The Baltimore Ravens made headlines on Tuesday by announcing that they've signed wide receiver Zay Flowers to a new four-year, $140 million contract extension, thus making the two-time Pro Bowler the second-highest-paid player on the team behind only two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
Now, a couple of years back, it seemed as if the Kansas City Chiefs were going to have a similar decision to make during this particular offseason about whether to pony up some similar dough to their own wideout from the 2023 draft class, that wideout, of course, being Rashee Rice, who actually outplayed Flowers as a rookie.
But as the world has watched, while Flowers has flourished since then, Rice has fallen from grace something fierce. And this latest contract extension is just yet another reminder.
Rashee Rice has fallen behind the top wideouts from his 2023 draft class in so many ways
In 2023, coming off a Super Bowl-winning season before which they traded Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs used their second-round pick in the draft on Rice, taking the SMU product at No. 55 overall.
Rice was the seventh wideout selected that year, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 20, Seattle Seahawks), Quentin Johnston (No. 21, Los Angeles Chargers), the aforementioned Zay Flowers (No. 22, Baltimore Ravens), Jordan Addison (No. 23, Minnesota Vikings), Jonathan Mingo (No. 39, Carolina Panthers), and Jayden Reed (No. 50, Green Bay Packers) going off the board before him.
But of those seven players, it was Rice who had the most receiving yards as a rookie, going for 938 to finish second among all rookies behind only Puka Nacua, who came from the fifth round to set a new rookie record with a ridiculous 1,486 for the Los Angeles Rams. And Rice's seven receiving touchdowns ranked tied for third behind only Addison's 10 and Reed's eight.
And during the Chiefs' run to a second straight Super Bowl victory, Rice set a record of his own with 26 receptions in Kansas City's four playoff games, the most by a rookie in any postseason in NFL history.
So, after one year, the sky seemed to be the limit. Until it wasn't.
In the two years since, thanks to injuries and suspensions stemming from legal incidents and such, Rice has appeared in just 12 games, catching 77 passes for 859 yards and seven touchdowns. And this offseason has been no picnic, as he served 30 days in jail back in May for violating his probation, which forced him to miss OTAs and minicamp, which he wouldn't have been able to participate in anyway, as he underwent another knee surgery to remove debris and inflammation stemming from the LCL issue that ended his 2024 season.
So, there's still a lot going on with this guy.
Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba has become the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, as he recently reset the market by receiving a new four-year, $168.6 million deal from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Flowers, as mentioned, received a four-year deal from the Ravens worth $140 million after consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
Even Jayden Reed, who's never surpassed the 900-yard mark and played just seven games for the Packers in 2025, got himself a new three-year, $50.25 million deal.
Quentin Johnston isn't likely to receive a lucrative extension from the Chargers, but the Bolts have already exercised his fifth-year option, meaning he's set to make close to $21 million over the next two years.
Jordan Addison has already had his fifth-year option exercised by the Vikings as well and is set to collect more than $22 million between the 2026 and 2027 campaigns, although he's likely to receive the same sort of deal Flowers just got.
As far as Nakua is concerned, one would assume that he'll challenge Smith-Njigba as the highest-paid wideout in the league once he receives his new contract.
But as for Rice, his future beyond this upcoming 2026 campaign, for which he'll earn a touch over $2.066 million, is uncertain. And given the way his career began, it's simply wild to think what could have been.
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