With Pete Carroll joining the Raiders this offseason, the AFC West has the most accomplished division of head coaches in history.
Between Carroll with the Raiders, Andy Reid with the Chiefs, Sean Payton with the Broncos, and Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers, the division has earned a combined five Lombardi Trophies, nine Super Bowl appearances, 20 conference championship appearances, and two national championships at the college level (plus one more from Carroll that was vacated).
The AFC West also has an average head coach age of 65.5 years old.
Carroll was asked about competing against his fellow AFC West head coaches in his Wednesday press conference.
“Isn’t that something? Yeah, I think it’s great,” Carroll said, via transcript from the team. “If you’re going to be any good, you got to beat the best teams. You have to beat them, and so if this division is loaded with that, then that’s what’s going to make us what we are. And going against Andy, and Sean, and Jimmy down there, it couldn’t be any more challenging because these guys are terrific football coaches, and they’re going to have a complete team. They’re going to bring their kicking game, they’re going to bring their run game, they’re going to bring their defense, and then they’re going to know how to highlight their special players.
“I mean, that’s what this league, really, I think dictates. I got to get my act together. I got to play up to those guys.”
Last year, the Raiders were the weak link in the division, finishing 4-13 as the only AFC West club to miss the postseason. Carroll won at least seven games in every season he served as Seattle’s head coach from 2010-2023. We’ll see if he can bring that kind of performance to the Las Vegas desert in 2025.
In five days, all rosters must drop from a maximum of 90 players to 53. And there’s a viable alternative to cutting players and getting nothing in return.
Players who are destined to be visited by “The Turk” could be traded instead.
We’re already seeing it. The Chiefs dealt former second-round receiver Skyy Moore to the 49ers, for a flip of sixth- and seventh-round picks. Minnesota’s decision to trade defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, a team captain a year ago, was the alternative to what would have been an eyebrow-raising cut next week.
So expect more trades in the coming days. And, when they happen, realize that most of the players who have been traded would have been cut if their teams hadn’t found a way to make a deal.
In May 2024, a bullet was fired into the office of Chiefs coach Andy Reid. He was present at the time.
According to Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star, neither Reid nor anyone else was struck by the bullet or injured in the incident.
Reid now has bulletproof glass in his office.
Per the report, the bullet became lodged in a wall, roughly 15 feet from where Reid was sitting. It happened shortly after midnight on May 4, 2024.
No arrests have been made. The shooting remains under investigation, as an aggravated assault. Police maintain that there is no proof it was targeted at any specific person or organization.
The league recently recommended various security enhancements to its teams, in the aftermath of last month’s shooting at the NFL’s headquarters on Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Skyy Moore’s spot on the Chiefs’ roster was anything but guaranteed, but the wide receiver doesn’t have to wait until next week’s cutdown to find out his future.
The Chiefs traded Moore to the 49ers for a flip of sixth-round and seventh-round picks in 2027, Jordan Schultz reports.
Moore will get a chance to restart his career with a team in desperate need of healthy wide receivers.
Brandon Aiyuk continues to work his way back from ACL/MCL surgery that ended his 2024 season; Jauan Jennings is dealing with a calf injury; Jordan Watkins has a high-ankle sprain; and Jacob Cowing aggravated his hamstring injury Wednesday. In addition, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson will serve a three-game suspension after his no contest plea to a misdemeanor DUI charge.
The Chiefs made Moore a second-round pick in 2022, but he has only 11 starts, 43 receptions for 494 yards and a touchdown and 86 punt return yards and 93 kickoff return yards. He fumbled three punt returns in 2022 and has dropped four passes in his career.
Moore played only six games last season because of a core muscle injury. He saw action on 82 offensive snaps and 18 on special teams, with no catches but two kickoffs for 43 yards.
In last week’s preseason game against the Seahawks, Moore dropped two passes and muffed a kickoff before returning a punt 88 yards for a touchdown.
Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub touted Moore earlier this week, saying “he’s definitely an NFL player, whether he’s on our team or not on our team.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid will play his healthy starters in Friday night’s preseason finale against the Bears. He said they need the work before the season opener, which comes exactly two weeks after the last exhibition game.
“Yeah, there’s just a little bit longer wait here in between this game and the next game,” Reid said Wednesday, via Charles Goldman of AtoZ Sports. “And so, I just think I’d rather give the guys a little bit more time in this game so the timing keeps a little closer to when we get to our game.”
Reid listed the seven injured players the Chiefs will hold out of the game.
Tight end Jake Briningstool (hamstring), cornerback Nazeeh Johnson (shoulder), linebacker Jack Cochrane (bone bruise), offensive tackle Ethan Driskell (appendectomy), safety Mike Edwards (hamstring), defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (ankle) and wide receiver Jalen Royals (knee tendonitis) will not play.
Cornerback Kristian Fulton, who recently returned from the active/physically unable to perform list, could get some snaps. The Chiefs, though, could hold out wide receiver Hollywood Brown, who recently returned to practice from a foot/ankle injury.
“I’m going to just play that by ear,” Reid said of Brown’s status. “I’m going to see how it does through warm-ups and all that. We’ll just kind of go from there. This is day by day right there. I want no steps backward on that.
