Josh Simmons Expected To Fully Participate In Training Camp
The Chiefs are expecting first-round pick Josh Simmons to be a full participant in training camp, according to ESPN’s Adam Teicher.
Simmons, the No. 32 selection in April’s draft, ruptured his patellar tendon last October, prematurely ending his final year at Ohio State and sidelining him throughout the pre-draft process. That led to uncertainty regarding his availability for the start of the 2025 season.
The Chiefs believe that Simmons can be their Week 1 starter at left tackle, provided he’s healthy. They have reason to be encouraged after he participated in OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Spring practices are less physically demanding than training camp, allowing Simmons to get integrated into the Chiefs offense without threatening his ongoing rehab. Once pads and contact are introduced in July, Kansas City will have a stronger idea of Simmons’ ability to take the field in Week 1.
“He’s done a nice job, he’s worked well, and we’ll just see what training camp does,” head coach Andy Reid said of Simmons. “It’s different when things are flying fast up there and you’ve got full contact and pads on.”
Third-year wide receiver Rashee Rice, who also suffered a season-ending leg injury last fall, also participated in the team’s offseason practices and is still on track to fully participate in training camp. Barring any setback, Rice should be ready for Week 1, though his availability could be threatened by a potential suspension stemming from a hit-and-run accident — one that brought eight felony charges — last March.
Chiefs’ Travis Kelce Undecided On Post-2025 Future
Retirement questions surrounded Travis Kelce leading up to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss. In short order, though, the future Hall of Famer made it clear he will suit up for 2025. 
Kelce was away from the Chiefs during voluntary work this spring, but he is in attendance for this week’s mandatory minicamp. The 35-year-old spoke to the media following practice, and while doing so he confirmed a decision was made not long after the Chiefs’ bid for a third straight championship fell short. 2025 will mark his 13th NFL season, all of them with Kansas City.
From 2016-22, Kelce topped 1,000 yards and was a mainstay on the league’s All-Pro teams. The 10-time Pro Bowler saw his production dip in 2023, however, and last year his yardage (823) and touchdown (three) totals were his lowest since his one-game rookie campaign. Kelce refuted Tuesday’s report that he has shed 25 pounds this offseason, but he has targeted a return to his previous form in terms of speed and mobility for what could be the final year of his career.
“I got one year on this contract — I know that,” Kelce said, via The Athletic’s Zak Keefer (subscription required). “The Chiefs organization knows how much I love them. I can’t see myself ever playing anywhere else. So we’ll deal with that down the road.”
Kelce and the Chiefs worked out a pay bump last spring, as new guarantees came into play without term being added to his pact. The three-time Super Bowl winner is owed $17.25MM this season with a cap hit of just over $19.8MM. Those figures will of course bring about high expectations regarding production, but the matter of Kelce’s playing future beyond 2025 will remain a talking point in the absence of an extension.
Kansas City already has a number of notable contracts on the books (with a big-ticket commitment to guard Trey Smith looming), and the team is among those currently projected to be over the cap next year. Keeping Kelce in the fold for 2026 would represent a financial challenge as a result, although the team would of course show interest in doing so he if were to continue his career further. For now, Kelce’s attention is focused on the coming campaign with another decision on his playing future several months away.
NFL Minor Transactions: 6/18/25
Here are today’s midweek minor transactions from across the NFL:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Mario Goodrich
- Waived: S Tanner McCalister
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed ERFA tender: P Matt Araiza
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: TE Seth Green, T Barry Wesley
For the second year in a row, Denver is signing a player from the UFL. Last year, Dondrea Tillman contributed five sacks to the Broncos defense a couple months after finishing play with the Birmingham Stallions. Now the team dips back into Birmingham for Goodrich, who resorted to the UFL after spending the 2024 season away from the NFL. The Saints also dipped into the UFL today, taking Green off of the Arlington Renegades and Wesley off the Stallions.
After finally debuting in the NFL last year, despite getting drafted in 2022, Araiza was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate and played in the Super Bowl. Kansas City essentially assured that he would be around in 2025 when they tender him as an exclusive rights free agent, but with Araiza’s signature today, the transaction in complete.
Trey Smith, Travis Kelce In Attendance For Chiefs Minicamp
A pair of notable Chiefs veterans showed up for the start of mandatory minicamp today. According to Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com, offensive lineman Trey Smith was in attendance for today’s practice. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that tight end Travis Kelce also showed up for minicamp. Both players were absent from voluntary OTAs.
Smith’s absence was likely contract related, as the veteran is pushing for a long-term extension after being slapped with the franchise tag. The guard already inked his tender, locking him into a guaranteed $23.4MM salary for the 2025 campaign, but he still flexed the little leverage he had in pursuit of a new contract.
We heard back in April that the Chiefs front office was planning to pivot to a Smith extension after the draft. That’s the last we heard about a potential deal, and it appears that the two sides have made little progress since. There is a bit of urgency when it comes to an extension, as the Chiefs and Smith only have until the middle of July to agree to a new deal. Otherwise, the lineman will be forced to play out the upcoming season on the franchise tag.
The former sixth-round pick has emerged as a mainstay on Kansas City’s offensive line, missing only a single regular season game over the past four years. Pro Football Focus has consistently graded Smith as a top-15 offensive guard, including a 2024 campaign where he finished 14th among 77 qualifiers. Smith’s franchise tag currently puts him atop his position from an AAV standpoint, and an extension would presumably come in around $20MM annually.
It’s uncertain why Kelce no-showed voluntary practices, although his absence could be related to his flirtation with retirement. Notably, the veteran tight end showed up today 25 pounds lighter than 2024, per Fowler. Kelce is coming off one of the least productive seasons of his career; other than his one-game rookie campaign, the tight end’s 824 receiving yards in 2024 represented a new career-low.
Chiefs’ Rookie Josh Simmons To Start At LT If Healthy?
JUNE 15: Apparently, Simmons is the Chiefs’ preferred left tackle for 2025, provided he can return to full health. ESPN’s Adam Teicher says if the rookie is a full participant in this week’s minicamp, that will bode well for his chances of opening the season as Patrick Mahomes‘ Week 1 blindside blocker. Teicher says Moore will only step in at LT if Simmons is unable to play.
JUNE 8: After falling just short of a Super Bowl three-peat, the Chiefs were forced to reckon with how much the team that did win the Super Bowl dominated them in the trenches. As a result, Kansas City’s first three picks in the draft and its biggest free agent signing all addressed the offensive and defensive lines. Their top overall draft pick, though, is likely not expected to be a main contributor to start the 2025 season, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
The Chiefs traded back a spot and utilized the final pick of the first round on Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons. Simmons started his collegiate career at San Diego State, starting every game of his redshirt freshman season at right tackle before transferring to Columbus. He immediately stepped in as the Buckeyes starting left tackle in 2023, and even though he missed 10 games last year, he still earned All-Big Ten honorable mention.
Part of the reason Simmons is not expected to start in Week 1 is because of what caused him to miss 10 games last year. Projected to be in contention for the honor of top lineman in the draft, Simmons draft stock took a hit when he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon only six games into the season. Apart from how challenging it can be for a rookie to adjust to the NFL game, Breer notes that that kind of knee injury can be harder for big men to come back from than a torn ACL.
Add in the fact that the Chief’s biggest free agent signing this offseason was former 49ers backup offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, and the team’s plans start to become clear. Moore came to Kansas City on a two-year, $30MM deal after four years in San Francisco, where he served as a swing tackle who started games in place of Trent Williams and others. Over the course of his rookie contract, Moore played in 55 games but started only 12 of them.
The beauty of signing Moore to a two-year deal is that it will likely serve two purposes. In 2025, Moore is expected to man the starting left tackle spot across from Jawaan Taylor. This will allow Simmons to take his time to recover to full health and catch up to the speed of the NFL game with no pressure. The second purpose was hinted at over a month ago, when head coach Andy Reid expressed the team’s view that Moore could play multiple positions on the offensive line. Considering he’s never played at snap at guard in the NFL, the presumption, then, is that Reid means he can play both left and right tackle.
After the 2025 season, Taylor’s contract contains a potential out that reduces his dead cap money from $34.78MM if cut in 2025 to $7.39MM if cut in the next league year. One could imagine, Breer posits, that Kansas City would be able to free up $20MM of cap space, move Moore from left to right tackle, and let Simmons take over at left tackle in 2026.
So, sure, Simmons isn’t expected to start Week 1 in 2025, but that also doesn’t exactly mean that he’ll be redshirting his rookie year. Once he’s fully healthy, the Chiefs will likely try to work Simmons into the line somehow. Maybe they’ll start him out on the interior, or they could shift Moore inside, if Reid really meant what he said about multiple positions, and allow Simmons to get accustomed to the starting spot on the blind side. Either way, the plan for Simmons is likely focused much further out than Week 1 of the upcoming season.
NFL Minor Transactions: 6/11/25
Here are the midweek minor moves from around the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Kevin Foelsch
- Waived: DT Siaki Ika
Ika’s struggles in the NFL continue. A member of LSU’s 2019 National Championship squad, Ika was a third-round pick four years later for the Browns in 2023. After appearing in four games as a rookie, Ika failed to make the roster in his second year in Cleveland. Since October, Ika has signed with and been cut from the practice squads of the Browns, Eagles, and now the Chiefs, with whom he signed a reserve/futures deal at the end of this past season.
Chiefs Wanted To Re-Sign DT Tershawn Wharton
After Milton Williams spurned the Panthers’ advances in March, Carolina pivoted to another notable defensive tackle in this year’s free agent class, Tershawn Wharton. The former undrafted find of the Chiefs may have been something of a consolation prize for the Panthers, but his original club wanted to keep him in the fold.
Per David Newton of ESPN.com, Kansas City simply could not match the contract that Carolina authorized for Wharton (three years and $45.1MM, including $30.25MM in full guarantees and an additional $9MM available in incentives). That stands to reason given that the defending AFC champions entered the offseason with little financial flexibility and made the surprising decision to use the franchise tag – worth a fully-guaranteed $23.4MM – on guard Trey Smith.
Kansas City’s decision on Smith precipitated the trade of its other starting guard, Joe Thuney. With a glaring left tackle need, the club’s biggest FA outlay was earmarked for former 49ers swing tackle Jaylon Moore, who landed a two-year, $30MM contract (the Chiefs doubled down on the position by selecting Ohio State OT Josh Simmons in the first round of April’s draft).
The Chiefs’ salary cap picture prevented them from spending big on a Wharton replacement, but second-round draftee Omarr Norman-Lott will have the opportunity to fill Wharton’s shoes. KC did add Jerry Tillery to the defensive front while re-signing Charles Omenihu and Mike Pennel.
Newton seems to suggest that Wharton – a Missouri native who became the first player from Division II Missouri University of Science and Technology to make a modern-era NFL roster – preferred to remain with his hometown team. The ESPN scribe writes, “[i]n a perfect world, Wharton would have remained in Kansas City, where he won two Super Bowls and went to four.”
That said, the soon-to-be 27-year-old also believes there are new opportunities in Charlotte to go along with his new salary. As Jeff Hawkins of the Charlotte Post notes, Wharton believes he was miscast when Kansas City deployed him as a pass-rushing nose tackle in its 4-3 alignment, and he expects to build on his breakout 2024 showing as a member of Panthers DC Ejiro Evero’s 3-4 scheme.
“This guy has a purpose in everything that he does,” Evero said of Wharton. “And it’s really, really impressive to watch. … So it’s great to add guys like that who can bring that experience, that mentality and that work ethic.”
Wharton played 20 games (12 starts) in 2024, including playoffs. He tallied 37 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and a forced fumble as an integral member of Steve Spagnuolo’s stout unit that finished in the top-10 in total defense and in the top-five in scoring defense.
Xavier Worthy Could Take Over As Chiefs’ PR
2024 first-rounder Xavier Worthy established himself as a dynamic offensive playmaker as a rookie, and the Chiefs are hoping he can translate that into success on special teams this season.
“He’s the best punt returner nobody knows about right now in the league,” said special teams coordinator Dave Toub (via Ed Easton Jr. of Chiefs Wire).
Kansas City originally planned for Worthy to be their primary punt returner last season before Rashee Rice‘s injury pressed the rookie into a full-time role on offense. Worthy dazzled with 742 yards and nine touchdowns on 79 touches during the regular season before pacing the league in the playoffs with 19 receptions for 287 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the year without a single snap on special teams, though he had experience returning punts in college. The former Texas Longhorn led the SEC with 22 returns, 371 yards, and 16.9 yards per return in 2023.
Toub is expecting a “great battle” for the Chiefs’ punt returning job this summer. Other contenders include 2024 UDFA wide receiver Nikko Remigio, who took over the role after Mecole Hardman landed on injured reserve in December, and rookie running back Brashard Smith, who only returned five punts in college but has a strong history as a kick returner.
“Remigio continues to get better, and he will be a hard guy to beat out,” said Toub, who praised the second-year wideout’s “ball reads” and “catching ability.” Remigio returned 14 punts for 161 yards as a rookie across the Chiefs’ final eight games of the year (including the postseason).
Toub also mentioned Smith’s “top-end speed” as a reason for his candidacy. The 22-year old ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the Combine after racked up 1,295 kick return yards in his four college seasons, including an ACC-high 579 yards and 29.0 YPR while at Miami in 2023.
2025 NFL Cap Space, By Team
This week started with a point on the NFL calendar that has been important for decades. Although teams have not needed to wait until June to make their most expensive cuts in many years, they do not see the funds from post-June 1 designations until that point.
With June 1 coming and going, a fourth of the league has seen the savings from post-June 1 releases arrive. That has affected the NFL’s cap-space hierarchy. Here is how every team stands (via OverTheCap) following June 2 changes:
- New England Patriots: $67.34MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $53.49MM
- Detroit Lions: $40.12MM
- New York Jets: $39.8MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $36.16MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $32.11MM
- Dallas Cowboys: $32.11MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $31.88MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $31.21MM
- Tennessee Titans: $30.16MM
- Green Bay Packers: $28.94MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $27.08MM
- Los Angeles Chargers: $26.83MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $26.63MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $26.54MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $25.79MM
- New Orleans Saints: $22.62MM
- Washington Commanders: $21.13MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $20.09MM
- Los Angeles Rams: $19.44MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $18.95MM
- Carolina Panthers: $18.69MM
- Minnesota Vikings: $18.49MM
- Cleveland Browns: $18.2MM
- Houston Texans: $16.3MM
- Denver Broncos: $16.23MM
- Chicago Bears: $14.76MM
- Miami Dolphins: $13.81MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $10.75MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $5.02MM
- New York Giants: $3.82MM
- Buffalo Bills: $1.69MM
The Jets saw their situation change the most from post-June 1 designations, as $13.5MM became available to the team after its Aaron Rodgers and C.J. Mosley cuts. Teams have up to two post-June 1 designations at their disposals. Five clubs — the Jets, Browns, Ravens, Eagles and 49ers — used both slots. Only three other teams made a post-June 1 cut before that seminal date. The eight that made these moves will have dead money split between 2025 and 2026.
Baltimore used the cost-defraying option to release Marcus Williams and Justin Tucker, while Cleveland — in Year 4 of the regrettable Deshaun Watson partnership — used it to move on from Juan Thornhill and Dalvin Tomlinson. As the Eagles’ option bonus-heavy payroll included two hefty bonus numbers for Darius Slay and James Bradberry, the reigning Super Bowl champions released both 30-something cornerbacks. Together, Slay and Bradberry will count more than $20MM on Philadelphia’s 2026 cap sheet. As for this year, though, the Browns, Eagles, Ravens and 49ers respectively saved $9.85MM, $9.4MM, $6.3MM, $6.4MM and $5.6MM, according to Spotrac.
The Jaguars made a mid-offseason decision to release Gabe Davis, doing so not long after trading up to draft Travis Hunter — with the plan to primarily play him at wide receiver — at No. 2 overall. Off-field issues, coupled with a down 2024 season, made Tucker expendable — after the Ravens drafted Tyler Loop in Round 6. The Vikings moved off Garrett Bradbury‘s contract and will replace him with free agency addition Ryan Kelly, while Mason lasted two seasons paired with C.J. Stroud‘s rookie deal. The 49ers made it known early they were moving on from Javon Hargrave, while 2024 trade addition Maliek Collins also exited the team’s D-tackle room.
Derek Carr‘s retirement being processed Tuesday also changed the Saints’ funding. The team will spread the dead money ($50.13MM) across two years. Even with the number being reduced this year, the Saints will be hit with the second-highest single-player dead money hit (behind only the Broncos’ Russell Wilson separation) in NFL history as a result of the Carr exit. The Saints will only be responsible for $19.21MM of that total in 2025. As they did with Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox‘s retirements last year, the Eagles will also process Brandon Graham‘s hit this way.
Eight of this year’s post-June 1 releases remain in free agency. The Patriots added Bradbury to replace the now-retired David Andrews, while the Vikings scooped up Hargrave. As the Steelers await Rodgers’ decision, they added two other post-June 1 releases in Slay and Thornhill. Tomlinson joined the Cardinals not long after his Browns release.
AFC West Rumors: Bozeman, Mahomes, Rice, Raiders
The Chargers‘ interior offensive line blocking was a weakness of the team in 2024. The team addressed the right guard position by signing Mekhi Becton after the former first-round pick had a breakout season in Philadelphia. The center and left guard spots, though, are currently a bit more up in the air as Los Angeles has been experimenting with swapping Bradley Bozeman and Zion Johnson from the positions at which they started in 2024.
As the team has continued in this experiment, Daniel Popper of The Athletic has called into question whether or not Bozeman will start at all. While Bozeman has been a starting lineman in the NFL for most of the past four seasons, he has never graded out as one of the NFL’s best interior blockers, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Bozeman filled starting roles at left guard and center for the Ravens throughout his rookie contract, but they allowed him to walk in free agency. He signed with Carolina as a backup, only earning the starting center role because of injury. The Panthers did re-sign him, but they quickly released him only a year into his three-year, $18MM deal.
After he started for a year in Los Angeles, the Chargers gave him a more reserved two-year, $6.5MM deal. Popper seems pretty sure that Johnson will be starting, though whether at center or left guard remains to be seen. He thinks Bozeman could end up starting at the other position, but the team has set themselves up well regardless. Free agent signing Andre James provides insurance at center, while Trey Pipkins III and Jamaree Salyer both started games at guard last year and could potentially step in if Bozeman struggles. The Chargers also drafted Branson Taylor out of Pittsburgh in the sixth round and worked him at left guard in rookie minicamp. Suffice it to say, Los Angeles has plenty of options as they continue to try and improve their interior offensive line.
Here are a few other rumors coming out of the AFC West, starting with a couple from Kansas City:
- There was a bit of chatter after it was decided that NFL players would be allowed to participate in flag football in the 2028 Olympics concerning which players would be best suited to represent Team USA. One player sure to show up on many people’s dream team took himself out of the running. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters he was not planning on playing, saying that he would “leave that to the younger guys.”
- Another Chiefs player is making less light-hearted news as wide receiver Rashee Rice continues in his legal struggles. Per Mike Florio of NBC Sports, Rice is now facing a third lawsuit related to the street-racing crash in Dallas back in March of 2024. Kayla Quinn is the latest person to allege that she and her son sustained physical and mental injuries as a result of the incident.
- According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Raiders have developed a reputation for traditionally operating in a cash-poor manner. New limited owner Tom Brady has reportedly made it known that he intends to change that reputation. Per Breer, Brady promised any coaching candidates in January that he and his fellow new limited partners would “materially change” the team’s spending habits.