Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel will be back in Kansas City in 2025.
The Chiefs announced today that they have re-signed Pennel.
The 33-year-old Pennel has been all over the place in his football career. He played at three different colleges, and in the NFL has been with the Packers, Jets, Patriots, Falcons, Bears twice and Chiefs twice. Pennel has played a total of 42 games with the Chiefs, the team he has played the most for.
Last year Pennel played all 17 games and was on the field for 30 percent of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps and 11 percent of special teams snaps. He’ll be expected to provide that kind of depth again this year.
Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt wasn’t a free agent for long before he agreed to a new deal to return to Kansas City for 2025. He says it’s all about getting done what he and his teammates didn’t get done in Super Bowl LIX.
“I just wanna focus on finishing the job,” he said, via ArrowheadPride.com, “finding a way to win that last game.”
Hunt was drafted by the Chiefs in 2017 but still doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring, as he was in Cleveland for all three of the Chiefs’ recent championships. Hunt thinks he’s on a team that has more Super Bowls left in it, though.
“The culture is just great,” he said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to. But we’ve got a lot of work to do — and I feel like we’ve got another good shot at it.”
If the Chiefs get another shot in 2025, they’ll have Hunt as part of their offense again.
The Chiefs have agreed to terms with free agent cornerback/core special teams player Robert Rochell on a one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Rochell, who turns 27 next month, spent the past two seasons with the Packers.
In 2024, he played 11 games, seeing action on one defensive snap and 121 on special teams. He made two tackles and recovered a fumble.
Rochell entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Rams in 2021, and he spent his first two seasons in Los Angeles.
He has totaled 25 tackles, one interception, four passes defensed and three fumble recoveries in 48 games with five starts in his four-year career.
Free-agent defensive end Charles Omenihu is staying put.
After more than a week on the market, Omenihu has opted to rejoin the Chiefs on a one-year deal. Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, it has a maximum value of $7 million.
Omenihu suffered a torn ACL in the 2023 AFC Championship. He missed the first 11 games of the 2024 regular season due to the injury.
He returned for the final six regular-season games and the team’s three postseason games. He finished with 1.0 sacks in the regular season and 1.0 in the postseason.
A fifth-round pick of the Texans in 2019, he was traded to the 49ers during the 2021 season. He signed a two-year deal with the Chiefs in 2023.
The Chiefs are re-signing defensive lineman Marlon Tuipulotu, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports.
Tuipulotu, 25, played two games with one start for the Chiefs last season. He saw action on 61 defensive snaps and seven on special teams and totaled four tackles, including a tackle for loss.
The Eagles made Tuipulotu a sixth-round pick in 2021, and he spent his first three seasons in Philadelphia. He appeared in 28 games with one start and recorded 43 tackles, three sacks, a fumble recovery and four quarterback hits.
The Eagles cut him out of training camp last summer, and he signed with the Chiefs’ practice squad two days later.
Could Carson Wentz be on his way to Cleveland?
According to one Wednesday report, it could happen if the right dominoes fall.
Per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Wentz and the Browns “definitely have mutual interest” if the team does not end up signing quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wentz, 32, would effectively be a bridge quarterback for Cleveland. The team also traded for Kenny Pickett earlier this month, and he’d be an option for the club at that position as well.
The Browns hosted Wilson for a free-agent visit last week. But he has also met with the Giants.
Several regimes ago, the Browns had a chance to select Wentz in the 2016 draft. But the club elected to trade the No. 2 overall pick to the Eagles instead.
Wentz spent last season with the Chiefs, appearing in three regular-season games — one against the Browns — with one start. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 118 yards.
After spending his first five seasons with Philadelphia, Wentz has played for the Colts, Commanders, Rams, and Chiefs over the last four years.
The Packers are signing wide receiver Mecole Hardman to a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.
Hardman received interest from several teams, including the Bears.
He could compete for the returner jobs for the Packers, having averaged 9.2 yards on 89 punt returns and 23.8 yards on 45 kickoff returns.
Hardman spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs. He left for the Jets in free agency a year ago before the Chiefs traded for him in the middle of the year. Hardman played only six games with two starts and caught 14 passes for 118 yards with Kansas City.
He did not play in the postseason.
Hardman caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, delivering the Chiefs a 25-22 victory over the 49ers to end the 2023 season.
In his six NFL seasons, Hardman has appeared in 80 games with 28 starts, catching 178 passes for 2,302 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Murder charges have been filed in connection with the death of a Kansas City-based reporter during Super Bowl week in New Orleans.
Via the Associated Press, 48-year-old Danette Colbert is accused of second-degree murder. The victim was Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old reporter and anchor for Telemundo.
Colbert was arrested last month, charged with allegedly stealing Manzano’s cellphone and bank cards. She has remained in custody since then. The murder charge was added today. A suspected accomplice has been arrested in Florida, on charges of theft and fraud.
The Jefferson Parish coroner told reporters the autopsy found that Manzano died of “positional asphyxia.” He was face down on a pillow and unable to breathe after ingesting alcohol and Xanax.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley recognized that there is and will be no direct evidence to prove that Colbert killed Manzano.
“Look, there’s a lot of pieces in this puzzle,” Conley said. “We recognize it’s going to be a circumstantial case.”
The argument apparently will be that Colbert drugged Manzano so that she could rob him, and that he died as a result of the drugging. Whatever the eventual charges that get to a jury, it will not be easy to prove responsibility for Manzano’s death beyond a reasonable doubt.
The key could be the accomplice. If a deal is offered, the accomplice could supply the evidence necessary to show that Colbert is responsible for Manzano’s death, either as second-degree murder or a lesser charge like manslaughter.
The Bears are not done at wide receiver apparently.
After adding Olamide Zaccheaus in free agency, the Bears had receivers Rondale Moore and Mecole Hardman in town for free agent visits Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports. Moore’s visit previously was reported.
It appeared Hardman was on his way out of Kansas City when the Chiefs re-signed JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Hardman left for the Jets in free agency a year ago before the Chiefs traded for him in the middle of the year. He played only six games with two starts and caught 14 passes for 118 yards with Kansas City.
He did not play in the postseason.
Hardman caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, delivering the Chiefs a 25-22 victory over the 49ers to end the 2023 season.
In his six NFL seasons, Hardman has appeared in 80 games with 28 starts, catching 178 passes for 2,302 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi has found a new team.
Nnadi’s agents announced on Sunday that their client has agreed to terms on a contract with the Jets. They did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Nnadi entered the NFL as a 2018 third-round pick in Kansas City and he’s spent his entire career with the team. Nnadi started 86 regular season games and 12 playoff contests over his first six seasons, including three Super Bowl wins, but moved into a reserve role in 2024.
Nnadi had 233 tackles, five sacks, and a forced fumble in his regular season action. He had 38 tackles and a sack in his postseason appearances.
