Chiefs WR Rashee Rice to serve six-game suspension to start 2025 NFL season

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Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is accepting and will serve a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy to start the 2025 regular season, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday, per sources.

The NFL and NFL Players Association are working to finalize the settlement, which will end Rice’s disciplinary limbo, Pelissero added.

Rice’s suspension stems from the 25-year-old’s conviction for, along with another driver, causing a multi-vehicle chain-reaction collision on March 30, 2024, in Dallas. Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail on July 17. Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury.

The judge will allow Rice, who is paying roughly $115,000 to victims for their medical expenses, to choose the time or times he serves out his sentence.

Rice will miss the following games: Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil; Week 2 versus the Philadelphia Eagles; Week 3 at the New York Giants; Week 4 versus the Baltimore Ravens; Week 5 at the Jacksonville Jaguars; and Week 6 versus the Detroit Lions .

He will be eligible to play his first game of the 2025 regular season in Week 7 versus the Las Vegas Raiders.

The NFL initially proposed a suspension of double-digit games for Rice, which was the basis of the league and NFLPA’s initial inability to agree on the length of the penalty, leading to a disciplinary hearing scheduled for Sept. 30, Pelissero reported on Aug. 15. The lack of precedent for suspending a player for more than half of the season in a situation such as this was the reason behind the NFLPA and Rice’s representation pushing back.

The disciplinary hearing was ultimately not necessary, as the NFL and NFLPA came to an agreement on Rice’s discipline.

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Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph when he crashed into other vehicles, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said that following the crash, Rice did not check on the welfare of those in the other vehicles and fled the scene on foot.

“Last March, I was involved in a high-speed accident in Dallas,” Rice said in a statement released by his attorney following his sentencing in July. “There have been a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages that my actions caused, and I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole. I urge everyone to mind the speed limit, drive safe and drive smart. Last and certainly not least, I am profoundly sorry for the physical damages to person and property. I fully apologize for the harm I caused to innocent drivers and their families.”

Rice is heading into his third NFL season. He was a 2023 NFL Draft second-round pick out of SMU.

As a rookie, Rice helped the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win as he led the team’s wide receivers with 79 receptions, 938 yards and seven touchdowns. He played just four games in his second year after sustaining a season-ending knee injury during Week 4 of the 2024 campaign.

Rice fully participated in training camp and played in two preseason games, catching two passes for 13 yards and a touchdown in 20 snaps.

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