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It’s beginning to look like the Kansas City Chiefs may have Rashee Rice available for their Week 1 game against the Baltimore Ravens despite his legal concerns.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported Wednesday that the NFL is not expected to place the wide receiver on the commissioner’s exempt list. What’s more, the expectation is the league will not issue a suspension until the legal process unfolds.
On Thursday, the NFL’s Jeff Miller and Brian McCarthy addressed the situation:
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
On a conference call, NFL’s Jeff Miller day they are closely monitoring the situation for #Chiefs WR Rashee Rice, saying they’ll follow the legal developments.
My read: With his legal situation not yet settled, Rice remains eligible to begin play this season.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
Clarity from @NFLprguy, on #Chiefs WAr Rashee Rice: “We don’t anticipate he’ll be placed on commissioner’s exempt unless there is a material change in the case.”
Dan Treacy of Sporting News provided a timeline for Rice’s offseason, which notably involved a hit-and-run crash on March 30.
Rice was allegedly racing another driver, and the crash injured multiple people. The SMU product also left the scene of the accident and did not meet with Dallas police until April 3. He eventually released a statement saying, “I take full responsibility for my part in this matter.”
He was charged with eight felonies, although the case remains open.
Those charges are one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision causing serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injuries.
A photographer also alleged that Rice punched him at a nightclub on May 6, although the alleged victim did not press charges.
With the legal situation surrounding the crash still pending, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the NFL still hadn’t met with Rice as of Aug. 13. Florio noted the two ways the receiver could have missed the game against Baltimore was by the league placing him on the commissioner’s exempt list or suspending him without pay.
Players placed on the commissioner’s exempt list are paid during their leave.
“As to the possibility of an unpaid suspension, the league does not take such action until the underlying criminal case has ended,” Florio wrote.
Kansas City addressed the wide receiver position this offseason by drafting Xavier Worthy and signing Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. They will likely all be asked to assume larger roles if Rice is suspended at any point.
For now, though, he is still available to play on Sept. 5 against Baltimore.
