The offseason usually starts with a coaching carousel, followed by a quarterback carousel.
This year, it will include a round of broadcaster roulette.
Troy Aikman is, by all appearances, leaving Monday Night Football. Greg Olsen is, by all appearances, leaving Fox.
Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal reports that Fox has had no negotiations with Olsen on a contract that expires after the current season.
Olsen, who had been the No. 1 analyst at Fox until Tom Brady came along, has been destined to leave for the top spot elsewhere. And the top spot will potentially be available at CBS, ESPN, and Prime Video.
Yes, Kirk Herbstreit has signed an extension. But it’s more of a placeholder for Prime Video; the new contract gives them an out to hire someone else.
Olsen has won multiple Emmys. Most recently, he beat out Brady for the prize. By next year, Olsen will likely be in the top chair at another network.
Of course, the top target in the looming frenzy likely will be Travis Kelce, who (we’ve heard) was already sniffing around the Prime Video spot last year. He’ll likely have his pick of the available jobs — and for now there likely will be at least three of them.
Someone won’t have a seat when the music stops. It could be that J.J. Watt slides back to No. 2 at CBS, and Aikman, Olsen, and Kelce take the CBS, ESPN, and Prime Video top spots.
Or it could get even more interesting, if the open jobs get more candidates to throw their headsets into the ring.
Chiefs Clips
Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons was officially limited in his return to practice, according to the club’s Wednesday injury report.
Simmons has not played all season while dealing with a back injury, with undrafted rookie Khalil Benson playing the position instead.
As head coach Andy Reid noted would be the case earlier on Wednesday, receiver Rashee Rice (hamstring/knee) did not participate to start the practice week.
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (knee) was also limited.
Defensive back Chamarri Conner (knee), fullback Ben VanSumeren (thumb), and quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) were all full participants.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus spoke about receiver Tyreek Hill’s prospects before Tuesday’s civil verdict finding him responsible for two counts of battery and directing him to pay $500,000. Since the verdict, Rosenhaus has spoken again.
“Nothing is imminent at this time,” Rosenhaus told ESPN regarding Hill. “He’s continuing his rehab with the goal of being on a team in the immediate future.”
There’s no reason to believe anything will happen, especially not imminently. Who would sign Hill in the aftermath of a jury finding that he committed two instances of domestic battery?
Also, the Personal Conduct Policy makes paid leave available in a broad range of situations. With a jury finding that Hill committed domestic battery, the league may not be inclined to let him play as the internal investigation continues.
Hill would likely prefer that outcome, especially if he needs more time to get himself back to 100 percent. If he signs with a team and is placed on paid leave as his recovery continues, he’d eventually get credit for games missed (games in which he wouldn’t have played anyway) if/when a suspension is imposed.
Regardless, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing anything any time, especially in the wake of Tuesday’s verdict.
The Chiefs will welcome offensive tackle Josh Simmons back to practice on Wednesday.
Head coach Andy Reid said at his press conference that Simmons will be on the field for the first time since the start of the regular season. Simmons has been sidelined with a back injury and Reid said that the team will take things slowly given how long Simmons has been out of action.
“We’re just going to ease him back in,” Reid said, via multiple reporters.
Rookie Khalil Benson has been at left tackle while Simmons has been out of action.
The Chiefs are coming off of a bye week and Reid said that wide receiver Rashee Rice will be the only player off the field on Wednesday. Rice injured his hamstring in Kansas City’s Week 4 win over the Raiders.
The Chiefs are 4-0, which means they’re one win away from putting Andy Reid in some very elite historic company.
If the Chiefs beat the Chargers on Sunday, they’ll be 5-0 for the fifth time since Reid became their head coach in 2013. Reid also had a 5-0 start in 2004 with the Eagles.
Only two coaches in NFL history, George Halas and Paul Brown, have started 5-0 six or more times. Halas did it 10 times during his 40 seasons as head coach of the Bears, and Brown did it six times during his 25-year coaching career, with the Browns from 1946 to 1962 and Bengals from 1968 to 1975.
The Chiefs are 8.5-point favorites against the winless Chargers, so Reid has a great chance to reach his sixth 5-0 start as a head coach.
Before a civil verdict was entered on Tuesday against free-agent receiver Tyreek Hill, his agent Drew Rosenhaus revisited the question of whether Hill will soon be joining an NFL team.
“I think it’s very fluid,” Rosenhaus told Josh Moser of WVSN. “I think a deal could happen any time. We are looking for the right situation, the right contract, the right team, the right fit, the right approach from a medical standpoint. Tyreek’s feeling really good health-wise. I did say last week I thought a deal could happen at any time. But in the NFL it really is day-to-day. So we are still working to find the right situation.”
What are the factors in finding the right situation?
“Well, you know, when you sign with a team midseason you’d like to go to a winner,” Rosenhaus said. “Number two, as a wide receiver, you’d like to go to a team that needs a wide receiver. Number three, you’d like to go to a team that’s got a pretty good quarterback. And number four, Tyreek’s gonna bring a lot of impact. We’ve got to get a fair contract. And that’s always complex to negotiate in the middle of a season.
“So kind of look at Tyreek as similar to guys that are traded midseason. Can really come in and help a team in the second half of the year. He can help a team advance to the next level.”
It’s still not clear whether Hill has fully recovered from a serious knee injury that he suffered in September 2025, during the Week 4 Monday night game against the Jets.
“I don’t know that he’s 100 percent today, but he’s close and he’ll get there really soon,” Rosenhaus said. “But I think that’s probably something you have to wait until he gets out in practices and gets with the team before saying he’s 100 percent. But he really is right there.”
The clip posted online includes no discussion of the pending Personal Conduct Policy investigation, or the potential impact of the then-pending civil trial. With Hill found responsible for two counts of battery, it’s a significant complication — both as to how the league will proceed (paid leave becomes a possibility immediately after he signs) and as to whether a team will want to accept the P.R. consequences of adding a player who has just been found liable by a jury for battery of his ex-wife, and ordered to pay her $500,000 in damages.
On Tuesday, a jury entered a mixed verdict in the civil lawsuit filed against free-agent receiver Tyreek Hill by his former wife, Keeta Vaccaro. The verdict comes at a time when the NFL is investigating Hill for the allegations Vaccaro has made.
“We have been monitoring developments in the matter which remains under review of the personal conduct policy,” an NFL spokesperson told PFT on Tuesday night, after the verdict was returned.
The civil verdict is not binding on the league, as to either the counts on which he lost or the counts on which he won. The NFL’s investigation is independent of that process.
The key question is whether Vaccaro will cooperate with the NFL. It has no power to issue subpoenas; if, for example, the verdict leads to a prompt settlement, a confidentiality provision could prevent her from talking to NFL investigators.
Regardless, the verdict becomes evidence that the NFL could utilize, along with the transcript of Vaccaro’s sworn testimony. It’s unclear when the NFL’s investigation will conclude, or whether the civil verdict would prompt the league to place Hill on paid leave as the investigation proceeds.
The civil lawsuit brought by Tyreek Hill’s ex-wife alleging multiple counts of battery and related legal claims has resulted in a verdict. Via Diana Moskovitz of Defector Media, the jury found Hill responsible for two counts of battery. He was found not responsible on the remaining counts.
The jury awarded Keeta Vaccaro $500,000 in compensatory damages. The jury did not enter an award of punitive damages.
The jury’s decision not to award punitive damages is curious. Battery is an intentional tort. In Florida, however, the law requires “clear and convincing evidence” of intentional misconduct. It’s possible, in theory, that the jury found evidence of battery under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard but not “clear and convincing” proof, which is a higher bar.
The outcome becomes relevant to the NFL’s ongoing Personal Conduct Policy review arising from the allegations Vaccaro initially made against Hill in a divorce filing. The findings represent a neutral determination that Hill more likely than not committed battery, twice. However, the Personal Conduct Policy does not automatically subject a player to discipline based solely on a civil verdict; the league will still need to perform its own investigation and reach a conclusion through the collectively-bargained process.
Regardless, the finding of two instances of civil battery, plus a $500,000 verdict, could cause one or more potentially interested teams to refrain from pursuing him. Especially since the league could still find that Hill violated the policy as to the two incidents on which Hill lost — and all incidents on which he prevailed.
The Chiefs did not replace Tyquan Thornton on the active roster with another wide receiver.
Thornton was placed on injured reserve Tuesday due to the dislocated ankle he suffered in Week 4. He’ll have surgery on the ankle and is expected to be sidelined for 3-4 months.
Linebacker Cam Jones was signed off of the practice squad in a corresponding move. Jones signed with the Chiefs over the summer and joined the practice squad after being part of the team’s final cuts.
Jones played 38 regular season and playoff games for the Chiefs in 2023 and 2024. He played in 10 games for the Jets last season and has 43 total tackles.
The Chiefs also confirmed that they have signed wide receiver Justin Watson to the practice squad. Watson and Jones were teammates during Jones’s time with the team and Watson spent three seasons with the Chiefs before moving on to the Texans last year.
After a Week 5 bye, the Chiefs will be back in action when they play the Chargers on Sunday.
Kenneth Walker likely needed the idle week, as he’s racked up 99 touches over his first four games. He’s leading the league at 6.2 yards per carry and 134.3 rushing yards per game.
Has this kind of production surprised Kansas City head coach Andy Reid?
“Yeah, I would tell you not really because we thought he did well, especially when [the Seahawks] had to turn everything over to him during the playoffs,” Reid told reporters in his Monday press conference. “So, we saw his whole game there, and now we’re just seeing it on an extended basis where he comes in and he’s been able to showcase all that.”
Walker has rushed for at least 170 twice in his first four games with the Chiefs and accumulated at least 175 yards from scrimmage in three of four games. He’s also scored at least two touchdowns in three of four to help Kansas City start the season 4-0.
