Kansas City

Chiefs

The new deal for Butker includes $17 million in guarantees and makes him the league’s highest paid kicker. The former Panthers castoff has been one of the NFL’s best kickers over his seven seasons with Kansas City, hitting 89 percent of his field goal attempts and 94.5 percent of his extra points. After a down year in 2022, Butker came back strong in 2023 with 33 field goals on 35 attempts. He made all five of his attempts of more than 50 yards after struggling from distance in 2022.

Former Chiefs passing-down specialist Jerick McKinnon handled 55.0 percent of third- and fourth-and-long snaps and 50.0 percent of the two-minute drill snaps last year. Adding the sizable, vacated role to Pacheco’s workload would be a significant boon to his 2024 fantasy prospects. Reid went on to say Pacheco “can run all the routes, he’s got great hands so... he can do [handle that role].” Pacheco has strong odds of sailing past his RB15 PPR finish from 2023.

Toney was seen limping off the practice field Wednesday and kneeling on the sideline before leaving the field and not returning. The mercurial wideout, who has seen backfield usage during training camp, has struggled with a laundry list of injuries over his three NFL seasons, most of them soft tissue-related ailments. If he misses an extended portion of camp, his roster spot is not guaranteed.

When asked about Jones’ expected return-to-play timeline, Andy Reid initially offered “We’ll see, we’ll see” before joking, “I know he was messing with you guys but he does have a groin there. I mean, we all have groins but he has a sore groin.” The two-time defending first-team All-Pro has ample time to recover before Week 1 kicks off but his status as an elite interior defender makes this a storyline to monitor.

Buggs was released by the Chiefs earlier this offseason after two arrests in Alabama. Buggs’ conviction of misdemeanor animal cruelty comes after two malnourished dogs were found on a property the lineman was renting. One of the dogs was euthanized as a result. Hard labor, as defined by Alabama law, is “labor on the public roads, public bridges, and other public works in the county.” Buggs is still facing charges for a domestic violence/burglary incident that he was arrested for earlier this offseason.

We’re only one week into camp, but we’re already hearing plenty of camp rumors about Toney’s usage. It was reported earlier in the week that Toney was taking snaps out of the backfield, and now we have reports of him seeing significant reps with the starters. We are still early into camp, and the Chiefs have a deep receiving corps with Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown, and Xavier Worthy in tow. While the Toney news feels notable, he remains a difficult player to project for fantasy until we get a clearer understanding of his usage. With that said, he’s starting to sound like an enticing late-round flyer in best ball leagues.

Watson, an every-down wideout for KC in 2023, came up gimpy during practice and did not return to the field after being evaluated by the team’s training staff. An extended absence for Watson could open up opportunity for Skyy Moore, who is trying to make the team after another disappointing season in 2023.

Worthy, dealing with a lingering hamstring issue, avoided the PUP list but could miss serious time this summer as the Chiefs prep for the regular season. The rookie downfield burner is expected to be eased into the KC offense once he’s ready to go, though it could mean Worthy will begin the season as more of a rotational player while Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown, and Justin Watson work as the team’s top three receivers.

Prince, a metric darling who was cut by Kansas City last August, is back with the team and functioning as the RB2 in the first day of training camp. Clyde Edwards-Helaire took snaps behind Pacheco and Prince on Tuesday, with Keontay Ingram and Louis Rees-Zammit working with the second-team offense. While it’s important not to read too much into early training camp usage, it’s notable that Prince is working with the first team at all. The battle between Prince and CEH will be one to monitor in the coming weeks.

This is an interesting one to monitor. Listed at six feet tall and 193 pounds, Toney has the size to take on some of the brunt that the running back position demands. The Chiefs also have a relatively underwhelming cast of characters behind Isiah Pacheo in Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Deneric Prince, and Keaontay Ingram. Head coach Andy Reid said Toney “did a good job when he was in there” regarding Toney’s snaps in the backfield, which is encouraging but far from a ringing endorsement. Toney enters camp on the roster bubble after underperforming for much of his time with the Chiefs. The former. No. 20 overall pick has struggled to stay healthy and has just 41 catches for 340 yards and three touchdowns in 20 games with the Chiefs. Any kind of versatility Toney can show could go a long way in securing him a spot on the 53-man roster. His fantasy value is at an all-time low, but it could see an uptick if these running back snaps become more of a norm.