Chiefs Sign Rashee Rice to Rookie Contract

Rice quote tweeted the Chiefs' original tweet announcement with a brief message, saying, "I LOVE IT HERE! #chiefskingdom." The Southern Methodist University product was the 55th overall pick in April's NFL Draft and was projected by Spotrac to receive a four-year deal worth a total of approximately $6.5 million. That projected contract included a $1.72M signing bonus and a 2023 cap hit of $1.18M on the books for Kansas City. At the time of Rice's signing, it was not made public what the exact terms of his deal are. 

Last month, Zack Eisen of Arrowhead Report published a film review of Rice and concluded that the rookie should be able to win against zone defenses despite his struggles with consistency against man coverage. With that said, the path to securing a high snap count is a very tricky one:

Rice should help the Chiefs' offense continue to be dominant against zone coverage. His feel for zone should help him get on the field and contribute if needed. After that, the question becomes against man coverage (which the Chiefs had a problem against last year). Travis Kelce was the only weapon who consistently beat man coverage but if the defense doubles him — as they usually do — someone else needs to be able to create separation, and that's not something Rice excels at.

As seen last year with Skyy Moore, it is difficult for wide receivers to get on the field in Reid's offense as rookies. Rice may fall into that same problem, at least for the 2023 season. However, if he is used a lot this year, expect him to have a similar role to JuJu Smith-Schuster's last year: a physical receiver who can win at the catch point in contested situations and eat against zone defenses, but someone who struggles to get open against man coverage consistently.