The Kansas City Chiefs and Rashee Rice — and just about everyone around the KC community — are waiting on waiting on pins and needles for an update as the NFL deliberates the length of the star wide receiver’s expected suspension.
In a recent update from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the well-informed reporter stated that the league proposed a “double-digit” suspension, in terms of games. But in a new update from ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on August 19, the proposed number of games was actually lessened a bit.
“My understanding is, initially, the NFL would have liked to suspend Rashee Rice for eight games,” Schefter said on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” on Tuesday night.
“Now, that doesn’t mean a whole lot to me because it’s sort of like in a negotiation — somebody could ask for a million dollars a year, and the price is going to come in at $500,000 — so, it doesn’t necessarily mean a lot where you start out,” the insider explained. “But I think the league was of the mind right away that it would be eight games.”
Adam Schefter Predicts How Long the Rashee Rice Suspension Will Be
After revealing that the NFL initially wanted an eight-game suspension, Schefter detailed what he believes will end up occurring.
“I think if we look at the collective bargaining agreement, the baseline suspension for a personal conduct policy violation is six games,” Schefter noted. “And I’m sure Rashee Rice would probably like it to be three or four games. So, if we have the league at eight, and the player — let’s just say — [is] willing to take four and the baseline [is] six, where do you think it’s going to come out? Especially when the [player’s association] is sifting through its issues and the league wants to exercise its power?”
“I don’t think it’ll be the maximum,” he continued. “My guess is the CBA says six for a personal conduct policy violation. And I know there have been other incidents that haven’t been punished as stringently as six games. But the problem that Rashee Rice has is there was video of it [that] played all over all the evening news — like, everybody’s seen it. And so when you see it, you could see what happened — and it gets the attention it did — I think the league’s gotta take a stand sometimes.”
“So again, I’m operating on the assumption it’ll be [a] minimum [of] four [games], possibly six,” Schefter finally concluded.
All in all, after hearing the possibility of a double-digit suspension last week and an eight-game suspension to start Schefter’s update, most Chiefs fans would probably be pretty pleased with an outcome of four to six games.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid Says KC Will Wait on Rashee Rice Update & Act Accordingly
The official Rashee Rice hearing date is set for September 30, but it’s been made clear that an agreement can be struck before that date if the two sides negotiate some sort of compromise, as Schefter outlined.
On August 18, head coach Andy Reid briefly addressed the latest on the Rice front.
“Yeah… we’ve heard about the hearing part of it,” Reid first replied. “They’ve got to work all that out. I don’t know the details of it, I don’t think anybody does right at this minute. So, we’ll see where it all goes.”
The Chiefs HC also added that “when we hear [what they decide], we’ll do what we have to do.”
Between re-signing Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and drafting Xavier Worthy and Jalen Royals in recent years, the Chiefs are well-prepared to weather a Rice absence at wide receiver. The only questions are when it will begin and how long it will last.
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