The Chiefs open their offseason program today, just days after receiver Rashee Rice turned himself in on eight felony charges arising from a Dallas street race that happened late last month.
To date, it’s still not clear whether and to what extent Rice will be present for Phase I.
The fact that the Chiefs will have a virtual Phase I makes the need for action a bit less urgent. It’s not as if he’ll be showing up at the facility, trying to carve a path through reporters shouting questions at him.
That said, if there are press availabilities from coach Andy Reid and/or select players, questions about Rice will be asked. The Chiefs surely know it, and they undoubtedly will have a plan for responding, even if it’s as simple as pointing out there’s a pending legal matter and they have no comment.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, per the Chiefs, has been throwing with Rice in Texas. (Scattered reports have emerged of other Chiefs players working with Mahomes.)
It remains to be seen whether the Chiefs or the NFL will decide to keep Rice away from the team while his criminal charges move forward. The eight felonies might just be a starting point; he has yet to be charged for leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries. That could eventually happen.
The most likely options include the league putting Rice on paid leave, the Chiefs and Rice agreeing that he’ll stay away from on-site work, or the Chiefs releasing him and moving on. (Toriano Porter of the Kansas City Star recently wrote that the team should terminate Rice’s contract.)
We know the drill by now when it comes to sports terms. Excuses are made for the stars and examples are made of the scrubs. Where does Rice land for the Chiefs?
The reality is that Rice has star potential that the team likely believes he is in the process of unlocking. He had 938 receiving yards in the regular season, along with 262 in the postseason. He was a second-round pick. They’d surely prefer to keep him.
Even if they do, they need to be prepared to not have him for all or part of the 2024 season, whether it’s because he’s on the Commissioner Exempt list (i.e., leave with pay) as the case proceeds or whether he’s suspended without pay if he pleads guilty to one or more charges in the coming months.
