Chiefs News July 8: Tyreek Hill wanted to punch locker after loss

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Tyreek Hill didn’t take playoff loss to Chiefs lightly | Dolphin Nation

Miami Dolphins superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill recently shared his immediate feelings after the Dolphins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs during the 2023 season.

“I love football,” Hill said. “I’m passionate about it. I wanna win. I was born a winner. My whole entire life, I’ve been a winner. I hate losin’. When we lost against the Chiefs, bruh, I wanted to f—— go punch my f—— locker 100 times. F— that s—, bruh. I was pissed. F— that. I wanna win.”

The Dolphins lost 26-7 to the Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs, struggling to get any offense going in frigid weather in Kansas City.

The Chiefs, Hill’s former team, went on to win the Super Bowl for the second straight season since they traded him to Miami. While the Dolphins have made the playoffs in both of those seasons, they have yet to earn a playoff win in the Hill era.

Giants consider Chris Jones in ‘Hard Knocks Offseason’ premiere | Chiefs Wire

Hard Knocks Offseason with the New York Giants premiered with a detailed look into the franchise’s decisions this offseason. General Manager Joe Schoen discusses various options to help push the team forward, including possibly signing then-free agent Chris Jones, as Giants’ director of pro scouting Chris Rossetti explained.

“Chris Jones is the bell of the ball in this class—no chance of stopping Chris Jones. One-on-one, that’s the difference. Keep scoring and trying to balance. Such a great player can beat someone (who is a) future Hall of Fame player. “said Rossetti. “Game-wrecking talent makes football look easy to lose Chris when he’s dialed in; playing within the scheme, he’s unblockable. It’s hard not to imagine the good things that would come with him and DEX (Dexter Lawrence) together in the middle, one of the best defensive tackles in football.”

Jones would eventually re-sign with the Chiefs, but it is interesting to see another franchise dream of signing the All-Pro defensive lineman.

“We watch the tape. You see Chris Jones getting double-teamed every snap, and then the guy on the other side just has one block. You just imagine that’s Dex with one guy on them every time.” said Rossetti. “The possibilities and the game-wrecking capabilities are there.”

Patrick Mahomes’ rookie card sold for $173,000 — and it could be worth more | Marca

Patrick Mahomes’ immense popularity has reached new heights, as demonstrated by the recent auction of his rare rookie card, which fetched an incredible $173,000. The card’s significant value is attributed to its rarity and exceptional features. It is one of only ten in existence, includes a patch from one of Mahomes’ jerseys, and boasts a near-perfect grade of 9, with the autograph scoring a 10.

TMZ Sports reported that the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback’s card was put up for auction by Goldin Auctions in mid-June, and the final bid was placed last week.

Goldin described the card as “quite simply, the most iconic NFL rookie card ever produced by Panini” during the sale. The combination of Mahomes’ rising legacy and the card’s exceptional condition made it a hot item among collectors.

Patrick Peterson says he’ll be ready to go in 2024 — and Saints or Chiefs could give him a shot | Last Word on Sports

Patrick Peterson will be a full-go when he eventually signs with a new team. During a recent episode of his All Things Covered podcast, Peterson said he’ll “definitely be ready” when he lands with a team and seems open to playing safety or cornerback. However, earlier reports indicated that he’d prefer cornerback.

The sad reality is that, if Patrick Peterson wants to sign as a free agent, he might need to do it as a full-time safety. Peterson is one of the best cornerbacks of his generation, but age comes for us all and the LSU product started to show signs of slowing down over the past few seasons. Safety doesn’t require the same elite athleticism, and Peterson could use his incredible football IQ to compromise for his diminished physical gifts. Players like Charles Woodson have successfully made similar transitions in the past and, if he’s up for it, the Chiefs and Saints could be the best destinations.

The Chiefs have one of the most complete rosters in football, but there is always room for improvement. Kansas City is going for their third Super Bowl title in as many seasons, and they could use a free agent like Patrick Peterson to help reach that goal. Last year, the team had one of the league’s better defenses led by the elite cornerback duo of Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed. Now, with Sneed on the Titans, this secondary could use some more depth.

A Look at the 10 Greatest Chiefs Squads | Pro Football Network

1. 2022 Chiefs

The best Chiefs team ever belongs to the 2022 squad.

How dominating was this team? The 14-3 Chiefs ranked first in total yards and passing yards — the latter stat led by an uncanny 5,250 passing yards from Mahomes. Kelce also rewrote the Chiefs’ tight end record books by reeling in 110 receptions. Chris Jones led the defense to a No. 11 ranking while tallying 15.5 sacks in his All-Pro campaign.

It’s also worth mentioning that this Chiefs team was widely criticized before the season after trading away fan favorite Tyreek Hill, as the “Cheetah” went to the Dolphins.

Kansas City responded by winning their second Vince Lombardi Trophy since the 2019 season.

Around the NFL

The Buffalo Bills will face elite defensive competition in 2024 | Buffalo Rumblings

Six: The number of defenses Buffalo will face that ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed per game. Of that group, two teams were in the top three last season. The Kansas City Chiefs’ defense ranked second in the league while the New York Jets’ defense ranked third among teams, only allowing 292 yards per game. Though rosters change season to season, also keep in mind that the Bills had a talented defense in 2023, finishing ranked ninth in the NFL in yards allowed per game.

Three: The amount of yards allowed is one thing but at the end of the day it comes down to how many points a team allows on defense. Bad news Bills Mafia: Buffalo will face the top three units in points allowed per game last season. The Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, and the San Francisco 49ers each averaged under an allowed 18 points per game. On the bright side, the last time Josh Allen faced each of those teams in the regular season, he came away with a victory. Additionally, Buffalo’s defense was right behind those units, finishing ranked fourth and allowing 18.3 points per game.

Seven: That represents the number of AP First-Team All-Pros the Bills will be facing this year on defense. Players who are among the best of the best will make it a challenge for Buffalo’s offense to put points on the board. Concerning the Bills’ interior linemen, there’s defensive tackle Chris Jones who now stands alone in a tier by himself. Buffalo will also face every linebacker on the list, those being Fred Warner, Roquan Smith, and Quincy Williams. It only gets more difficult when it comes to the secondary, as the receivers will see the likes of Sauce Gardner and Trent McDuffie lining up against them. There’s also safety Kyle Hamilton to worry about, as well.

Panthers, V.P. of player personnel Adrian Wilson part ways | Pro Football Talk

The Panthers have confirmed that Wilson no longer works for the organization.

“Adrian Wilson will not continue in his position as Vice President of Player Personnel for the Carolina Panthers,” a team spokesperson told PFT on Sunday morning. “Consistent with our organizational policy on employee matters, we will have no further comment.”

Wilson took a job with the Panthers just a year ago, in February 2023. It was a homecoming for the High Point, North Carolina, who played college football at N.C. State.

A member of the Cardinals Ring of Honor for his excellence as a safety from 2001 through 2012, Wilson spent four seasons in Arizona as a regional scout, two as director of pro scouting, and two as V.P. of pro scouting. He finished the 2022 season as interim co-General Manager, after the firing of Steve Keim.

Even if teams must sell their own Sunday Ticket rights, they’ve agreed to share equally | Pro Football Talk

During the Sunday Ticket trial, the NFL tried to suggest that a rejection of collective action regarding the pricing of the out-of-market page would be the first domino leading to massive disparity in team revenues, implosion of the salary cap, destruction of competitive balance, and an existential threat to the league’s entire existence. That would happen, presumably, if/when the various teams are required to sell out-of-market packages on their own, with the Cowboys generating far more than the Bengals (as Jerry Jones testified) — along with the rest of the league.

But there’s an important flaw in this argument. It’s hiding in plain sight, in the NFL’s Constitution and Bylaws.

Article X, Section 3: “All regular season (and preseason network) television income will be divided equally among all member clubs of the League regardless of the source of such income, except that the member clubs may, by unanimous agreement, provide otherwise in a specific television contract or contracts.”

They’ve already decided to share everything, even if they have to sell the rights individually. And it can only change with “unanimous agreement.” There’s no way every small-market team (including the Bengals) will agree to let Jerry Jones keep all the money he gets from his team’s out-of-market package.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

What is the Day 1 plan at left tackle?

So after years of stability with Fisher, the Chiefs have gone three seasons without finding the answer at left tackle. While the team has remained successful, protecting its superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes remains a top priority.

In 2024, Kansas City started its latest effort to solve the problem by selecting BYU tackle Kingsley Suamataia in the second round of the NFL Draft.

Suamataia has an elite bundle of traits. He has excellent size and length — and is also a nimble, explosive athlete who can move in space. He has the talent to be one of the league’s top 10-15 tackles.

But Suamataia fell to the second round because his technique (and pass-protection skills) need development; his hand placement and footwork aren’t yet at an NFL level. We can’t expect him to be ready to start as a rookie.

With his talent (and help from offensive line coach Andy Heck) it’s likely Suamataia will eventually become the team’s left tackle. But what about 2024?

The team doesn’t have a veteran left tackle (such as Smith) on the roster. If Suamataia can’t be ready in time, the team will have to rely on Morris, who had shaky rookie film — and still needs development as he switches positions.

So what is the plan? First, who is going to start? Did Morris show enough in his rookie year to start the season? Can Heck rapidly develop Suamataia quickly enough that he can step in?

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