NFL Insider Reports Potential Suspension Length for KC Chiefs WR Rashee Rice

The Kansas City Chiefs appear likely to be without wide receiver Rashee Rice for some portion of the 2024 NFL season. Adam Schefter has revealed the potential length of a pending suspension.

Jan 13, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4). / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is facing criminal charges and lawsuits stemming from his alleged role in starting a multi-vehicle crash in Dallas, Texas in late March. Now, an NFL insider has shed some light on how the league may deal with Rice's offseason issues.

Adam Schefter of ESPN wrote about what he's hearing around the NFL as the 2024 NFL Draft approaches, and his discussion of the Chiefs is receiver-heavy, starting with his expectations for Rice's potential suspension.

"He is facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury," Schefter writes. "He turned himself into police last week at the Regional Jail in DeSoto, Texas, before being released on bond. On top of the legal issues and lawsuit he is facing, Rice is expected to be disciplined by the NFL, resulting in at least a multi-game suspension."

What does Adam Schefter's report mean for Rashee Rice?

Schefter's phrasing — "at least a multi-game suspension" — is interesting for a few reasons. First, it sets the floor. According to Schefter, Rice is expected to be suspended, and for no less than two games. Beyond that, what does Schefter mean by "at least?" Technically, a 16-game suspension would be "multi-game," but less than a year-long ban.

My hunch, solely working off of Schefter's phrasing, is that "multi-game" could cover anything from a two-game suspension to an eight-game suspension. More than eight games would be more than half the season, perhaps necessitating Schefter to choose a different phrase in that position.

Realistically, I would argue that Schefter is inferring a two-to-six-game suspension for Rice in that phrasing (with NFL precedent pushing toward the four-to-six-game range), but all he's saying definitively is that Rice will be suspended for "at least" two games.