NFL under fire for decision on Chiefs WR Rashee Rice

The Kansas City Chiefs appeared to receive an early gift from the NFL regarding wide receiver Rashee Rice's looming suspension.

The third-year receiver is set to have a disciplinary hearing on Sept. 30 after he pleaded guilty to collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation.

The timing of Rice's hearing is curious because he pleaded guilty to his charges on the same day Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge connected to his arrest for alleged DUI.

The league has already suspended Addison for the first three games of the upcoming season.

Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, a league source told him that the NFL doesn't typically delay hearings as it has in the case of Rice, preferring to finalize a punishment before Week 1.

“Maybe I’m a conspiracy theorist, but this is odd," said the unnamed source, via Florio. “You hardly ever see players get suspended in season unless they did something in season like a drug test or something.”

The suspicion from the source and Florio is that the league is keeping Rice available for marquee matchups in the early season. 

The Chiefs begin their season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, playing the Los Angeles Chargers. Kansas City then plays the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants ("Sunday Night Football") and Baltimore Ravens. 

Florio suggested that with a hearing date of Sept. 30, Rice would likely start any suspension the Chiefs' Week 5 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars on "Monday Night Football."

"At a time when many think the league favors the Chiefs, situations like this will not become evidence to the contrary," Florio said.

While the early slate of games is impressive for the Chiefs, their schedule is jam-packed with heavyweight matchups.

The next four games after Week 5 include the Detroit Lions ("Sunday Night Football"), Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders ("Monday Night Football" and Buffalo Bills.

While the league has some explaining to do as to why it chose Sept. 30 as the date, it's hard to see why the Chiefs would have an advantage by losing Rice for those games.