LeSean McCoy Aiming To Return Next Season
The Chiefs have at times used LeSean McCoy as their top running back this season, but at other junctures, the decorated back has barely played for the AFC champions. McCoy has played just one playoff snap.
However, the former Eagles and Bills Pro Bowler wants to return for what would be a 12th season in 2020.
“Nah, I’m not ready to retire yet,” McCoy said, via NFL.com. “I still can play. So, I’m not going to retire yet, but that day is coming.”
Shortly after his Bills release, McCoy signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Chiefs. A four-team derby that also included the Patriots, Chargers and Eagles ended with the six-time Pro Bowler choosing to reunite with Andy Reid in Kansas City.
Initially, McCoy carved out an immediate role. He saw 10-plus touches in seven of the Chiefs’ first eight games but wound up a healthy scratch and battled an illness at times over the past two-plus months. Shady has not seen a carry since Week 15, and the Chiefs have used Damien Williams almost exclusively as their postseason back.
Still, the interest that came McCoy’s way late in free agency may be indicative of at least one more contract coming in March. McCoy averaged 4.6 yards per carry this season, after a career-worst 3.2 YPC figure with a limited Bills team in 2018. After logging 200-plus carries in each season from 2010-17, McCoy has not topped 170 in each of the past two years. He will enter free agency with 2,950 career touches (third-most among active backs) and will be 32 by Week 1 of the 2020 season.
Chiefs Owner On Patrick Mahomes Talks
The Chiefs, obviously, intend to lock up Patrick Mahomes for the long haul. It’s just a matter of how much it’ll cost – and when. On Tuesday, owner Clark Hunt indicated that the Chiefs could wait until next year to ink Mahomes to an extension.
[RELATED: Will Patrick Mahomes Get $40MM/Year?]
“There will be a right time sometime in the next 12 to 15 months to extend Patrick, and when I say right time, I mean right time for both the player and the club,” Hunt said as the Chiefs prepare to face the 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl. “I don’t want to say necessarily it has to be this offseason, but I will say that it’s a priority to get him done. I hope Patrick is here for his entire career, and that’s going to be our goal.’‘
With his third pro season in the rear view mirror, the 2017 first-round pick is eligible for a brand new deal. The Chiefs, meanwhile, can wait things out a bit. He still has one more year to go on his base four-year rookie pact and the Chiefs can tack on another year via his fifth-year option for 2021.
When the two sides eventually reach an accord, Mahomes could become the NFL’s first ever $200MM+ player with an average annual value of $40MM or more. Those would be unprecedented numbers, but the same could be said for the QB’s stat line. In 2019, Mahomes logged 4,031 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
Suggs Discussing Move To Chiefs
- After getting waived by the Cardinals, veteran Terrell Suggs was hoping he’d land back in Baltimore. Instead, he was claimed by the Chiefs, and it didn’t take long for the veteran to buy into his new team. “It didn’t take much convincing,” Suggs told Dave Skretta of the Associated Press. “This team is pretty vet-savvy. Having been in this position a few times, you learn more from failure than you ever would from success. I think that the things that have happened in years past kind of prepared this team for the task that it took. It also doesn’t hurt to have the reigning MVP, and definitely the best tight end in the game, on your team. Once they got rolling and clicking on all cylinders, we got to have fun out there.”
Poll: Will Patrick Mahomes Get $40MM/Year?
Patrick Mahomes is Super Bowl bound. He’s also in line for a monumental payday. 
Last year, at the age of 23-and-a-third, Mahomes became the league’s youngest MVP since Dan Marino won the award in 1984. He didn’t disappoint in his encore, either. The grizzled 24-year-old threw for for 4,031 yards with 26 touchdowns against just five interceptions in 2019. He also threw in some dazzling running plays, for good measure, resulting in two more scores and 15 first downs.
His incomparable skillset and early accomplishments point to a historic contract. The NFL’s all-time average annual value (AAV) record is made to be broken and routinely shattered each year, sometimes by quarterbacks who are not considered to be among the league’s very best. Mahomes’ case is decidedly different – he’s simply from another planet, and some execs think he’ll cross the $40MM/year threshold.
“I think he’s gonna get $40MM [per year], either over four or five years,” one NFC personnel evaluator told ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler.
Another NFC exec with negotiating experience mostly echoed that sentiment:”If Russell Wilson is at $35MM, then probably $37.5MM.”
Wilson’s deal with the Seahawks calls for $140MM across four years. Rams QB Jared Goff isn’t far behind with $134MM over the same stretch, with a whopping $110MM in guaranteed cash. Carson Wentz fell just shy with his four-year, $128MM Eagles extension. There will be new additions to this tier – including Cowboys QB Dak Prescott – but Mahomes is poised to top Prescott’s deal (whenever that happens) and set a watermark that won’t be approached for a while.
Mahomes’ rookie deal runs through 2020 and the Chiefs hold his fifth-year option to take him through 2021. Still, league officials say time is of the essence for KC.
“If I were [the Chiefs], I would be as proactive as humanly possible,” one exec told Fowler. “If Jared Goff can get no offset language in his entire contract after three years in the league, then this specific player has all the leverage. I think $40MM would be Mahomes selling himself short.”
Will Mahomes net $40MM per year, or more, on his next deal? Cast your vote below (link for app users) and back up your choice in the comment section.
Chiefs To Retain Mike Kafka
Chiefs quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka isn’t going anywhere. Kafka will stick on Andy Reid’s coaching staff in 2020, sources tell Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter), which means that he won’t be leaving for the Eagles’ offensive coordinator vacancy or any other club.
The Eagles had interest in Kafka as an OC candidate, but they’ve been informed that Reid won’t let him stray. It’s possible that Kafka could receive a new title to stay in KC, but nothing has been made official on that front. Eric Bieniemy did not land a head coaching job in this cycle, so a bump up to OC is off the table.
With that, the Eagles have lost out on yet another OC option. USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was on the radar, but earlier this week, he opted to return to the Trojans. Before that, Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban declined their request for an interview and ex-Redskins OC Kevin O’Connell accept the Rams’ OC job.
The Eagles drafted Kafka in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, and the Northwestern product spent his first two seasons in the league as Philly’s backup/third-string signal-caller. After that, he parlayed his football IQ into a successful coaching career. After serving as the Chiefs’ offensive quality control coach in 2017, he was elevated to QB coach in 2018, the same year Patrick Mahomes took the league by storm.
Eagles Expected To Request OC Interview With Mike Kafka
The Eagles are still on the lookout for a new offensive coordinator after firing Mike Groh earlier this month, and their search could lead them to a familiar face. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Philadelphia is expected to request an interview with Chiefs QB coach Mike Kafka.
The Eagles drafted Kafka in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, and the Northwestern product spent his first two seasons in the league as Philly’s backup/third-string signal-caller. He got looks with a number of clubs after he was cut by the Eagles in the summer of 2012, but he chose to end his playing career and try his hand at coaching in 2016, returning to his alma mater as an offensive graduate assistant.
His football IQ was always considered perhaps his best trait, and he has risen quickly through the coaching ranks. After serving as the Chiefs’ offensive quality control coach in 2017, he was elevated to QB coach in 2018, the same year Patrick Mahomes took the league by storm. We heard back in October that Kafka was considered a future NFL head coach, and he may have been promoted to Kansas City OC if Eric Bieniemy had gotten a head coaching job this year.
But because Eagles head coach Doug Pederson calls offensive plays, Rapoport says Chiefs head coach Andy Reid may block the interview request and give Kafka a promotion on KC’s staff.
The Eagles are also reportedly interested in Ravens QB coach James Urban and USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.
Fine Updates: Simmons, Fisher, Williams, Bosa
The NFL will not fine Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons for conduct during Tennessee’s 28-12 victory in the divisional playoff round, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN. After the contest, Ravens offensive guard Marshal Yanda accused Simmons of spitting on him during the contest. Per Hensley, the NFL found no evidence to substantiate those claims.
For what it’s worth, Simmons did not deny spitting on Yanda when he was asked about it on Wednesday. Had the NFL prooved that Simmons had indeed spit in his opponent’s face, he would have been subject to an unsportsmanlike conduct fine of $14,037.
A few other players were unable to avoid hits to their checkbooks:
- Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Fisher went viral online after he celebrated by pouring beer over himself during Kansas City’s divisional round victory over the Texans. While the NFL shared Fisher’s celebration on its official Twitter account, it appears the NFL’s marketers and executors of the codes of conduct are not on the same page. Fisher was fined $14,037 by the league on Saturday, when the league announced this week’s round of fines, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
- Fisher was not the lone Chiefs player to receive a fine for a celebration, running back Damien Williams received a $10,527 fine for taunting, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. After he scored his third touchdown in last week’s game, he placed the ball directly in front of a Texan defensive lineman, which cost the team a fifteen-yard penalty and now will cost Williams more than ten thousand dollars.
- Defensive end Nick Bosa was fined $28,025 for an illegal blindside block in the 49ers 27-10 victory over the Vikings in last week’s divisional round, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Normally a defensive player would not be subject to such a fine, but after his defensive teammate, Richard Sherman, intercepted one of Kirk Cousins passes, Bosa got overzealous in a block on offensive tackle Brian O’Neill that forced O’Neill to leave the game for a couple of series.
Juan Thornhill Underwent Surgery
- Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ACL in his knee, tweets NFL Network’s James Palmer. The rookie second-rounder started all 16 games for Kansas City, compiling 58 tackles, five passes defended, and three interceptions. He suffered the injury during his team’s Week 17 game against the Chargers, sidelining him for the entire postseason.
Updated 2020 NFL Draft Order
The stage has been set for the conference championships. The Titans, Chiefs, 49ers, and Packers are moving on to the semifinals, while the Texans, Seahawks, Ravens, and Vikings will begin planning for the offseason ahead. Unfortunately for the Texans, their first round pick belongs to the Dolphins.
Here’s an updated look at the 2020 NFL Draft order from Nos. 1-28:
1. Bengals (2-14)
2. Redskins (3-13)
3. Lions (3-12-1)
4. Giants (4-12)
5 Dolphins (5-11)
6. Chargers (5-11)
7. Panthers (5-11)
8. Cardinals (5-10-1)
9. Jaguars (6-10)
10. Browns (6-10)
11. Jets (7-9)
12. Raiders (7-9)
13. Colts (7-9)
14. Buccaneers (7-9)
15. Broncos (7-9)
16. Falcons (7-9)
17. Cowboys (8-8)
18. Dolphins (via Steelers 8-8)
19. Raiders (via Bears 8-8)
20. Jaguars (via Rams 9-7)
21. Eagles (9-7)
22. Bills (10-6)
23. Patriots (12-4)
24. Saints (13-3)
25. Vikings (10-6)
26. Dolphins (via Texans 10-6)
27. Seahawks (11-5)
28. Ravens (14-2)
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/20
The latest reserve/futures signings from around the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- DE Anthony Lanier, TE Alize Mack, RB Marcus Marshall
New York Jets
- WR Jehu Chesson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- S John Battle, WR Anthony Johnson
San Francisco 49ers