Arrowheadlines: Missouri Senate greenlights plan to keep Chiefs, Royals in state

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Missouri Senate approves plan to keep Chiefs, Royals in Kansas City | ESPN

Missouri senators on Thursday approved a plan to provide more than $100 million in aid for tornado-ravaged St. Louis and authorized hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentives to try to persuade the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to continue playing in Missouri in new or improved stadiums.

Lawmakers are acting with urgency in a special session because the Chiefs and Royals face an end of June deadline to accept a competing offer from Kansas, and residents in St. Louis are struggling to recover from May storms that caused an estimated $1.6 billion of damage.

The aid measures advanced in a series of early-morning votes only after Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe struck a deal with some holdouts that included more disaster relief money and the potential for property tax breaks for some homeowners facing rising tax bills. The package also contains funding for building projects around the state, including $50 million for a nuclear research reactor used for cancer treatments at the University of Missouri.

Though House approval is still needed, the Senate vote marked a major hurdle, because the stadium incentives stalled there last month. Tornadoes struck St. Louis and other parts of Missouri on May 16, a day after lawmakers wrapped up work in their regular session.

Re-Drafting the 2024 NFL Draft | Bleacher Report

32. Kansas City Chiefs: Troy Fautanu, OL, Washington

Original Pick: Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina (by Panthers)

The Bills originally traded down to this spot and then flipped the 32nd overall pick to the Panthers. In our re-draft, however, Buffalo stays put at No. 28, leaving this pick to the Chiefs.

With Legette off the board, Kansas City decides to pivot to its offensive line and take a flier on Washington’s Troy Fautanu.

The Chiefs know that poor offensive line play—particularly at left tackle—shattered their hopes of winning Super Bowl LIX and completing the NFL’s first-ever three-peat. They’ll go on to add Jaylon Moore in free agency and draft Josh Simmons, but taking a chance on Fautanu at this point makes sense.

Picked 20th overall by the Steelers, Fautanu barely saw the field before suffering a season-ending knee injury. However Simmons is also coming off of a season-ending knee injury, and Fautanu was viewed as a high-end prospect who can move inside to guard if needed. He was ranked 16th overall on the B/R Scouting Department’s final 2024 draft board.

Taking Fautanu here would give the Chiefs another option at left tackle, increasing their chances of finding a reliable starter in 2025. And should Simmons be ready to start at left tackle, Fautanu could help replace guard Joe Thuney, who was traded to Chicago this offseason.

Each NFL team’s biggest offseason loss: 49ers won’t look same without Deebo Samuel; Chiefs to miss Joe Thuney? | CBS Sports

AFC West

Denver Broncos: LB Cody Barton

Kansas City Chiefs: OL Joe Thuney

Las Vegas Raiders: S Trevon Moehrig/CB Nate Hobbs

Los Angeles Chargers: OLB Joey Bosa

The Broncos brought in Dre Greenlaw to replace Barton at linebacker, but Barton was healthy enough to play all 17 games last season and rack up 106 tackles while faring pretty well in the middle of the field in coverage. If Greenlaw can stay healthy and recapture his pre-Achilles-tear form, it’s an upgrade, but it’s still something of a risk.

Thuney remains one of the best offensive linemen in the league, but the Chiefs decided to move on so they could clear out the room to keep the younger Trey Smith on the opposite side of the line. Kansas City will move Kingsley Suamataia inside to guard or else go back to Mike Caliendo at that spot, but either way it will mean an entirely new left side of the offensive line with Jaylon Moore or Josh Simmons at left tackle, and that’s a big deal in front of the best quarterback in football.

Kansas City Chiefs DL coach Joe Cullen is impressed by rookie linemen | Chiefs Wire

“Well, the two are really good. I mean, when you study the draft and our scouting staff, led by our general manager, Brett Veach,” said Cullen, “they do a great job, and they were guys that we identified and had opportunities to really get around and bring them in for a visit, Zoom with them. They both love football, and they’re both football junkies, and they’re really good players.”

The Chiefs added the two defensive standouts, selecting Tennessee’s Omarr Norman-Lott in the second round with the 63rd pick and Louisville’s Ashton Gillotte in the third round with the 66th pick.

“Well, they have great motors; they’re powerful, explosive, and sudden. And both of them at their school, where they’re represented, great in their role,” said Cullen, “When you look at Omarr (Norman-Lott), when you broke down his snaps this past year, he led the NCAA and pass rush win ratio by interior tackles. And then Ashton (Gillotte) played all over the place. He played end and inside. ‘4i’ was powerful. He was explosive when he went back to his junior year. Before his sophomore year, he had 11 and a half sacks. He was playing more on the edge. This year, they moved them inside a little bit. It’s a ‘4i’ kind of like Felix (Anudike-Uzomah) did when he was at K-State. So both those guys are going to bring great energy to the room, and they’re doing that now.”

Around the NFL

Adam Sandler to cast Ravens’ Derrick Henry if he runs for 2K yards | ESPN

The NFL’s most interesting side bet — one involving Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and Hollywood’s most famous “Waterboy” — is official.

A 2,000-yard rushing season for Henry this year will get him into the NFL record book — as well as an Adam Sandler movie.

This added incentive originated on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Tuesday, when Patrick told Henry that he would get the five-time Pro Bowl player in a Sandler movie if he surpassed 2,000 yards rushing this season. Two days later, King Henry had a deal with Happy Gilmore himself.

On Thursday, Henry was handed a phone on the practice field that contained a video message from Sandler.

“Two thousand yards-plus this year not only gets you in a movie, but we’ll have a nice dinner together and talk about Dan Patrick’s facial hair and how hard it is for him to grow it,” Sandler said in a video that was posted Friday. “I love ya and keep it up”.

Aaron Rodgers to Steelers winners, losers: Will Mike Tomlin benefit? | USA Today

Minnesota Vikings?

It had to be tempting. Right? Minnesota’s brass continues to – understandably – say glowing things about 2024 first-round QB J.J. McCarthy, whose rookie season ended before it began due to a preseason meniscus injury. But there’s no denying that McCarthy is an unknown professional commodity, and that a team coming off a 14-3 season – thanks in large part to departed Pro Bowl QB Sam Darnold’s inspired play – and with a roster juiced at just about every other position is taking a risk. But rather than replicating Brett Favre’s Packers-Jets-Vikings career-ending path – and how amped up would the already spicy Green Bay rivalry have been by injecting Rodgers back into it? – HC Kevin O’Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are doing right by McCarthy, putting him on the field with the loaded supporting cast any young passer should have before being asked to shoulder too heavy a burden. Right? Because McCarthy couldn’t possibly be the second coming of Christian Ponder. Right?

Charges are filed in connection with robbery at Richard Sherman’s home | NBC Sports

Earlier this year, former NFL cornerback and current Prime Video analyst Richard Sherman disclosed that his home had been robbed at gunpoint, while his family was home. And arrest has now been made.

Via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, a 21-year-old Seattle man has been charged in connection with the Sherman robbery and multiple other crimes.

Felony charges have been filed in connection with the Sherman robbery, the burglary of the home of Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez, the burglary of the home of Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo, and the burglary of the home of L.A. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell.

The defendant, who was not named, is being held in the King County jail on $1 million bail.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs Market Movers: OTA edition

Bulls

Offensive tackle Josh Simmons: He’s on the practice field, he’s ahead of pace in his rehab, and the coaches seem to be impressed. That’s all very good news for the Chiefs’ first-round pick. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him as the offseason progresses, hoping to get a clearer idea about whether he’ll be a Day 1 starter.

Safety Jaden Hicks: Recently picked by SI and PFF as a breakout candidate, one could argue that Hicks already broke out in his rookie season — meaning that his role will be even more significant in 2025. While he won’t be able to hit anyone during OTAs, we do expect Hicks to be directing traffic in the secondary as he continues to make plays.