Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones says there’s a bitter taste in his mouth, and his teammates’ mouths, after getting blown out by the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Jones said he and many others in the Chiefs facility look back on their 40-22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX as a reminder that they have a lot of work to do to reach their ultimate goal.
“I think you can use a lot of things as motivation, especially this past season,” Jones said. “The biggest motivation is making it to the big game and losing — not only losing, but losing the way we did. A lot of people in the building think we could have done better. We think we’re better, and we’re focused on getting back to the mountaintop now.”
The Chiefs have had an extraordinary run of success over the last seven years, making it to the AFC Championship Game every year, making it to the Super Bowl five times and winning three of those Super Bowls. With that kind of success, nothing other than a championship feels acceptable, and Jones and his teammates aren’t satisfied with how last season ended.
Chiefs punter Matt Araiza is officially under contract for the 2025 season.
Araiza’s return wasn’t in much doubt once the Chiefs tendered him as a contract as an exclusive rights free agent early in the offseason, but it wasn’t formalized until Araiza signed that tender. The NFL’s daily transaction report for Wednesday shows that Araiza has done that.
Exclusive rights free agents aren’t permitted to negotiate with other clubs once they are tendered, so Araiza was not at risk of leaving the team unless the Chiefs pulled their offer.
Araiza was a Bills sixth-round pick in 2022, but was released ahead of the regular season after being sued for an alleged rape. Araiza signed with the Chiefs in 2024 after being dropped from the suit and had an average of 41.5 net yards per punt last year.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has played more football than he has ahead of him.
But while there was plenty of speculation that the 35-year-old could retire a few months ago, Kelce elected to stick around for at least one more season.
In his Wednesday minicamp press conference, Kelce told reporters that the decision to return wasn’t that hard for him.
“I love football,” Kelce said, via Pete Sweeney of ArrowheadPride.com. “I don’t think I really thought about it that much. My friends and family and the team and the guys and women in this building — I love coming into work every single day.
“It wasn’t a very tough one for me. I know I’m getting older, but at the same time, I still feel like I got a lot that I can prove in this league. With that being said, it really wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.”
Kelce noted that he wanted to let his emotions die down in the aftermath of losing Super Bowl LIX to the Eagles. But after that, he realized he still had the fire to compete.
But will this be the last rodeo for the storied tight end, who will turn 36 in October?
“I got one year on this contract, I know that,” Kelce said. “And we’ll try and figure out something for next year. The Chiefs’ organization knows how much I love them. I can’t see myself ever playing anywhere else, so we’ll deal with that down the road when the time is right.
“But right now, I’m focused on winning a championship this year.”
The wrongful discharge lawsuit filed earlier this week by former Chiefs director of player engagement Ramzee Robinson includes a claim based on an alleged effort by the Texans to hire him.
And so we asked the Texans if they had any comment about Robinson’s claim. The Texans have declined comment.
The relevant language in the complaint appears in paragraph 24: “Some months before his termination, Mark Donovan pressured Plaintiff to renew his contract and claimed that the contract would offer him stability. After Plaintiff signed, the Houston Texans asked KC Chiefs’ management to interview Plaintiff. The KC Chiefs refused. The KC Chiefs told the Texans that an interview would violate his contract. Plaintiff discovered this information when a representative from the Texans called him personally and asked him about this missed opportunity.”
The NFL’s Anti-Tampering Policy covers this situation. Unless the Texans were offering Robinson an opportunity to become a “high-level employee” (basically, G.M. or team president), the Chiefs had every right under the policy to refuse to allow Robinson to interview with the Texans.
Moreover, Robinson may have disclosed a possible violation of the Anti-Tampering policy by mentioning that someone from the Texans “called him personally and asked him about this missed opportunity.”
So, in the end, there’s a chance that Houston’s effort to acquire an employee could result in the team acquiring a tampering investigation.
Former Chiefs director of player engagement Ramzee Robinson has sued the team for wrongful discharge and tortious interference. A request for comment was sent to the Chiefs.
Citing the pending litigation, the Chiefs have declined comment.
“We can’t comment because it’s an active legal matter,” Chiefs V.P. of football communications Brad Gee told PFT via text message on Wednesday night. “But to be clear, the Chiefs do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We look forward to the facts of this case coming to light.”
Robinson acknowledges in his complaint that he was told he had engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league,” and that his supervisor “suggested” that Robinson “attacked his white female co-worker, Melissa Weinz,” and that the incident was preserved on security cameras.
Robinson alleges that his supervisor refused to show him the video.
The video will be a key piece of evidence in the case. If it corroborates the team’s version, that’s bad for Robinson. If it shows nothing significant, it’s good for Robinson.
