Insider explains why Chiefs WR Rashee Rice may not be suspended

The Kansas City Chiefs were likely planning on not having second-year receiver Rashee Rice for part of the 2024 season given his legal mishaps this offseason.

But according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the multi-game suspension the team was seemingly bracing for may not come for a while.

“Most people I’ve talked to around the league believe that he will get a multi-game suspension at some point given all that’s gone down,” Fowler said, via On3Sports . “This is a lengthy legal process, which means he could start the season, actually play games, or finish the whole year, because the league likes to see the full scope of things before they make a decision on how many games a player might face.”

Rice participated in the Chiefs offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp. With his status for next season still unknown, the Chiefs drafted Texas receiver Xavier Worthy with 28th overall pick back in April.

Fowler pointed to a similar situation in which New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara played the entire season 2022 season after being charged with battery and was suspended for three games the following year.

His assessment seems to be in line with what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters about Rice’s situation ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

“First, we allow the legal process to move through,” Goodell said , via A to Z Sports. “We obviously are following it closely and as soon as they are done with the process we will be engaged and be prepared to look at all of that under our personal conduct policy.”

The 24-year-old wideout first got himself into hot water back in April when he reportedly fled the scene of a multi-vehicle wreck after his Lamborghini collided with a Corvette driven by SMU defensive back Teddy Knox on a Dallas highway which sent Rice’s vehicle careening into the median and striking another car, according to the police report .

He is being sued by two of the alleged victims of the wreck for more than $1M in damages and $10M in punitive damages.

Rice found himself in the headlines again in May after reportedly punching a photographer in a Dallas nightclub, though he won’t face charges for that incident.