Rather than delay his inevitable suspension until after a September 30 hearing, Chiefs WR Rashee Rice accepted a six-game ban, which he will begin serving immediately. As ESPN’s Nate Taylor details, there are several factors that informed Rice’s decision.

For one, he knew there was no guarantee that former U.S. district judge Sue L. Robinson, who was scheduled to hear his case, would have handed him a ban of fewer than six games. Secondly, he wanted to get his suspension out of the way early so that he would be available for Kansas City’s playoff push.

As our Adam La Rose recently observed, the earlier suspension will give Rice more time to continue healing from the LCL tear that prematurely ended his 2024 season. Taylor also points out that Rice will be eligible for an extension after the upcoming campaign, at which point he will have accrued three years of service time. Serving the ban at the beginning of the year will enable him to build momentum in that regard rather than starting the season on the field and then being forced to sit out a significant number of games in the middle of the 2025 schedule.

Rice’s criminal matter, which stemmed from a March 2024 hit-and-run incident that brought eight felony charges, concluded last month with a sentence of five years probation and a 30-day prison term. Rice received deferred adjudication, which gives him the opportunity to avoid the prison stay, but his NFL matter lingered for several weeks after the legal resolution.

With Rice on the sidelines, Kansas City’s WR targets will be shared by Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, and Jalen Royals. Rice, though, is probably the club’s best wideout, and while the Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl without him last season, they certainly felt his absence. 

“It’s another threat,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of Rice. “Rashee gets those screens and he gets 15-20 yards. That kind of crushes a defense. When they’re worried about us going deep and then all of a sudden we’re hitting screens and getting the same explosive plays, that kind of completes the offense.”

Smith-Schuster and Brown will likely share time in Rice’s familiar slot receiver role until the SMU product returns to the field. He will miss games against the Chargers, Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Jaguars, and Lions, and he will not be eligible to practice until Week 7. 

AUGUST 15: The league proposed a suspension spanning double-digit games in this case, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports (video link). The NFLPA and Rice’s representatives took issue with such a ban given the lack of precedent for suspensions of that length in situations such as his. Time still remains for a compromise to be worked out, but in the absence of one the wait for finding out the exact length of Rice’s absence will stretch well into the campaign.

AUGUST 14:Rashee Rice is expected to be suspended for a chunk of the 2025 season. The Chiefs wide receiver’s criminal discipline has been levied, and it had been assumed an NFL suspension would be handed out before the season.

Now, Kansas City could have its top wideout to open the year but be without him for much of the midseason stretch. An NFL disciplinary hearing is set for September 30; the wideout’s suspension length will almost definitely emerge in the wake of that summit. While Rice’s case is certainly different from Deshaun Watson‘s high-profile 2022 suspension saga, the hearing component is similar.

The NFL, NFLPA and Rice’s camp could not agree on discipline in this case, ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports, leading to the hearing. The Sept. 30 date stemmed from disciplinary officer Sue Robinson’s availability. Robinson’s availability potentially determining which games Rice is available for certainly represents an interesting wrinkle here. Based on the lack of agreement here, it can be assumed the NFL is intending to suspend Rice for a significant stretch.

Rice was hit with eight felony charges in connection with a March 2024 hit-and-run incident. His criminal case concluded last month with a sentence of five years probation and a 30-day prison term. Rice received deferred adjudication, so completing the probation process will close the case and allow him to avoid serving time in prison.

However, Rice also was accused of punching a photographer at a nightclub following that freeway street-racing incident. While Rice was at SMU, Rice or a member of his party fired gunshots into an empty vehicle belonging to a Mustangs basketball player. That was believed to have been on the table to be folded into an NFL investigation. Although the accuser in the nightclub assault matter declined to press charges, these two lower-profile incidents may impact his NFL suspension duration.

The Chiefs’ September slate consists of games against the Chargers, Eagles, Giants and Ravens. The six games following the hearing go: Jaguars, Lions, Raiders, Commanders, Bills and Broncos. While Rice stands to be available for the three-time reigning AFC champions’ early slate, his reemergence from an LCL tear would then be paused due to a ban. The sides could preempt a hearing by reaching a settlement beforehand, however. That is how the Watson matter produced an 11-game ban, as the NFL was aiming to have the Browns trade acquisition suspended for all of the 2022 season. A compromise stopped the offseason-overshadowing matter from dragging on even longer than it had. In her role with the NFL, Robinson has only heard the Watson case.

The Chiefs have seen a number of regulars run into off-field trouble during Andy Reid‘s time at the helm; only some produced suspensions. While Tyreek Hill‘s domestic violence arrest occurred while he was in college, a separate scandal led to a 2019 NFL investigation. A lack of cooperation by a Kansas district attorney’s office, however, helped keep the wideout from being suspended. The Chiefs also waived Kareem Hunt — who has since returned to the team — after video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman at a Cleveland hotel. Hunt’s eight-game ban came when he was with the Browns in 2019. The Chiefs, however, saw Frank Clark banned two games midway through the 2022 season in connection with two gun-related arrests. One of their post-Clark options, free agent signee Charles Omenihu, was suspended six games for a domestic violence arrest to open the ’23 season. Backup wideout Justyn Ross also landed on the commissioner’s exempt list in 2023 for a domestic battery incident.

If/when Rice is suspended, the Chiefs will — as they did last year during his injury hiatus — lean on Xavier Worthy. Marquise Brown is also positioned to be available this year, after he missed most of last season. Those two will be Kansas City’s primary receiving weapons alongside Travis Kelce. It will be interesting to see if Rice joins these pass-game principals in Week 1 or reaches a resolution to serve his ban to open the season.

The matter of potential league discipline in the case of Rashee Rice is still unresolved at this point. That will continue through the start of the coming season.

The third-year Chiefs wideout has long been viewed as a candidate for a suspension stemming from his involvement in a March 2024 hit-and-run incident. His criminal case was concluded last month with a sentence of five years probation and a 30-day prison term. Rice received deferred adjudication, so completing the probation process will close the case and allow him to avoid serving time in prison. Shortly after that key development, one of the three civil suits associated with the case was settled.

[RELATED: Suspension Length Disagreement Led To Hearing]

Attention will now turn to the NFL’s investigation into the matter and any supplemental discipline which is handed down as a result. On that note, Thursday has seen a notable update in the Rice case. A league hearing is set to take place on September 30, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. It is at that time, presumably, an announcement will be made with respect to any potential suspension. Schefter adds that judge Sue L. Robinson will preside over the hearing (having only previously done so in the Deshaun Watson case).

Today’s news means a firm timeline is now in place for Rice and the Chiefs to learn how long he will be unavailable in the event of a suspension. It also means, however, the 25-year-old will be available for Kansas City during the first four games of the campaign. That stretch covers contests against the Chargers, Eagles, Giants and Ravens.

An LCL tear limited Rice to just four games last season, one in which expectations were high regarding his production and role in Kansas City’s offense. The SMU product flashed as a rookie with 938 yards and seven touchdowns, and he could reprise his role as the Chiefs’ No. 1 receiver when on the field this season. Given today’s news, though, it will remain unclear well into the campaign how many games Rice will miss in 2025.

Kansas City’s WR depth chart also includes Xavier Worthy, who enjoyed a strong run during the playoffs (including the Super Bowl) during his rookie campaign. A step forward in Year 2 would be key for team and player in the former first-rounder’s case. The Chiefs also have the likes of Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Skyy Moore in place entering the season. A more consistent showing on offense will be targeted as Kansas City looks to top the AFC once again in 2025.

Rice figures to play a role in that effort, at least during the first month of the season. Once his hearing takes place, the length of any suspension handed down will of course be a key storyline for he and the Chiefs.

The legal situation surrounding Rashee Rice has reached a conclusion. The Chiefs receiver was sentenced on Thursday to five years probation and 30 days in jail, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The prison sentence can be served at any time within that five-year period. Schefter adds Rice also received deferred adjudication, meaning that if he completes the probation process his case will be dismissed. This development paves the way for the NFL to move forward with its own investigation and potential discipline against Rice.

“We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review,” an NFL spokesman said in a statement (via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports). The Chiefs declined to comment (h/t Jones).

Rice was one of two people driving when a Lamborghini SUV and a Corvette lost control the night of March 30, 2024. He and all five other total occupants of the two vehicles fled the scene after the accident, which came about while Rice and former college teammate Theodore Knox were believed to be street racing. Rice became the subject of an arrest warrant days later and turned himself in to police. The 25-year-old faced a total of eight felony charges stemming from the incident.

As noted by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office (via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero), Rice entered into a plea agreement on two third-degree felonies (collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury). Prior to the agreement, Rice had already paid for the victims’ medical costs, totaling roughly $115K.

“Last March, I was involved in a high-speed accident in Dallas,” a statement from Rice (delivered through his attorney) reads. “There have been a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages that my actions caused, and I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole. I urge everyone to mind the speed limit, drive safe and drive smart.

“Last and certainly not least, I am profoundly sorry for the physical damages to person and property. I fully apologize for the harm I caused to innocent drivers and their families.”

Without a legal resolution in place by the start of the 2024 regular season, the NFL declined to place Rice on the commissioner’s exempt list. That allowed him to play and led to the expectation a suspension would not be handed down until 2025. In Week 4, the SMU product suffered a knee injury which was initially feared to be an ACL tear; further testing revealed that was not the case.

Nevertheless, Rice’s knee surgery ended his season and left the Chiefs shorthanded at the receiver spot. Two years remain on the former second-rounder’s rookie contract, and he is slated to be healthy in time for training camp. Of course, it now remains to be seen if he will be with the team at the onset of camp or if he will use the period between now and the start of the campaign to serve his jail time. In any case, today’s update should open to door to a decision regarding a suspension being made in the near future.