In 2025, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offensive fortunes appeared to improve dramatically once the team welcomed back wideouts Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice to the fold after injury and suspension had them miss the first month (and more) of the regular season.
The 2026 NFL Draft saw Kansas City mostly leave the position alone, save for the addition of Cyrus Allen in the fifth round, as they moved forward with Rice and Worthy as their top two guys, with Allen, Tyquan Thornton and second year fourth round pick Jalen Royals all acting as supplementary and reserve bodies at the position.
However, after Rice failed a drug test and violating his five-year probation, which ultimately saw him be sent to jail for 30 days on Tuesday, his long-term future with the organization has been thrown into doubt.
His poor off-the-field record, which has also included a six-game suspension in 2025 for his role in a multi-vehicle crash in March 2024, alongside some unfortunate injury history that saw him miss the majority of the 2024 season and forced him to get clean-up surgery just over a week ago in mid-May, could have the franchise thinking long and hard about how they want to proceed with the former second round pick.
John Middlekauff Blasts Rashee Rice After Incident
3 & OUT podcast host John Middlekauff, who has also co-hosted Fox Sports’ The Herd With Colin Cowherd on multiple occasions, believes that this should spell the beginning of the end of the Chiefs’ relationship with the 26-year old.
“Rashee Rice at this point in time is just not a reliable person. I don’t judge Rashee Rice for smoking weed, I judge him for smoking weed when he knows he has to take a drug test, and if he fails he goes to jail.” Middlekauff said on 3 & Out on May 20.
“If I was the Chiefs I’d be out on the guy, I really would…I think unreliability will always bite you in the ass. I would rather go down with some more or less talented people that I know are going to show up, that I know will be there when I need them. Because at this point in time, you have no clue what this guy is going to do.
Should the Chiefs Move on From Rashee Rice?
It is not clear exactly what Middlekauff means by “be out”. It could either mean trade or cut the wideout prior to the season, or it could just be the broader desire to not extend the Philadelphia native entering a contract year beyond the 2026 season.
Albert Breer claimed that Rice’s mistake could cost him “9 figures”, i.e. at least $100 million. Were he more reliable it would not be surprising for the wideout to demand a contract in the range of $35 million per year, for 4-5 years, coming out to around $150 million total â and possibly more.
If Rice’s deal ends up being closer to $40-50 million on a 3-4 year deal, that would be an otherworldly bargain on one of the NFL’s top receiving talents.
Ultimately much will depend on Rice’s continued conduct this coming season, and how comfortable head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach feel about giving him a decent-sized long-term deal relative to the rest of the league.
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