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MADRID, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 16: A giant NFL helmet at Palacio de Cibeles prior to the NFL 2025 game between Washington Commanders and Miami Dolphins at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on November 16, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images) | Getty Images The latest
“We’ve been very open and aggressive with the league — as we have been since the beginning — that we want to play in Spain this year,” Chiefs team president Mark Donovan told The Star. “We think it would be a great market, game (and) matchup.”
It’s not yet clear when the NFL will make a decision. But in announcing last month that the Falcons would be one participant in the game, the league said the matchup would be revealed when the full schedule is released in May.
The Chiefs are ready, if called — as they always are for international opportunities. They added Spain as one of their international rights markets last year through the NFL’s global markets program (GMP). The Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins were also awarded branding and commercial rights in Spain.
“It’s perfect timing for us,” Donovan told The Star. “And to play in Real Madrid, and for our fans to experience that stadium and city, I think it’d be amazing for our fans.
“So we’re all in.”
“He’s fearless across the middle,” Reid said of Worthy on Tuesday. “As a matter of fact, that’s one of the best things he does, is working underneath and over the top in that. So we kind of stayed away from that.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, then, Worthy’s production suffered.
Not only was his route tree reduced, but Worthy also didn’t get the same opportunities for run after catch. Per TruMedia, 56 percent of his receiving yards in 2024 came after the catch; that proportion dropped to 36 percent in 2025.
The good news, according to Reid? Worthy should be back to full strength next year after offseason shoulder surgery. The wideout also should be healed from an ankle ailment he played through late in the year.
“He’ll be fine,” Reid said.
Worthy’s ascent at the end of 2024 was one reason Reid entered 2025 with high hopes for the offense. Speaking at the February 2025 NFL combine — ahead of the Chiefs’ 6-11 campaign — Reid revealed that Worthy had impressed coaches with his late-season surge, which included two touchdown catches in the Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s not afraid to run crossing routes. Sometimes you see those guys and they tiptoe across. He goes 100 miles an hour, man,” Reid said in February 2025. “All the stuff he did was all new compared to what he did in college. So we’re seeing it, and then for (quarterback) Pat (Mahomes) to be able to trust and know where he’s going to be … all that stuff takes time. So that’s a great thing.”
Five Things to Know About New Chiefs CB Kaiir Elam | The Mothership
3. Elam has primarily lined up as a wide corner during his career.
The 6-foot-1, 191-pound Elam has largely taken the field as a wide corner during his career, doing so on 1,518 of his 1,675 career defensive snaps (91%). Looking at last season, specifically, Elam lined up out wide on 475 of his 536 defensive snaps (89%).
Simply put, Elam has extensive experience as an outside corner during his four-year career.
Which NFL team most needs to nail the 2026 draft? Four clubs that have to hit
PICK: Kansas City Chiefs
General manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid are not accustomed to making picks early in each round. The first losing season in the Reid era does, however, give the franchise a golden opportunity to bring in top prospects on offense and defense to make sure last season was a blip on the radar — not the beginning of the end of the dynasty.
Former Chiefs WR Reveals What Andy Reid Told Him After Getting Traded | Heavy Sports
Moore was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Chiefs. Unfortunately, he never devolved into the player they were hoping for, leading them to trade him to the San Francisco 49ers last summer. While speaking to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, Moore shared what Reid messaged him after being traded.
“Coach Reid, he sent me a text,” Moore told Huber. “He said this will be good for you. Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need. And he told me a story, he said, ‘When I moved from Philly to K.C., I didn’t look at it as a bad thing. He said don’t look at it as a bad thing. It could be a real pivotal part of your career. And I took that and I really ran with it because that’s exactly how I was looking at it, too. I felt kind of stuck in a way in K.C. And going to San Fran helped me get it back on the road and just put the fun back in the game. I was getting hurt a lot, and last season was my first full, healthy season in a while. I feel like it changed the trajectory of my career.”
JuJu Smith-Schuster believes improved Chiefs WR room is destined for success | Arrowhead Addict
“I think they got a great receiver room,” Smith-Schuster said. “You talk about Xavier Worthy, he’s fast already, but being able to polish up his craft, he’s getting better. You got guys like Rashee being able to have a full season back under his belt this upcoming year…And then you add a guy like Jalen Royals, who’s who’s a very quiet dude, but he just works…and just talking to those guys, man, it’s gonna be a great room.”
Around the NFL
Former Falcons QB Kirk Cousins signing with Raiders | NFL.com
The veteran signal-caller is signing with the Las Vegas Raiders, his agent Mike McCartney announced Thursday. Cousins will earn $20 million fully guaranteed for playing the 2026 season, NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported.
Of Cousins’ salary this season, $1.3 million will be paid by Las Vegas and the remainder by the Atlanta Falcons, with another $10 million fully guaranteed due on the third day of the new league year in March 2027, per Pelissero.
The Raiders also have a two-year, $80 million option for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, which is unlikely to be picked up by the team, Pelissero added. Additionally, the deal includes two void years for 2029 and 2030 for salary cap purposes.
Two-time All-Pro, 2019 DPOY Stephon Gilmore retires from NFL | ESPN
“I have had an incredible 13 years in the League, and I cannot wait to see what this next chapter holds,” Gilmore, 35, wrote in a post to Instagram.
Gilmore was selected a first-team All-Pro in both 2018 and 2019 while playing for the New England Patriots. He also was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 when he led the NFL with six interceptions and 20 passes defended.
A first-round pick out of South Carolina by the Buffalo Bills in 2012, Gilmore played his first five seasons in Buffalo before signing with the Patriots in 2017.
He spent the next four seasons with New England, winning a Super Bowl with the team in 2018 when he had two interceptions and five passed defended in the Patriots’ three-game postseason run to the championship.
ESPN expected to change No. 2 broadcasting team after NFL Network deal: Sources | The Athletic
ESPN is expected to change its No. 2 NFL game-calling team of Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick Jr. due to its new NFL deal, according to sources briefed on ESPN’s plans.
As part of a potential new booth, Jason Kelce has emerged as a dark horse candidate on the analyst side, according to sources briefed on discussions, while NFL Network’s Kurt Warner is also in the mix. Kelce is a studio analyst on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown.”
ESPN’s Dave Pasch and Mike Monaco are contenders to be a part of the new booth as play-by-play announcers. ESPN executives are still sorting out their plans, and other candidates, like Bob Wischusen, could emerge.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs are reportedly signing former Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam
It will be his fourth stop for his fifth season after being selected with the 23rd pick in the draft, two picks after former Chiefs, now Los Angeles Rams, cornerback Trent McDuffie.
He will add to the current duo of Chiefs’ outside cornerbacks: Nohl Williams and Kristian Fulton. Elam has rarely aligned in the slot when he’s in formation.
Elam has started 19 games in a career that obviously has not lived up to expectations so far. The soon-to-be 25-year-old has just two interceptions, eight defended passes and four tackles for loss to his name. Buffalo traded Elam to Dallas last offseason after declining in the Bills’ lineup over three seasons.
For Dallas, Elam started seven games for one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses in 2025, leading to the Cowboys waiving him in late November. He finished the season in Tennessee, but didn’t record any starts.
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