It is hard to say anything about Rashee Rice at this point that hasn't already been said. The Kansas City Chiefs' young wideout is a headache that simply won't go away for Brett Veach and Andy Reid, and eventually, things will come to a head. But we haven't quite reached that point yet, somehow.
Rice still has one year left on his rookie contract, and Kansas City will likely kick this can down the road as far as they can to give him time to clean up his act. Or the Chiefs are hoping that, with time, folks will not lambaste them if they have forgotten exactly what Rice has done by then.
And while Rice is currently serving time in a Dallas jail, and Kansas City isn't currently discussing any long-term deals with him, that didn't seem like punishment enough for Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. He went in on Rice in a recent article, and to be honest, it was all merited.
Albert Breer said what needed to be said about Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice
In Breer's Tuesday Takeaways, he addressed the Rice situation harshly and fully. He went no-holds-barred on the 26-year-old with a laundry list of off-the-field issues, and spoke about it through the scope of Kansas City, who simply can't rely on him. It's a bit lengthy, but worth the read.
"The Chiefs can’t trust Rashee Rice. The drug test Rice failed wasn’t a drug test. It was an intelligence test. Rice knew the tests were coming. He knew what was on the line. Now he must deal with the fallout.
"This isn’t, to be clear, about the marijuana he tested positive for. It’s about the reputation he had coming out of college at SMU, and the 2025 hit-and-run that landed him the 30-day sentence the positive drug test triggered in the first place. It’s about him allegedly punching a photographer less than two months later, and how he has slipped up again—regardless of how it went down or what it was for.
"He knew he had to walk the straight and narrow, yet somehow, here we are again.
"It’s a shame, too, because internally, the Chiefs view Rice as capable of being a top-five or top-10 receiver. Last year, a six-game suspension and concussion symptoms that ended his season prematurely limited the budding star to eight games. In those contests, he had 53 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns. If you project those numbers out to 17 games, it's 113 catches for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns.
"Rashee Rice led all Chiefs wide receivers with 53 catches last season despite playing in just eight games.
"If he gets there, and he cleans up his act off the field, we’re probably talking about the Chiefs paying Rice somewhere around $30 million per year.
"Instead, Kansas City’s best bet is probably to see where things go this year and, if it works out, franchise-tag him next year to get another look at whether he truly has turned the corner. And maybe look for some veteran insurance at receiver so they're ready for the chance of a suspension (that wouldn’t be about the weed, either, but violating his probation). Maybe that’s Stefon Diggs. Maybe it’s circling back on A.J. Brown.
"Regardless, it’s fine for the Chiefs to hope for Rice to make it back, and obviously they do.
"They just can’t count on Rice anymore."
Although Breer does leave things open for a Rice redemption story and doesn't count out that the Chiefs could still include him in their long-term plans, that last sentence is what Kansas City fans are hung up on. That is the cold, hard truth about the matter. And it is hard to get over that feeling.
While he has been a great asset for Patrick Mahomes and Co., albeit in a limited capacity for one reason or another, Rice is the ultimate example of why character matters and why Veach and Co. need to do a better job of vetting prospects, especially early-rounders.
As Breer mentioned, Rice could be a $30 million-per-year player. He could be the new Tyreek Hill for this hopeful new version of the Chiefs' dynasty. But the fact that Kansas City can't rely on that is both disappointing and an indictment of Veach's pre-draft evaluation process.
Now, Breer didn't need to go in on Rice like that. And yet it was completely merited and almost necessary to do so. Chiefs fans know the situation that they are in, but Breer's no-holds-barred tirade lays it out rather perfectly, leaving fans uncertain of exactly what future they want with or for Rice.
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