before anyone. Thank you for everything.
Jayson Tatum recalls a funny story about Chiefs TE Travis Kelce | Chiefs Wire
During the latest episode of New Heights, NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum recalled a story about a recent game in which Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla discussed a unique moment between Travis Kelce and Andy Reid.
“We actually talked about you. We played Portland the other day, and I got a tech. The game was basically over; I ended up getting a tech with like 30 seconds left.” said Tatum, “Joe (Mazzulla), he comes up to me after the game; if you get 16 or 17 techs, you get suspended for a game, so Joe’s like, ‘Yo, can you just get four more so you can get suspended?’, ‘I would much rather you just come punch me. I wanna fight. I would love to fight. When Travis Kelce ran into Andy Reid, do that to me. Do that to me.”
Around the NFL
“Yeah, there is at least some momentum,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said during an appearance on Sunday’s SportsCenter. “So, here’s the deal. In West Palm Beach, NFL owners are meeting today through Tuesday, they will vote on several issues around the league, including the Green Bay Packers’ proposal that you cannot push a ball carrier immediately after the snap. I talked to one general manager in the league who believes this will be passed under the guise of player safety.
“And so Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, some others have mentioned that they think it’s a play that they did you hurt more often than others in those scrums there in the tight action you see there, but teams are sort of split on whether that’s really a thing or not right now. So, that would be debated hotly over the next few days. And look, in the end, owners need a 24 to eight majority vote to get this thing passed.
“So, it’s hardly a slam dunk, but there are enough people around the league that would like to see it changed, even though there could be some wiggle room for the Eagles to still get this play off, because the proposal says immediately after the snap. So, what if you wait a second after the snap and push? Also, the Eagles line is so good that I think they could get the play off without the push, so we’ll see. I think they’re going to still do it in some variation.”
NFL 18 game season: Is there such a thing as too much NFL? | USA Today
We need to understand something. Talks or pushes or whatever you want to call them … an 18th game is going to happen. It’s inevitable. Like Thanos. (Talking the first time Thanos made half the population disappear, not the second time he tried and failed … but I digress.)
The league has wanted this for some time. This is a dream of many owners. They see massive dollar signs. They think the current media rights deal isn’t big enough. They see the sport as a giant ATM. Spitting out huge bucks and ratings. The hEaLTHH aND sAFFTy stuff well, whatever. The NFL will pay lip service to it but the money comes first. The money always comes first.
All of this leads to a really important question: Can there ever be such a thing as too much NFL?
That’s what Cuban was basically asking 11 years ago and right now, it seems, the answer would be no. The NFL can do no wrong. This past season NFL games were 72 of the 100 most-watched events. There have been times in recent years when that number was even higher. In 2023 it was 93. But 72 is still staggering. Right now, the league could go to a 20-game season, and people would watch. There are fantasy football championships to win, after all.
Bills, Christian Benford agree to four-year extension | NBC Sports
The initial numbers indicate Benford’s deal is worth $76 million.
Benford, 24, was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 draft but has emerged as a critical piece. He moved into a full-time starting rule in 2023. In 15 games last season, he recorded 10 passes defensed with two interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a sack.
The cornerback was headed into the final year of his rookie contract.
Benford is now among several players the club has extended this offseason, including quarterback Josh Allen, linebacker Terrell Bernard, and receiver Khalil Shakir.
Raiders add LB Devin White on one-year contract, source says | ESPN
White has a connection with new Raiders general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady, stemming from their time together in Tampa Bay.
White was drafted by the Buccaneers with the fifth overall pick of the 2019 draft. He spent five seasons with the Buccaneers and collected 585 tackles and 23 sacks in 76 career games.
He played a big role in helping the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl in 2020 when he posted a career-best 140 tackles and nine sacks.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs Draft: Damien Martinez shows shades of a young Kareem Hunt
Running back is typically not seen as a position where teams desperately need help, but in the Chiefs’ situation, it’s a dire need for them. The Chiefs’ running game in 2024 was one of the most interesting case studies I remember. Last season, the Chiefs were eighth in success rate rushing the ball. That’s a very good number. Kareem Hunt was 28th in the NFL in rushing first downs last season — a great number for a player the Chiefs got in September.
And yet, despite being a relatively efficient run game, the Chiefs’ running backs didn’t take advantage of it. Of 44 qualifying rushers last season, Hunt was tied for second-worst in yards after contact per attempt at 1.6. He was 30th in yards before contact/attempt at 2.0. One reason for this was the lack of explosive runs in the offense. Between Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, each running back had one run of 20-plus yards all season.
What some of these stats suggest is that while the Chiefs had a good running game, it was almost entirely a byproduct of their offensive line winning the line of scrimmage in a short area. The Chiefs were elite at getting three or four yards on every run down, but that was it. They couldn’t create a single big play in the run game, which was an issue with the offense all season.
What could fix this? Putting more dynamic running backs in the backfield!
The test of a running back’s ability is their ability to take well-blocked plays and convert them for additional yards. The Chiefs don’t have a running back who can do that.
Over the next few weeks, I will write profiles for different backs who could help Kansas City. In this post, we’ll start with one of my favorites: Damien Martinez of Miami.
Social media to make you think
True Chiefs fans will know the answer… Who is this player? pic.twitter.com/YhkqxRMmvW
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) March 29, 2025
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