Rashee Rice of the Kansas City Chiefs carries the ball against the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 5, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

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Because of the six-game suspension announced by the NFL on Wednesday, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice will feel it in his pocketbook.

He forfeits $421,824 or more than one-third of the $1,265,472 he was slated to make for 17 regular-season games in 2025.

Rice was suspended without pay for the first six games of the 2025 regular season for violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy for his role in a multi-car crash in Dallas that left multiple people injured during the 2024 offseason.

He pled guilty in district court to two third-degree felony charges — collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury — and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years’ probation as a result.

Still on his rookie deal, Rice is in the third year of the four-year, $6,495,218 contract he signed after the Chiefs drafted him in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

When The Chiefs Found Out

On Thursday morning the Chiefs confirmed what many had assumed.

They knew Rice would be suspended at the start of the 2025 season — even though that ran contrary to previous reporting — prior to having to trim their roster to 53 players on Tuesday.

“It wasn’t a surprise,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach told local reporters. “It was communicated to us, and we were certainly made aware a few days prior to cutdown day that this was a better than a 50% shot that this would get resolved before the kickstart of the season.”

The Chiefs prepared for this scenario by keeping eight receivers on the active roster: Rice, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Jalen Royals, Tyquan Thornton, Jason Brownlee and Nikko Remigio. That means nearly 1/7 of the Opening Day squad will play the wide receiver position.

Rice’s suspension began Wednesday, and he will be eligible for reinstatement on Monday, Oct. 13 ahead of their Oct. 19 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

It previously was reported that Rice was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on Sept. 30, meaning he would be suspended after that.

The Schedule Without Rice

Instead Rice, who had 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdown catches in his Super Bowl LVIII-winning 2023 rookie season, will miss several key games on the Chiefs’ front-loaded schedule.

The Chiefs go across the world — to Brazil — to face the Los Angeles Chargers — perhaps their toughest challenger in the division — in Week One on Sept. 5. Then they face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who pummeled them 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, in Week Two.

After a road game on Sunday Night Football against the New York Giants, which should be winnable, they play the team perhaps best suited to overtake them in the AFC — the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar Jackson’s talented squad addressed their glaring weakness on pass defense by adding cornerback Jaire Alexander as a free agent and drafting safety Malaki Starks and edge rusher Mike Green in the first two rounds, respectively.

After another primetime against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs host the Detroit Lions, the NFC’s No. 1 seed last year.

To put it another way, the Chiefs play four playoff teams from 2024 in the first six weeks of the 2025 season — while Rice is gone — but just six playoff teams from 2024 in the final 11 games of the 2025 season.

That’s a big challenge because Rice was the Chiefs’ best receiver last year — with 24 catches for 288 receiving yards in three games — until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week Four.

Throughout training camp he said he felt “100%” recovered from the injury.

The next challenge will be staying in football shape while away from the team.

“I’m locked in. This is what I do. This is my job. This is what I love to do,” he said. “Even when I’m not able to be out there with my team, I’m going to be working as hard as I can so I can be back out there with them as soon as possible.”