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Kansas City Chiefs News & Rumors

Chiefs Cut CB Deandre Baker

August 7th, 2022 at 8:17am CST by Rory Parks

The Chiefs have cut cornerback Deandre Baker, as Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). After Kansas City injected a great deal of new blood into its CB room this offseason, Baker found himself on the wrong side of the roster bubble.

A first-round pick of the Giants in 2019, Baker played in all 16 games in his rookie season, including 15 starts. He did not perform particularly well, yielding a 116.2 passer rating and earning a poor 48.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, but as a Day 1 selection, Baker was in line to get another extended look in 2020 for a rebuilding New York outfit.

However, Baker’s career quickly went off the rails. The Georgia product was alleged to have robbed a party at gunpoint in May 2020, and the Giants had already waived him by the time charges were dropped, thereby ending a sordid saga that included the attorney for three of Baker’s accusers being arrested on extortion charges. Shortly after he was criminally cleared, Baker hooked on with the Chiefs’ taxi squad and wound up appearing in two games (one start) for KC towards the end of the 2020 campaign.

The Chiefs were intrigued enough to retain Baker for the 2021 season, and he appeared in eight games (one start) for the club last year. His performance still left much to be desired, and while Kansas City kept him in the fold this offseason, the team also drafted three corners — including first-round choice Trent McDuffie — and traded for former Texans CB Lonnie Johnson Jr.

Having failed to impress during his limited time in Kansas City, Baker was squeezed out by the new acquisitions. The soon-to-be 25-year-old will surely get another opportunity, as teams are always on the lookout for CB depth (especially when that depth comes with a first-round pedigree). But he will need to start displaying skills commensurate with that pedigree in order to stay in the NFL for the long haul.

USFL WR Devin Gray Signs With Chiefs

August 6th, 2022 at 3:03pm CST by Ely Allen

Wide receiver Devin Gray will dip his toes into the NFL waters for the third time after signing a one-year deal with Kansas City, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The former Cincinnati Bearcat most recently played in the United States Football League and is the latest player from that league to sign an NFL contract.

Gray signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He spent three years on the team’s practice squad before finally being elevated to the active roster in the last regular season game of the 2020 season, still failing to find his way onto the field in that game. After participating in the short-lived The Spring League, Gray joined the Ravens for the summer of 2021, getting released from the practice squad early into the regular season. After failing to find another NFL job, Gray got selected in the USFL Draft and played eight games for the Philadelphia Stars, catching 25 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

Gray has some work ahead of him to make the Chiefs’ final 53-man roster. While Kansas City’s receiving corps isn’t exactly top-heavy, it has a decent amount of potential depth. The starting three are expected to be free agent addition JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, and another free agent signing in Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Behind them veteran Josh Gordon provides his skill set as long as he can stay on the field, second-round pick Skyy Moore will make the jump from Western Michigan to the NFL, and Justin Watson comes over after four unproductive years in Tampa Bay. Still behind them is former first-round pick Corey Coleman and a few other receivers who stood out in college like Daurice Fountain, Cornell Powell, and Gary Jennings.

That’s a lot of traffic for Gray to maneuver, and it will certainly be an uphill battle for the 27-year-old as he attempts to make an active NFL roster for only the second time in his career.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/5/22

August 5th, 2022 at 7:04pm CST by Ely Allen

Here’s today’s minor transactions from around the league:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/22

August 2nd, 2022 at 7:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Reverted to IR: WR Isaiah Weston

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: C Alex Mollette
  • Placed on IR: WR John Hurst, G/T Carter O’Donnell

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Waived: OL Chris Glaser

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Orlando Brown Jr.: Chiefs’ Extension Offer Too Light On Guarantees

August 2nd, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Yannick Ngakoue and Jadeveon Clowney showed, tag-and-trade sequences can occur well after the extension deadline. But Orlando Brown Jr. is not eyeing a path to a team that will make him a better offer down the line.

After reporting to Chiefs training camp Monday, Brown said he still hopes to sign a long-term deal with the team. But the fifth-year blocker said the deal Kansas City offered ahead of the July 15 deadline included insufficient guarantees.

“I want to be here. I want to finish my career here in Kansas City,” Brown said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “I’m sure questions are out there, but to me, with the contract situation, it just wasn’t enough guarantees.”

Brown, 26, sought an extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid left tackle. The Chiefs’ proposal — a six-year, $139MM accord — allowed him to say that. While that deal did have a bloated Year 6 salary ($40MM) that inflated the contract’s overall value, Albert Breer of SI.com notes the Chiefs offered $38MM guaranteed at signing and $52.25MM guaranteed for injury. Those numbers are not out of step with the tackle market.

Only Ronnie Stanley is tied to more total guarantees ($70.9MM). That number is an outlier among tackles, with only two others (Laremy Tunsil and Taylor Lewan) having $50MM guarantees in their respective deals. In terms of full guarantees, Brown’s contract would have placed him behind only Stanley ($64.1MM), Williams ($40.1MM) and Tunsil ($40MM). Williams’ guarantees also are part of a six-year contract; Stanley’s are part of a five-year deal. No other tackle signed for more than $35MM fully guaranteed.

At $95MM through five years, Brown’s contract would have placed him just below Williams ($104.8MM) and Stanley ($98.8MM) in this category. It is, thus, unsurprising his refusal to accept the Chiefs’ offer rankled some in the organization.

Patrick Mahomes led the way in convincing Brown to report shortly after the Chiefs opened camp, per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). Although Brown teased the prospect of a holdout into the season, that always seemed unrealistic. The former third-round pick has only earned rookie-deal money to this point. By far his biggest annual salary to date will come from this $16.7MM franchise tender. Now, Bengals safety Jessie Bates remains the only franchise-tagged player not to have signed his tender.

“I just didn’t feel right sitting at home, missing out on this,” Brown said of his early-camp absence. “This is something that I want to be a part of. You know, I was brought here to help with Super Bowls, and this week is very important to our progression.”

The decision to pass on Kansas City’s proposal does come with risk for Brown, whom a host of evaluators who spoke to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler did not rate as a top-10 tackle (ESPN+ link). An injury would hurt the former Ravens right tackle’s value. But the Chiefs gave up quite a bit to acquire Brown last year. He was the centerpiece of Kansas City’s 2021 O-line reconstruction. That project only has one other player — Joe Thuney — tied to a veteran contract. Rookie-year standouts Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith do not become extension-eligible until 2024. The Chiefs are also tied to a low-cost situation at right tackle.

A second franchise tag, which would be worth almost $20MM, is a realistic scenario. Brown journeying to another Pro Bowl, which would be his fourth overall and second as a Chief, would obviously drive up his price. As will the continued salary cap growth. The Chiefs still plan to try and hammer out a long-term solution, however.

Orlando Brown Jr. Reports To Chiefs Training Camp; Team Still Eyeing Long-Term Deal

August 1st, 2022 at 9:59am CST by Adam La Rose

With both Bengals safety Jessie Bates and Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. absent from their respective teams’ training camps, questions have been raised regarding when they would attend and sign their franchise tags. In the latter’s case, Monday has turned out to be the answer. 

Brown will report to camp today, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (Twitter link). He, like Bates, had yet to sign his franchise tag, but will of course do so to participate in practice. Since he was not under contract during the week he missed, Brown will not be subject to any fines.

Under the tag, the 26-year-old will earn $16.7MM. The Chiefs came close to finalizing a extension which would have made Brown the league’s highest-paid offensive lineman, but it fell through in large part due to the structure of the final year of their offer in particular. The sides cannot negotiate again until the end of the 2022 season. When that window opens, though, the team is prepared to make another push for a long-term deal.

“The agency has advisors around [Brown], and we respect his decision,” GM Brett Veach said, via Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star. “And it’s not going to limit our pursuit of him next year. We’re gonna continue to try to get him locked up.”

That represents a notably different tone than what some may have expected, given recent reports of the Chiefs’ frustrations over Brown’s decision to play on the tag this year. Nevertheless, Veach added that the team was going to welcome Brown back to camp “with open arms. I’m sure that [head] coach [Andy Reid] and I will get a chance to have a good conversation with him, and we’ll certainly let him know how much we love him, appreciate him.”

Barring an agreement being reached next offseason, a second tag would cost nearly $20MM, but leave the team with a lack of long-term certainty. Especially considering the price they paid to trade for the three-time Pro Bowler, a multi-year extension would obviously be their preference. Since his immediate future is no longer in doubt, though, attention will now turn to Bates, who has been adamant that he won’t play on the tag in 2022.

AFC West Rumors: Ross, Chargers, Broncos

July 30th, 2022 at 4:44pm CST by Ely Allen

Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross was one of the biggest names left on the board when the 2022 NFL Draft concluded. Unfortunately for the team that signed him, Ross was placed on the injured reserve by the Chiefs earlier this week. 

Ross helped lead the Tigers to their 2018 national championship as a true freshman with 46 receptions for 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He followed it up as a sophomore with 66 catches for 865 yards and eight touchdowns.

Ross’s college career was derailed by a congenital fusion condition of his neck and spine. The condition and the required surgery had the potential to end his entire career. He missed the entire 2020 season and came back to play in ten games of his redshirt junior season, catching 47 balls for 524 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t quite the end he desired in Clemson, but Ross decided to forgo his senior year and head to the NFL.

His debut with the Chiefs will have to wait, though, as he underwent foot surgery that will delay his first appearance in red and yellow.

Here are a few other notes from around the AFC West, starting in the City of Angels:

  • The Chargers announced the hiring this week of Pat White as a new offensive assistant for the team. White is the former star quarterback for West Virginia who became a second-round pick for the Dolphins in 2009. White appeared in 13 games as a rookie for the Dolphins but never threw a pass, mainly being utilized in the Dolphins’ infamous Wildcat formation of the time. White spent last year’s training camp with the Chargers as part of the team’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and has spent the past few regular seasons coaching quarterbacks in the college ranks at institutions such as Campbell, Alcorn State, South Florida, and Alabama State. It will be interesting to see where White fits in the coaching staff for the Chargers this season.
  • With new ownership set to take over in Denver, senior vice president of strategy, and former heir apparent to be controlling owner of the Broncos, Brittany Bowlen has stepped down from her role with the team, according to Ryan O’Halloran of The Denver Post. The daughter of late owner Pat Bowlen, Brittany was long presumed to be the next in line, taking all the necessary steps in preparation to take over. But with the team’s sale last month, Bowlen informed the Broncos’ staff that she would be stepping away, wishing the Walton-Penner Family Ownership luck in the process.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/29/22

July 29th, 2022 at 5:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed: DL Tomasi Laulile

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Signed as a UDFA shortly after the draft, Mevis fared rather poorly in a Thursday workout. The rookie kicker missed badly on three warmup kicks, one of which drilling ex-Cowboys HC Dave Campo (of Hard Knocks 2002 fame), per ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco. Mevis had struggled during the start of Jaguars camp. This is Fry’s seventh NFL team since he entered the league in 2019. The workout-circuit regular has played in three regular-season games — one-offs with the Falcons, Bengals and Chiefs. The Jags also have kicker Ryan Santoso on their roster.

A hamstring injury, sustained during a workout shortly after a flight to Green Bay, sidelined Watkins for the start of Packers camp. The veteran will try to shake a well-earned injury-prone label in Green Bay, though the former top-five pick’s roster spot may not be 100% secure. Andrews, who returned in 2020 after missing all of the 2019 season due to blood clots, underwent offseason shoulder surgery. He is back for a seventh season as the Patriots’ starting center.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/28/22

July 28th, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Chiefs To Sign Carlos Dunlap

July 28th, 2022 at 10:33am CST by Adam La Rose

Carlos Dunlap‘s name had been mentioned as one receiving increased attention late in the offseason. He has now found a new home, as the Chiefs are signing him to a one-year deal worth up to $8MM (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 

The 33-year-old is best known, of course, for his decade-plus spent with the Bengals. Over that time, he amassed 82.5 sacks, earning Pro Bowl invitations in 2015 and 2016. With the team transitioning to younger front seven options, he was traded midseason to the Seahawks in 2020, with whom he has demonstrated his continued ability to get to the quarterback.

In eight games after the trade, Dunlap registered five sacks. That performance was initially followed by his release, though Seattle did bring him back on a new deal. In 2021, the former second-rounder put up sold numbers again, with 8.5 sacks despite a snap percentage of just 38%. After being cut once again, Dunlap found himself on the open market.

The Seahawks showed interest in another reunion, but other teams became significant suitors as well. The Panthers (his hometown team) hosted him in June, and were reported to still be in the running to sign him as recently as yesterday. Instead, the Chiefs – the latest squad to work him out – have won the bidding for his services.

Kansas City added Melvin Ingram midseason in 2021, but he departed in free agency despite having the UFA tender placed on him, leaving veteran Frank Clark and first-round rookie George Karlaftis as the top defensive ends on the depth chart. That will likely remain the case, but Dunlap showed last season that he can be effective in a rotational role.

“It’s been a whirlwind trip,” he said of his visit to Kansas City. “It’s an exciting time for me and a long time coming” (Twitter links via CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson).

The Chiefs had over $11MM in cap space entering today, so this deal will likely be the last significant one of their offseason. It could very well prove to be a productive one, though, as the team looks to retain its perch atop a highly competitive AFC West.

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