The Chiefs are bringing long snapper James Winchester back for the 2026 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they have agreed on a one-year deal with Winchester. The deal calls for Winchester to make $1.75 million.
Winchester was the highest-paid long snapper during the 2025 season and he remains at the top of the list with this deal.
Winchester has played in all 181 regular season games and 25 playoff games that the Chiefs have played since he joined the team in 2015. Winchester, who has 17 career tackles, is tied for 11th in franchise history in regular season games played.
Chiefs Clips
On draft day in 2025, all 32 teams began the first round with their original pick in place. This year is a whole lot different.
Five teams have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL draft, and five other teams have none, after the Raiders got the Ravens’ 2026 and 2027 first-round picks by agreeing to trade Maxx Crosby.
The Raiders have their own first-round pick (No. 1 overall) and the Ravens’ first-round pick (No. 14).
The Jets have their own first-round pick (No. 2) and the Colts’ first-round pick (No. 16) from the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Browns have their own first-round pick (No. 6) and the Jaguars’ first-round pick (No. 24) from last year’s draft-day trade that allowed the Jaguars to draft Travis Hunter.
The Chiefs have their own first-round pick (No. 9) and the Rams’ first-round pick (No. 29) from the Trent McDuffie trade.
The Cowboys have their own first-round pick (No. 12) and the Packers’ first-round pick (No. 20) from the Micah Parsons trade.
Five other teams don’t have a first-round pick: The Falcons, Ravens, Colts, Packers and Jaguars.
The teams with two first-round picks all missed the playoffs last season and know they have some rebuilding to do. Those picks can be their building blocks.
Jawaan Taylor has reached the end of the line with the Chiefs.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Kansas City has informed Taylor that he will be released on Wednesday.
Reports emerged earlier this week that the Chiefs were planning on releasing Taylor. At that point, there was a chance Kansas City could find a trade partner for the veteran tackle. But with no trade partner materializing, Kansas City will now let Taylor go, allowing him to get a bit of a head start on the rest of the free agent market.
By releasing Taylor, the Chiefs will save $20 million against the cap for 2026.
Taylor signed with the Chiefs in 2023, winning Super Bowl LVIII with the club. But Taylor has struggled at right tackle, particularly over the last two seasons. In his total time wit the Chiefs, he racked up eight penalties for being lined up too deep in the backfield for an illegal formation.
A second-round pick in 2019, Taylor played his first four seasons with the Jaguars.
The Chiefs have agreed to trade Trent McDuffie to the Rams when the new league year opens next week, but they weren’t the only NFC team pursuing a deal for the cornerback.
Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reports that the Giants were also engaged in conversations with the Chiefs about a deal. The Chiefs ultimately decided to move forward with the Rams’ offer of the 29th overall selection and three other picks.
The Giants have the fifth overall pick in April’s draft, but it’s not clear what they were willing to give up in exchange for McDuffie.
With that door now closed, the Giants will have to look elsewhere for help at cornerback. They could trade for another player or they could target McDuffie’s Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson and others in free agency.
Rams General Manager Les Snead said on Tuesday that it would be nice to add an All-Pro to the team’s secondary and he has used one of the team’s two first-round picks to pull that off.
Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie was mentioned as a potential target for the Rams in recent day and there are multiple reports on Wednesday that the Rams have agreed to trade for the 2023 first-team All-Pro. The Rams will trade the 29th overall pick in this year’s draft to the Chiefs as part of a package that also includes 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks and a 2027 third-round pick.
McDuffie is set to make $13.6 million this year after the Chiefs exercised their fifth-year option on his contract. The Rams will presumably move to sign McDuffie to a long-term deal as well.
McDuffie was also a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and he had 63 tackles, an interception, a sack, and a forced fumble in 13 games for the Chiefs last season.
The Rams fell short of the Super Bowl in January because they could not beat the Seahawks on the road in the NFC Championship Game.
Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns in Seattle and the Rams sacked Sam Darnold three times, but the Seahawks quarterback and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba tore their defense apart when he had enough time to throw. Darnold and Smith-Njigba hooked up 10 times for 153 yards and one of Darnold’s three touchdown passes, so it wasn’t surprising to hear Rams General Manager Les Snead prioritizing help in the defensive backfield on Tuesday.
“Is there an All-Pro that you could add?” Snead said, via Nate Atkins of TheAthletic.com. “That would be nice.”
There aren’t any All-Pros available in free agency, but a trade could be a possibility and the chances of making one are helped by the Rams holding a pair of first-round picks this year. Snead’s well known for saying “f—k them picks” while building the Rams’ Super Bowl LXI winners and he said on Tuesday that he’s looking for “a player who is going to give us an edge and make an impact.”
Atkins suggests Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie as a Rams target as he is looking for a new contract and played for Rams defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake while in college. McDuffie has been named an All-Pro and the coming days should bring more of an idea about whether Snead will be pushing to bring him to Los Angeles.
Veteran tackle Jawaan Taylor’s time is up in Kansas City.
According to multiple reports, the Chiefs plan to release Taylor ahead of the start of the new league year on March 11. There is still a chance that the team could trade Taylor before making his release official, but his contract would seem to make that an unlikely outcome.
Taylor is set to make $20 million in salary and bonuses with a cap number north of $27 million. The Chiefs would clear $20 million under the cap with a trade or release and Taylor’s play in 2025 did little to suggest there will be a robust market for him at that price.
Taylor started 12 games before going on injured reserve with an elbow injury in December. He started 45 games in three seasons with the Chiefs and started 66 games for Jacksonville before moving to Kansas City.
In the twelve days since the Dolphins released receiver Tyreek Hill, no other team has emerged as a serious suitor to sign him. During four days at the Scouting Combine, no one said anything to suggest that a pursuit of Hill was happening, or looming.
That makes it difficult, to say the least, to predict his next team. Guesses are nevertheless welcome, via a “next team” wager at DraftKings.
The Chiefs are the current favorites, at +150. Next are the Bills at +600, the Ravens at +700, and the Chargers at +800.
The Patriots, Raiders, and Rams are +1400. The Steelers, Giants, and Broncos are +1600. The 49ers have +1800 odds.
Last week, Chiefs coach Andy Reid provided a lukewarm (at best) assessment regarding a possible reunion, citing Hill’s current health. He continues to recover from a serious knee injury suffered against the Jets in Week 4.
"[W]e talk about everything,” Reid said. “So there’s nothing happening there, but we know what you know — that he’s out there and cranking away, trying to get himself back to where he can play, period.”
There’s another factor when it comes to Hill. As one source put it during our time in Indianapolis, it could be an even more important concern than his knee.
Hill remains the subject of a lingering Personal Conduct Policy investigation, arising from domestic violence allegations made by his estranged wife. And, at times, Hill has been hard to handle. Discontent in Kansas City, coupled with a desire for a new contract after Davante Adams signed with the Raiders in 2022, sparked a trade to Miami while Hill was still squarely in his prime. At the end of the 2024 season, Hill said it was time for him to leave the Dolphins. (He later embarked on a Super Bowl-week apology tour.)
When a player has elite skills, the other stuff can more easily be overlooked. When the skills begin to slip, it’s harder to ignore the factors that make a player less desirable.
At this point, Hill could become a player that teams will begin to seriously assess after free agency and the draft. Any team that hasn’t otherwise addressed the receiver position by early May could pivot to Hill.
For now, it seems as if most if not all teams are content to focus on other options. When the dust settles on the usual paths for adding new players, Hill’s status could come into better focus.
Still, the first question is when and if he’ll be healthy. The second question is whether a team is willing to embrace a player who could be facing a suspension, and who could have a hard time dealing with being anything other than the No. 1 receiver and, in turn, the focal point of the passing game.
Adams has embraced being second fiddle to Puka Nacua in L.A. Hill may need to accept that same kind of role — and to convince a prospective team that, when he says it, he means it.
Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.
The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.
The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:
1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).
College football players who are good enough to turn pro are increasingly choosing to stay in college, where their NIL paychecks can rival what they’d be making in the NFL.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said now that the NCAA allows players to make money off their names, images and likenesses, players aren’t entering the draft because of the money they can make in college. Veach said that the Chiefs already had an early version of their draft board set before the deadline for players to enter the draft, and a large proportion of the Chiefs’ top prospects decided to stay in college.
“When the official decision date for the underclassmen came, I believe we moved over 25 guys off our board that we had Top 75, Top 100,” Veach said. “So it’s really impacts, I think, the draft, and then you’re getting older, older prospects as you go on. I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon and I think that’s something we have to adapt to.”
The Chiefs are now finding that the draft is dominated by older players who have fully exhausted their NCAA eligibility — meaning they’ll be drafting some players who are older than players currently on the Chiefs’ roster.
“You see their birth dates and then you look at the roster and a lot of our guys are as young as these guys,” Veach said.
Veach said where he really sees it is on Day 2 of the draft, which used to have a lot of talented prospects who hadn’t played a lot of college football. Those players are typically transferring to other schools now rather than moving to the NFL.
“Typically, the second and third round would be those guys that maybe they didn’t play a lot, but they were young,” he said. “Well, now these guys are just bouncing and getting paid by another school and getting paid and playing. So Round 2, 3, 4, the younger developmental guys who haven’t scratched the surface yet, you’re getting more finished product so that’s challenging, but that’s what we have to adapt to and how we position our board.”
The transfer portal and NIL have fundamentally changed college football. Which means they’ve fundamentally changed the NFL draft as well.
