Rashee Rice walked out of jail on June 16th, immediately firing up conversations about his future. 2026 is beginning to look bleak for the wide receiver, who now has few options to keep his Kansas City career alive. Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR and Hall of Famer Cris Carter pulled back the curtains on the ugly truth.

“I’m concerned about what his ceiling is because he has flashed, but he has never shown the consistency to be number one.” Cris Carter said on the Fully Loaded Podcast. “Had a significant injury over a year ago. Didn’t get back to where he was last year. … [Tyreek Hill] is still a free agent. So man, be careful.

“Tell your agent, though, don’t call Kansas City right now. Not a good time to be negotiating.”

Carter’s not wrong. Hill is literally without a team right now, but Rashee Rice has more to lose. His becoming WR1 in the Chiefs offense was always a flimsy idea; Rice was known more for his legal troubles than his skills, and his rookie season in 2023 is the only one he’s played in full. We are now a little over two months away from the season opener, but we still can’t put a finger on what to expect from Rice.

Rice missed a big part of the 2024 season after he tore his right LCL. And then came the multi-car collision he caused on a Texas highway, which led to multiple injuries. The NFL suspended him for six more games in 2025. Together, the WR has played in only 12 games in these past two seasons. And in the games that he did play, the spark that came through in his rookie season was nowhere to be seen.

Rashee Rice outweighed fellow WRs Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton because of his experience, which was the only edge he had over them to be WR1 this season. However, he will have his work cut out to convince the Chiefs that 2024 and 2025 are not the full picture. And Rice might only have this season to do it.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Chiefs currently have “no plans” to extend Rice’s contract, which puts him in a tricky spot since he’s entering the final year of his rookie deal. Had Rice not invited the legal troubles for himself, he might have been looking at a contract worth more than $40 million a year.

In his absence, Xavier Worthy and rookie WR Cyrus Allen have been getting quite the attention. These two are still young, and Thornton is also expected to leap this season, per Arrowhead Addict’s Luke Norris. Rice has clearly become the expendable option here.

That wasn’t the case until recently. The Chiefs spent the draft loading up on defense and didn’t address the wide receiver position until the fifth round, when they grabbed Allen. From very early on, Kansas City was confident in Rice leading the charge after the departure of Hollywood Brown.

The Chiefs can always pivot to an available veteran receiver, like Tyreek Hill. Six years older than Rice, he has played more games than the Chiefs’ WR over the last two seasons, and has been consistently delivering too. There are no reports yet of Kansas City exploring the avenue of bringing Hill back, but it’s worth a thought. Previously, Schefter reported that the Chiefs had expressed interest in veteran WR Jauan Jennings, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Yeah, Rashee Rice is in a tough spot.