Former Chiefs 6-Foot, 324-Pound 3rd Round Draft Pick All-Clear For Reunion
As the Kansas City Chiefs head into a make-or-break AFC West rivalry matchup against the division-leading Denver Broncos, they face a team severely weakened by injuries.
The Broncos have ruled out no fewer than five key players for Sunday’s nationally televised showdown, compared to just one — running back Isiah Pacheco — for the Chiefs.
The Friday injury report leaves the Chiefs with a golden opportunity to recover from their discouraging loss to the Buffalo Bills before the bye week, and get their 5-4 season back on track, restoring their chances for a 10th straight AFC West championship.
Bink Saunders Could Return to Chiefs
And also on Friday came news of a chance for the Chiefs to add a player in a long-awaited reunion, one they lost to a $12.3 million free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints jus two years ago.
That player would be defensive lineman Khalen “Bink” Saunders, the Chiefs’ third-round draft pick out of Western Illinois in 2019. After two years with the Saints, Saunders was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars this year for offensive lineman Luke Fortner, only to be immediately benched by Jaguars coach Liam Coen.
After getting into just two games for Jacksonville this season, seeing a mere 25 snaps in total, Saunders found himself released by the Jaguars on Thursday.
Defensive Tackle Goes Unclaimed on Waiver Wire
Because the NFL trade deadline is in the rear-view mirror, all released players including seven-year veterans such as Saunders, must first clear waivers before signing with another team. For Saunders, that happened on Friday.
With no waiver claims on the 6-foot, 324-pound defensive tackle, the 29-year-old is now in the free and clear to sign with any team, including to a team’s practice squad, which would not have been an option had he been claimed off the waiver wire.
Saunders’ former Chiefs teammates are already openly lobbying Kansas City general manager Brett Veach to make a reunion happen, according to a Friday report by Pete Sweeney of the Kansas City Star
“We’ve got to get my brother back,” 10-year veteran defensive tackle Chris Jones told Sweeney. “Veach and those guys do a really good job getting guys familiar with the system back. So hopefully he’s one of those guys we can get back in the system.”
Former Teammates Lobby to Get Saunders Back
“When he was here, he was a huge contributor for us on defense, especially when we were making our (Super Bowl) runs,” added linebacker Nick Bolton, as quoted by Sweeney. “Having a guy familiar with the defense and familiar with the faces around here — he’s been in this locker room before. We understand he meshes with these guys.”
Defensive end Mike Danna added his voice to the chorus clamoring for Saunders — a member of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning teams in 2019 and 2022 — to rejoin the squad.
“He’s part of the family,” Danna said, as quoted in Sweeney’s report. “I’ve got a lot of love and respect for him, and to have a person like that back — that’d be awesome.”
Saunders Tied to Chiefs For Multiple Reasons
In his four seasons with the Chiefs, Saunders started five games and appeared in 38, collecting 4 1/2 sacks and making 40 solo tackles along with another 41 of the assisted variety.
And yet, Saunders even made an impact on the Chiefs as a member of the Saints, intercepting a pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the end zone during a 2024 Monday Night Football
In another Chiefs connection, Saunders’ brother Kameron is a backup dancer for pop megastar Taylor Swift, the fiancé of Kansas City’s 13-year veteran tight end Travis Kelce.
Blockbuster Eagles Trade Pitch Swaps A.J. Brown for $140 Million All-Pro WR
There aren’t very many wide receivers in the NFL you can say are better than Philadelphia Eagles superstar A.J. Brown. You can count them on one hand.
What if the Eagles could get one of them in exchange for Brown, and send the headache that comes with his incessant whining and complaining elsewhere? Wouldn’t that be something they should consider?
In this case, it would be swapping Brown in exchange for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and sweeten the pot for the Vikings with a 2026 first round pick. If Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman is truly as great at his job as we think he is, might even be able to get the Vikings to see the benefits of the deal financially and just do the Brown-Jefferson swap straight up.
The key is getting Brown out of Philadelphia and making sure there’s another Top 5 wide receiver to take his place. Jefferson is the likely only candidate.
Vikings: Swing and Miss at Drafting QB
From the outside looking in, it seems like the Vikings looked at the 3 quarterbacks they had on their roster last year — Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones and J.J. McCarthy — and picked the worst one to move forward with.
Darnold is now with the Seattle Seahawks and looks like an NFL MVP candidate.
Jones is now with the Indianapolis Colts and looks like an NFL MVP candidate.
McCarthy has seemed, for all intents and purposes, totally lost.
McCarthy, who missed 5 games with a high ankle sprain and is 2-2 in 4 starts this season, just looks lost. The result? The Vikings are 4-5 and in last place in the NFC North Division one year after going 14-3 in the regular season.
If we’re going to crown a King of Suffering in Minnesota right now, that can only be the 26-year-old Jefferson, a 4-time NFL All-Pro with a 4-year, $140 million contract who has had to endure the insult of catching passes from McCarthy and Carson Wentz this season.
It’s not an exaggeration to say the Vikings are wasting the prime years of the career of one of the NFL’s greatest wide receivers of all time, which we can rightly say Jefferson is halfway through his sixth season.
Consider this: Jefferson has been named Pro Bowl or NFL All-Pro 4 times in his first 5 seasons and had more receiving yards through his first 5 seasons than any player in NFL history, including winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2022 with 128 reception for 1,809 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Also consider if the Vikings were to swap Jefferson for Brown, it would free up roughly $24 million in cap space for 2026 — that’s the financial benefit.
Brown’s Constant Complaining Wears Thin
Brown has spent the majority of the 2025 regular season complaining about his role in the offense as the Eagles try to win a second consecutive Super Bowl — we count 3 separate online crash outs this season alone as the Eagles have started the regular season with a sparkling 7-2 record.
His latest complaint came via a Twitch livestream on the Tuesday following Philadelphia’s 10-7 win over the Green Bay Packers in which Brown called the season a “s–t show” after just 2 receptions for 13 yards.
That prompted a rare visit and talk from team owner Jeffery Lurie at Eagles practice on Thursday, and came after the Eagles had to address trade rumors about Brown after the NFL trade deadline on November 4.
This offseason, it might be smart for the Eagles to turn those rumors into reality.
