Update: Rashee Rice has officially accepted a six-game suspension from the NFL that begins in Week 1. Our original story follows below:
Now that roster cutdown day is over, Kansas City Chiefs fans' attention can turn to Week 1 and what the active 46-man group will look like. Rashee Rice's pending suspension is one of the biggest question marks facing the season, but we may be approaching an answer.
After initial reports that the NFL wanted upwards to a 10-game suspension, Rice had a hearing scheduled for September 30, which suggested that the suspension may not come until the middle of the year.
On Wednesday, a new report emerged that implies a settlement may be coming, and Kansas City telegraphed as much with their choices on roster construction.
NFL is aiming for at least a potential six-game suspension for Chiefs WR Rashee Rice for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, sources tell ESPN. The suspension would kick in at the start of this season. pic.twitter.com/3Z2ktXsVds
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 27, 2025
Chiefs Telegraphed Upcoming Rashee Rice Suspension by Keeping 8 WRs
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the "NFL is aiming for at least a potential six-game suspension for Chiefs WR Rashee Rice for violating the league’s personal conduct policy." Per his report, the suspension would kick in at the start of the season and make him unavailable for pivotal matchups against teams including the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Chargers.
Kansas City turned eyebrows by keeping eight wide receivers, and Jason Brownlee in particular was the most surprising inclusion. If the Chiefs knew that Rice was about to be suspended and wouldn't be on the active roster to begin the year, keeping Brownlee makes a lot more sense.
Andy Reid has never kept this many wideouts in his tenure, and it was even moderately unusual for him to keep seven last year. With this information, the decision is logical. A six-game suspension for Rice would be hard to stomach, but the wide receiver room is in great shape overall. Xavier Worthy, Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown, rookie Jalen Royals, and JuJu Smith-Schuster are capable of handling the load. Any injury would make the group even thinner though, and we saw the negative impacts of that in 2024.
Based on this report, it sounds like we'll know sooner or later about Rice's suspension. For the Chiefs, they'd likely want to get it out of the way immediately and just move on with the season. Losing Rice in the middle of the year would be worse than at the beginning, and Kansas City will likely be happy with going just at least 4-2 in that six-game stretch.
By keeping Brownlee, the team made it clear they knew something was coming. Now, we know what it was.