Did the NFL make the wrong decision to open the season with Patriots vs. Seahawks?
USA TODAY Sports’ NFL experts discuss why the league missed out on opening the season with a Super Bowl rematch between New England and Seattle.
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- Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Lachie Rice was ordered to serve 30 days in jail after testing positive for THC.
- The THC violation is a probation violation stemming from a March 2024 high-speed crash.
You will never confuse Laci Rice with Jerry Rice. So it may be time for the Kansas City Chiefs to opt for clarity regarding a troubled wide receiver who continues to give the team reason to believe.
According to Dallas County court records reviewed by USA TODAY Sports on May 19, Rice tested positive for THC and was ordered to serve an immediate 30-day jail sentence, a violation of probation stemming from an impaired and felonious driving incident two years ago.
It is scheduled to be released in the US on June 16th.
Whether he will be released by the Chiefs remains an open question. And while smoking marijuana and missing voluntary offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp while parked behind bars may not seem like a big deal, it’s unclear whether the drug component attached to Rice’s latest blunder could lead to further suspensions from the NFL.
“We are aware of the report and have no further comment at this time,” a league spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports.
According to ESPN, Rice will also have to recover from relatively minor recent knee surgery during the lockup, a situation that will definitely not make his recovery any easier.
The Chiefs have not yet commented. But they could say enough if they take (overdue?) decisive action.
Laci Rice shows Chiefs it’s time to cut losses at WR
Rice was suspended for six games last season after pleading guilty to two third-degree felonies (crash with serious injury and bodily injury caused by racing on a freeway) stemming from a March 30, 2024 crash on a highway near Dallas in which Rice, who was racing a Lamborghini with friends, caused a pile-up that injured multiple drivers and damaged the vehicle. He fled the scene before police arrived.
Perhaps it’s time for the Chiefs to give up too.
Don’t get me wrong, Rice is a good player. He averaged 64.2 receiving yards per game and 15 regular season touchdowns over his three-year career. Still, he’s not particularly big (6-foot-1, 204 pounds). Or fast. Or certainly available on a daily basis. Kansas City went 6-11 last year, and Rice played in just eight games. Knee and hamstring injuries limited him to four games in 2024, but Kansas City went 15-2 and reached the Super Bowl…basically without his services.
So what does rice actually bring to the table? Either he wasn’t concerned enough about the risk of violating his probation, or he could have been in even bigger trouble if he couldn’t wean himself off marijuana while the case was dismissed. That would have been the case if he had completed his probation. Is this the guy you want to trust on third-and-nine for the season and the possibility of a Lombardi Trophy? Is this the same man who claimed to be “deeply sorry” for his actions (and inactions) after a ferocious episode?
Additionally, cases seem to constantly follow him, whether suspected or not. Rice is also named in a separate lawsuit by a woman who alleges assault over an 18-month period earlier this year. The NFL ultimately determined that there was “insufficient evidence to support a finding that he violated the Personal Conduct Policy.” But Rice also faces other civil lawsuits, including a wreck and injury case filed in Texas.
Injured, incarcerated and increasingly disgraced, the player is also entering the final year of his rookie contract. And while he’s cheap as a starting wideout (he’s scheduled to make $1.6 million this season), who knows when Rice’s financial situation will become an entirely separate issue for a team that doesn’t need to commit any more money to him anyway. (And we’ll never know if the Chiefs would have considered wideouts like Omar Cooper Jr. or Denzel Boston more heavily late in the first round of last month’s draft if they had known Rice would struggle with his attitude again.)
But a team in the midst of a mini-rebuild has options.
Chiefs brass could upgrade Patrick Mahomes’ WR option without Laci Rice
Admittedly, Kansas City doesn’t have much cap flexibility, with just over $6 million in available space per Over The Cap. But Rice’s cuts would increase that amount to about $8 million. Coaches Andy Reid and Brett Veach need to secure a little more money to make any significant moves, but they have been doing so for a while. And it’s not like there was a solid market for available veterans like Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen this spring.
They could get more creative with the Caps and pursue AJ Brown from Reid’s old friend in Philadelphia, or Brandon Aiyuk, who the San Francisco 49ers would likely move for something closer to one song if any team blows the whistle. Heck, maybe KC will kick the tires at Tyreek Hill at some point later this year to measure his mileage.
Sure, Brown and Aiyuk will bring their own baggage, but not a legal one. And Reed has certainly shown over the years that he’s willing to deal with that kind of baggage if it means packing in some extra wins. Diggs and Allen are older players who have just settled their own legal matters, but they are also savvy and dependable players who showed promise after the season with around 80 catches and close to 1,000 yards. Why not trade another year of Rice’s shenanigans for a one-year contract with a solid veteran and let Veach fix his position in the 2027 draft — he probably had to do that anyway?
And what about a message to two-time league MVP Patrick Mahomes? He’s spent hours each day at Chiefs headquarters rehabbing his surgically reconstructed knee during the offseason, trying to be ready for Week 1, whether he’s truly 100% or not. Should he push his body to its limits during a time when he’s used to recovering from a grueling season, relying on a guy who can’t even get his joints down when there’s a veteran replacement who gives him more comfort and confidence on and off the field?
“I’d like to think there’s a new challenge every year, and having Pat around gives you the mindset that you always have a chance to compete for a championship or a district title,” Veach said before last month’s draft.
“So it’s a balance of trying to go out and get what the Pats need right now, but also looking to the future so they can continue this run.”
As Veitch predicted, this year certainly brought new challenges — again, courtesy of Rice. The time has come for organizations that are about to enter the second act of dynastic rule to deal with it appropriately.
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