With Rashee Rice On IR, Chiefs Look To Trade For A Wide Receiver

The Kansas City Chiefs sent wide receiver Rashee Rice to injured reserve Thursday with a knee injury he sustained against the Chargers in Week 4. The extent of Rice’s injury, as well as his expected return date, remain unclear, but this move will sideline him for at least four weeks.

When Rice was getting carted off the field Sunday after an ugly collision with quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a fumble recovery attempt, many feared that the young receiver would be out for the year. Initial reports of a torn ACL seemed to confirm this, but further tests revealed that the injury may not be that severe.

In any case, the Chiefs will be without Rice for at least a month, depriving them of another valuable option on offense. The team is already competing without running back Isiah Pacheco, who went to the IR after Week 2. Mahomes, who didn’t initially realize that he had caused the injury to Rice, regretted the incident after the game.

“I mean, when I saw the replay, I felt like s— that I hit Rashee,” Mahomes said. “I mean, I wasn’t worried about myself. I was worried about, hopefully, his injury and hopefully it wasn’t as bad as it looked because I was the one that hit him.”

Without Pacheco and Rice, the Chiefs look eerily similar to the team they were several years ago, when Tyreek Hill departed and the offense ran through tight end Travis Kelce and a hodgepodge of wide receivers. That team managed to win a Super Bowl, indicating that Kansas City always has a chance as long as Mahomes is under center. The injuries simply make things more difficult.

The team is also said to be exploring what trades may be possible before the deadline next month. Last year, the Chiefs brought back Mecole Hardman in a deal with the Jets.

Despite spending half of his rookie season as a backup, Rice managed to finish 2023 with 938 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. After this season, he will likely face eight felony charges stemming from his involvement in a multi-vehicle collision on a Dallas highway back in March. This case will not affect Rice’s 2024 NFL season because the league is waiting for legal processes to finish before assessing a punishment.