With the Kansas City Chiefs OTAs beginning on Tuesday, May 26, there’s one clear absence that remains the talk of NFL circles.

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice is missing from voluntary practices as he serves a 30-day jail sentence for violating the conditions of his probation. Kansas City simply cannot rely on Rice to stay out of trouble or stay healthy, for that matter. So, what does the latest development mean for Rice’s NFL future and future with the Chiefs? He’s entering a contract year with his rookie deal set to expire when the new league year begins next March.

Sports Illustrated NFL Insider Albert Breer recently appeared on Boston’s Hardy & Wallach on 98.5 The Sports Hub, where he discussed a potential suspension for Rice from the NFL and how Kansas City might handle future contract talks.

Will Chiefs WR Rashee Rice be suspended again? Albert Breer thinks the NFL has the leeway to issue another suspension

Before we get into the long-term future, we’ve got to discuss the interim involving Rice. He’ll miss OTAs and mandatory minicamp while he’s behind bars. He could miss even more time this year, depending on how the NFL views his probation violation.

While the NFL will no longer issue suspensions for marijuana under the substance abuse policy, Breer believes this falls under personal conduct. That could open him up to another suspension in 2026.

“Well, the mistake people are making is like, I don’t know that this isn’t a violation of the personal conduct policy,” Breer said. “So, it’s true that they don’t suspend people for weed anymore, which I think is the right thing, but this is different than that. You’re already on probation for something freaking horrible, and you violated your probation, so this isn’t about smoking weed; this is about violating your probation for the league. This could mean, ‘Alright, well, we already suspended him once. He violated his probation. He’s made the league look bad again.’ I think they definitely would have the leeway to suspend him again.”

The NFL suspended Rice for 6 games at the start of the 2025 NFL season. This came following his guilty plea to the 2024 street-racing incident.

The Chiefs could take a page out of the Dallas Cowboys’ recent playbook with George Pickens

With the probation violation and the knee surgery, Rice is starting off his contract year on the wrong foot. The Chiefs would be fools to hand out a long-term contract before the season. Sure, they might be able to get a discount. But the discount doesn’t matter if he can’t stay out of trouble, stay healthy, and stay on the field. Breer believes the Chiefs will now view the Rice situation in the same light as the one involving the Dallas Cowboys and WR George Pickens.

“And then for the Chiefs again, this is more than just what’s going to happen with him this year, with Rashee Rice going into a contract year,” Breer said. “It’s like, ‘Can we give him a big contract? Can we trust him?’ And I think right now the answer is no, to the point where I think they probably handle him like Dallas handled George Pickens. Where George Pickens, okay, like he had a good year, like let’s tag him. That’s what Dallas is doing right now. People have mixed that thing up that Dallas is not paying George Pickens because it’s, ‘Alright, you straightened up right for one year. Let’s see if you can do it again.’ So, like, if you’re the Chiefs with Rice now. Say he gets suspended for two games at the beginning of the year, and he has a great year, right? Are you paying him yet? Probably not. You probably tag him, and just say, ‘Okay, like, here’s a good chunk of money, let’s see if he can do it again.’”

Breer recently wrote that had Rice cleaned up his act off the field, he could’ve gotten in the ballpark range of $30 million average per year on a second contract with Kansas City.

“It’s a shame, too, because internally, the Chiefs view Rice as capable of being a top-five or top-10 receiver. Last year, a six-game suspension and concussion symptoms that ended his season prematurely limited the budding star to eight games. In those contests, he had 53 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns. If you project those numbers out to 17 games, it’s 113 catches for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns.”