Chiefs Expect Rashee Rice To Be Ready For Training Camp

Rashee Rice‘s distraction-filled Chiefs tenure now includes a historically unusual situation where a team’s top wide receiver is attempting to rehab from surgery while in prison. Rice underwent a knee procedure before learning he violated his probation and would need to serve a 30-day jail sentence in Dallas immediately.

The normal recovery time for Rice’s surgery — to remove loose debris stemming from a September 2024 injury — was around two months, but it can be assumed the receiver’s prison stay will complicate his recovery. Nevertheless, Andy Reid said (via ESPN.com’s Nate Taylor) Rice is expected to be ready by the time Chiefs training camp begins.

Kansas City’s camp schedule has not surfaced yet, but veterans typically report in late July. Padded practices begin a few days later. Reid’s comment on the situation points to Rice not needing a stay on the active/PUP list, which is a training camp-only designation. It certainly represents good news for a Chiefs team that continues to see high-profile players run into off-field trouble.

The Rice news preceded a rumor connecting Stefon Diggs to the Chiefs. Even before word of Rice’s probation violation emerged, the Chiefs were tied to being in the receiver market. An A.J. Brown pursuit is not expected, but a host of veteran options are available in free agency. In addition to Diggs, the FA market houses Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel, Keenan Allen, Tyler Lockett and ex-Chief DeAndre Hopkins — the team’s 2024 Rice replacement.

Hill, 32, certainly represents the most interesting name here. But the likely Hall of Famer may be on teams’ back burners for multiple reasons. Hill is still recovering from his severe knee injury, and that effort may not conclude by Week 1, and the six-year Chief is again the subject of an NFL investigation into alleged domestic violence.

The Chiefs extended Hill on a team-friendly deal after the NFL cleared him from a 2019 domestic violence investigation, but a Rice payday is not expected soon. Kansas City has seen the 2023 second-round pick struggle to stay on the field, through injuries and a suspension, and it is possible this probation violation could bring another ban. That will be a storyline to follow, and more pressure stands to be on former first-round pick Xavier Worthy entering his third season.

“We’re aware of the situation, and we’ve talked to the league,” Reid said, via Taylor. “There’s been no talk about anything further [regarding NFL punishment). We’re moving forward. When he gets back, we’ve got to get him caught up and doing what he needs to do. It’s not an easy thing he’s going through. Life lessons are important, but we’re all given chances to learn. He’s in that position now.”

Worthy headlines the Chiefs’ collection of healthy WRs, a group that includes the recently re-signed Tyquan Thornton. The Chiefs also have recent Day 3 draftees Jalen Royals and Cyrus Allen, but if Rice is suspended again, Reid’s squad will likely need more help to open the season. Marquise Brown left after two underwhelming seasons, joining the Eagles on a one-year, $5MM deal.

A future in which Rice rebounds and becomes a viable franchise tag candidate in 2027 exists, but that may be the best-case scenario for the SMU product given his unreliability thus far. But the Chiefs expecting him to be ready for camp is certainly a positive development as superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes works his way back from ACL and LCL tears.