The Kansas City Chiefs have become the most-discussed team in the NFL over the past several seasons, in part due to their on-field dominance and part due to their players’ rising stardom off the field. However, through the spring and early summer of 2024, many of the Chiefs’ headlines have been newsworthy for the wrong reasons.
SI’s MMQB staff took a look at the strangest developments of the 2024 NFL offseason, and while some analysts focused on questionable contracts or teams who didn’t do enough to build for ’24, Matt Verderame discussed the Chiefs’ recent issues and explained why KC’s off-field troubles made the Chiefs his “Are you kidding me?” offseason candidate:
- Everything about the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City won the Super Bowl, then got into the news for all the wrong reasons over the past few months.
Of course, the main issue this offseason came from Rashee Rice, who faces eight felony charges in connection with allegedly driving 119 miles per hour on a Saturday evening in Dallas, resulting in a six-car crash. While nobody was considered to be seriously injured, Rice will likely be suspended by the NFL.
Then there was Rice’s incident on May 7 in which he was alleged to have assaulted a photographer outside of a Texas nightclub, although those charges were dropped.
Finally, defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals after allegedly leaving two dogs without food or water for more than a week. After being rescued, one of the dogs was euthanized.
For the Chiefs, training camp can’t come soon enough.
Add in the fact that offensive tackles Wanya Morris and Chukwuebuka Godrick were arrested for marijuana possession in Kansas (despite it being recreationally legal in Missouri) and remember a much-discussed speech from kicker Harrison Butker, and it’s easy to see how consistently the Chiefs have been in the news. While still awaiting suspension news for Rice, head coach Andy Reid is certainly hoping for an extremely quiet few weeks before KC reports for training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri.