Chiefs Celebrate with Kansas City, Calvin Ridley Applies for Reinstatement, and Other NFL Bullets

While the Chiefs spent Wednesday partying it up, the rest of the NFL kept working. Teams continued interviewing coordinators; players began getting healthy for the next season. Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars could get another weapon next season in Calvin Ridley.

  • Travis Kelce is easily the best hype man in the NFL: “Let me take you back to 2022 in the month of, maybe, April … guys were getting signed left and right. The haters were saying that the Chiefs would never make the playoffs. The haters were saying that the Chiefs were done. If you knew the Chiefs were going to win the division, let me hear you say hell yeah!”
  • I mean, seriously, this is just good fun. I can’t wait to experience a Bears Super Bowl parade.
  • Speaking of the Bears … just one year after being canned in Chicago, Matt Nagy is living his best life. Good for him, though. He admitted many of his wrongs during the Super Bowl week, and everyone deserves a second chance.
  • Local media outlets in Kansas City reported that the Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration crowd was upwards of one million!
  • Patrick Mahomes didn’t have a Brady moment with the Lombardi trophy, but he appeared to have a good time nonetheless!
  • Jaguars’ wide receiver Calvin Ridley has applied for reinstatement from his suspension for gambling on NFL games during the 2021 season. Ridley admitted to betting $1,500 on NFL games while he was away from the Falcons dealing with mental health issues in 2021. As a result, Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season. However, Ian Rapoport believes that he will be reinstated as long as he has abstained from gambling.
  • The Falcons traded Ridley to the Jaguars ahead of the 2022 NFL trade deadline for a complex package of draft compensation based on if and when Ridley was reinstated. So, Ridley returning in 2023 would be good news for both the Jaguars and Falcons.
  • The Buccaneers have found their new offensive coordinator. According to Mike Garafolo, Tampa Bay is hiring Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales:
  • Canales was Seattle’s quarterbacks coach last season, helping guide Geno Smith to a career-best season. Smith threw for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions — making the Pro Bowl — after Russell Wilson was traded to the Broncos.
  • Canales has been with Pete Carroll since 2010. Canales has spent time in various positions, including offensive quality control coach, assistant QBs coach, wide receivers coach, and offensive passing game coordinator.
  • Tampa Bay was 8-9 last season, losing to the Cowboys in the Wild Card. In addition, Tom Brady announced this offseason that he was retiring from the sport.
  • Panthers’ defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is bringing a familiar face to Carolina. Former Broncos outside linebackers coach Bert Watts will join Evero in Carolina as the safeties coach. Frank Reich and the Panthers continue to make quick work of filling out his coaching staff.
  • Eagles tackle Lane Johnson underwent surgery to repair a torn adductor. Johnson played through that injury in the playoffs and was very good. The recovery time for Johnson is expected to be 10-12 weeks.
  • So, Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday evening that we might soon see a familiar face on an NFL sideline. Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan has emerged as a top candidate for the Broncos DC job under Sean Payton. So, one would say that Ryan even has a foot in the door.
  • Yes, that was a foot joke. If Rex Ryan is back, so are the foot fetish jokes. Sorry, but those are the rules.
  • Eric Bieniemy has an interview with the Commanders today for their OC vacancy:
  • Ian Rapoport believes that Bieniemy is a strong candidate for the Washington job. Former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman is also a finalist for the job. More from Rapoport on Bieniemy’s candidacy:
  • This one is good for a laugh this morning!
  • If you missed it, I wrote on Wednesday about potential landing spots for Derek Carr and potential replacements in Las Vegas. There are some thoughts on the Bengals’ next phase there as well.
  • My god, the Bulls stink!
  • But, baseball is back!
  • written by

    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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