Hollywood Brown, 28, spent the past two years with the Kansas City Chiefs, most of the time as the third receiver for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In 16 games last season, Brown produced 49 receptions for 587 yards and five touchdowns.
A year ago, Brown re-signed with the Chiefs on a one-year deal because he wanted to demonstrate that he could still be a capable receiver in the league. He missed most of the 2024 season when he sustained a sternoclavicular injury after making a reception on the opening snap of the preseason. After missing 14 games, Brown returned to the lineup and helped the Chiefs reach Super Bowl LIX.
3. He’s an experienced blocker in pass-protection.
If Demercado is to compete for a third-down role in Kansas City, it’s worth pointing out that he has plenty of experience as a pass-protector.
He logged 47 snaps in pass-protection in 2023, 30 snaps in that role in 2024, and 27 snaps in 2025, spending at least 18% of his total snaps each season in pass-protection. In total, Demercado yielded just eight pressures on his 104 pass-blocking snaps for the Cardinals.
What does this mean for the Chiefs in 2026?
In a perfect world … not too much.
Fields — the 11th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft — fills a need for the Chiefs in that their backup quarterback stands to be more important this season. Starter Patrick Mahomes had surgery in mid-December to repair his ACL and LCL, and he has a history of returning from injuries quicker than anticipated.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that Mahomes said in January his rehab had been “going great” and that he was going to “try to prepare myself to be ready to play in that Week 1 and have no restrictions.”
Mahomes didn’t just set those goals, however. He said he also hoped to do “some stuff” during May and June’s organized team activities, then “hopefully be able to do a lot” during training camp in July and August.
All of that is a best-case scenario. And it hinges on Mahomes not hitting any setbacks in his recovery — something that could happen no matter his desire to get back on the field.
Ideally, however, Mahomes will ease himself back into first-string reps during training camp, then be ready for the season opener in September.
Even with that timeline, the Chiefs would need Fields to fulfill a vital role for a couple of months.
K.C. will be looking to revamp its offense — and particularly its running game — after last season’s 6-11 campaign. And Mahomes surely won’t be a full-go in May and June, leaving Fields as the team’s primary signal caller in charge of getting the team organized offensively.
If Mahomes is slow to recover, Fields’ NFL starting experience will be useful for a Chiefs team that wants to be back among Super Bowl contenders this season. Fields has started 53 games in five pro seasons, which includes nine with the Jets in 2025.
Kansas City Chiefs: CB, DL, WR
The Chiefs have endured an exodus in their secondary, particularly at cornerback, where Kristian Fulton, Nohl Williams and Kader Kohou appear to be their top three options. Armed with two first-round picks, ninth and 29th overall, the Chiefs will be a popular candidate to select at least one cornerback on the first night of the draft.
Kansas City could use additional pass-rush help, as well. Chris Jones and George Karlaftis are the only returning players on the team who tallied at least 25 pressures last season. And at wide receiver, the Chiefs didn’t have a single player eclipse 600 yards in 2025.
3) Kansas City Chiefs sign RB Kenneth Walker III. This signing is a major indication that Kansas City head coach Andy Reid is serious about revamping his offense. The Chiefs have spent the last eight seasons operating as if star quarterback Patrick Mahomes could solve any problem this team faced offensively. Last year was the moment when that mindset became faulty thinking. It wasn’t just that Mahomes couldn’t finish the season because of a torn ACL and LCL. It was because he sorely needed help before that point, the kind that Walker should be able to provide. The Chiefs were the worst team in the league in 2025 when it came to explosive runs. That should change with Walker in the lineup, as his speed and vision were a big part of why he wound up capturing Super Bowl MVP honors in Seattle’s win over New England in February. He’ll be playing behind a talented offensive line, and the big question here is whether Reid will move away from the run-pass options that Mahomes loved and offer more outside zone runs to capitalize on Walker’s strengths. Given that Kansas City hasn’t finished higher than 15th in scoring since 2022, this is a move that makes plenty of sense. Walker doesn’t need 300 carries to have an impact. He just has to bring more than what the Chiefs have offered in the backfield in recent years, which is basically being a real threat to do something with the ball.
The Denver Broncos are pushing their 2026 chips to the center of the table.
Denver is acquiring receiver Jaylen Waddle in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Tuesday.
Miami receives Denver’s first-round pick (No. 30 overall) in April’s draft as well as the Broncos’ third- and fourth-round picks, while the Dolphins are sending their own fourth-round pick to Denver along with Waddle, per The Insiders.
Tuesday’s deal represents the culmination of negotiations that began near last season’s trade deadline, well before the current regime led by new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan arrived to reshape Miami’s roster. The Broncos’ interest understandably never waned, though, leading Denver to ship high-value draft capital to the Dolphins in exchange for an immediate difference-maker.
HENDERSON, Nev. — Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby said he was “livid” and “confused” by the Ravens‘ decision to back out of a trade that would have sent him to Baltimore in exchange for two first-round picks due to medical concerns.
“No one will ever admit what the real truth is. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. I am where I’m supposed to be,” Crosby said Tuesday on the latest episode of his podcast, “The Rush.”
Crosby described last week as a whirlwind. He was shocked about his time in Las Vegas appearing to be at an end after seven seasons and five Pro Bowl selections but was excited for a new opportunity with the Ravens.
On Monday, Crosby said the Ravens flew him first class to Washington, D.C., because of the lack of direct flights to Baltimore. The next day, Crosby had a physical and an MRI but didn’t speak with general manager Eric DeCosta throughout the day
The NFL and NFLPA collective bargaining agreement expires in 2030, but Tretter will step into the role to address negotiations with the league over adding an 18th game and an international game for each team, goals about which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and owners have been vocal. Tretter was the union’s player president from 2020 to 2024 and its chief strategy officer from October 2024 until July 2025 when he also resigned following ESPN’s reports.
He told ESPN in July that he was unaware of an agreement Howell had made with the league to conceal from players an arbitrator’s findings related to NFL owners’ collusion on pay. He was a candidate to serve as interim executive director after Howell resigned but pulled his name from consideration when he stepped down. He told CBS Sports at the time that he was “not interested” in being — or being considered for — executive director.
But Tretter emerged as a finalist in recent weeks, and his election is the culmination of a confidential election process that echoes the one the executive committee conducted in 2023 when Howell was elected. Ahead of that election, Tretter presided over a player rep vote to amend the NFLPA constitution and eliminate a requirement that executive director finalists be named to the board of player representatives 30 days before a vote.
Chiefs stick to offense at No. 9 in Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft
Despite standing at nearly 6 feet 5-1/2 inches tall, Fano registered arm length (32 1/8 inches) shorter than the deal-breaking threshold the Chiefs have seemingly held the roster-building strategy to under head coach Andy Reid. These are the pre-draft measurements of the notable starting tackles in recent franchise history:
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Starting left tackle Josh Simmons: 33-inch arms
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Right tackle Jawaan Taylor: 35-1/8 inch arms
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Left tackle Donovan Smith: 34-3/8 inch arms
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Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.: 35-inch arms
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Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz: 33-1/2 inch arms
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Left tackle Eric Fisher: 34-1/2 inch arms
It’s hard to imagine the organization taking the risk of selecting an outlier with such a high pick, especially considering Fano is already being considered for a move to guard, as Jeremiah points out.
