Broncos

Broncos G Ben Powers on being out nine games on injured reserve: “It was depressing being on IR. It was just terrible. You see the success the team’s having without you & all those questions go on in your head. It feels like a cloud of depression is following you. I’m happy to be back.” (Chris Tomasson)

Chiefs

As the Chiefs ended a disappointing season that left them out of the playoffs for the first time in well over a decade, the top question in the locker room was the future of TE Travis Kelce. The 36-year-old just finished the final year of his contract in Kansas City, and while retirement would make a lot of sense, Kelce hasn’t been willing to tip his hand yet.

“I mean, who knows? Who knows? Either it hits me quick, or I’ve got to take some time,” Kelce said via the Athletic’s Jesse Newell. “I think last year was a little bit easier. I think I knew right away I wanted to give this one a shot. So we’ll see.”

In the past, Kelce has said he wants to play until the wheels fall off. He’s not in his prime anymore, but this past year showed the tank isn’t empty, with 76 catches, 851 yards, five touchdowns and a Pro Bowl berth. It was an improvement over his 2024 season when retirement also seemed like a serious possibility.

“Obviously, we didn’t do as well as a team, but I felt like I came into the season prepared and ready to rock and roll with the right intentions,” Kelce said. “The ball just didn’t go our way in a lot of those close games, unfortunately. And I think if I do choose to come back, that’s something I’ve really got to focus on, making sure that I’m available and I’m ready for those moments.”

Another wrinkle in Kelce’s situation this year compared to last is his contract status. He and the Chiefs would have to work out a new deal for him to be back.

“That’s all down the road,” Kelce said. “I think I’ve still got to make that decision first to even feel what kind of importance that (money in the contract) means to me.”

At least one teammate doesn’t think the world has seen the last of Kelce yet.

“I’m not buying it,” Chiefs DT Chris Jones said. “He’ll be back next year.”

Raiders

ESPN reporters Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden did an autopsy of the Raiders’ disastrous 2025 season, which continued a long pattern of organizational dysfunction. Though people with the team didn’t want to blame minority owner Tom Brady, he was at the center of a lot of decisions that didn’t work out.
Raiders owner Mark Davis brought Brady on last year with the idea that he’d be a key voice and asset. Brady advised Davis to hit the reset button and move on from HC Antonio Pierce and GM Tom Telesco after just one season, with the goal of replacing them with GM John Spytek (a former teammate of Brady’s at Michigan) and then-Lions OC Ben Johnson. Brady landed Spytek, but Johnson chose the Bears over a hard pitch from Brady.
Brady then advocated for the hire of HC Pete Carroll and OC Chip Kelly, though the two hadn’t worked together. He tried to recruit Rams QB Matthew Stafford when the veteran flirted with other teams, then pushed for the trade for QB Geno Smith over signing QB Sam Darnold as a free agent. An agent for a Raiders player told ESPN: “Tom definitely influences everything that goes on there. The coaching hire, the Geno Smith trade, Matthew Stafford recruitment, he was involved with all that.”
The ESPN report points out it became clear Spytek and Carroll weren’t on the same page from their opening press conference, with Spytek talking about a longer rebuild and Carroll talking about competing right away. An agent for a different player said, “Let’s be honest, you are talking about a first-year general manager and a veteran head coach in his mid-70s. So to an extent, of course, they’re not going to always be aligned the same.”
A source close to Spytek pointed out to ESPN that the GM wasn’t part of the process to hire Carroll, as the Raiders didn’t conduct any more interviews in between hiring him on January 21st and hiring Carroll on January 25th.
As the year played out, there was a clear disconnect between Carroll wanting to play veterans to try to win, while younger players didn’t get the reps they needed to develop. Spytek initiated weekly personal film sessions with first-round RB Ashton Jeanty, something multiple current and former GMs told ESPN wasn’t common. He was hands-on with other rookies as well.
Another example was OL Jackson Powers-Johnson, who the team shuttled around to multiple positions and benched at various points. It made other teams curious about whether he’d be available in a trade, but one exec who talked with them said Spytek didn’t engage: “Spytek knows that he has a pretty young, talented interior lineman. They are not where they want to be in that position group, but they didn’t come close to maximizing it. They actually have some good young players, and they should have been more functional.”
Several sources told ESPN that OL coach Brennan Carroll, Pete’s son, was an issue, one that largely escaped scrutiny as Carroll fired other coordinators as the season progressed. An agent for a Raiders’ lineman said they resorted to meeting on their own without the coaching staff to try to get a handle on things: “It was that bad. They were meeting on their own and trying to figure it out together, which I have never heard of in my history of working in this league.”
The issues with Kelly have been documented since his firing, though some of ESPN’s sources contradicted certain things like Kelly botching play calls. The report adds an agent and team source said Kelly’s practice installs didn’t work, players didn’t buy into what he was trying to do, and some were confused about the plays he was running.
Another issue is that for as much power as Brady apparently wielded, his day-to-day presence with the team was sparse, which raised some eyebrows. Brady visited in training camp and attended three games, one preseason and two Monday nighters, that didn’t interfere with his broadcast job with FOX. Raiders LT Kolton Miller said Brady visited the team five or six times this season.
Spytek said he’s in constant communication with Brady to keep him abreast of things: “I talk to him a lot. He is aware of what we are doing. I don’t bore him with mundane transactions, but any big decision, I talk to him about. He can’t be here every day right now, but I promise you, I talk to him a lot and he and I are on the same page.”
However, there is some skepticism in league circles that the Raiders will be able to attract the coach they want given the circumstances. One agent who represents a player told ESPN: “Who would want the Raiders job? The coach who takes the Raiders job is the coach who takes any job. They know: ‘As soon as we have a string of losses, which we will likely have — they will be calling for my head and the owner is going to listen.’”
A personnel exec for another team added: “Why couldn’t they get the coach and the QB that they wanted? Because people view that place as a place of constant dysfunction. And now Tom is involved and what did this year look like? More dysfunction. Why would people that have options and choices be interested?”

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