After this move the Cleveland Browns have $18,382,956 of cap space for the 2025 season which is more than enough for in-season moves and practice squad elevations. In terms of all teams across the NFL they currently sit 13th.
Insider Hints at Rough Injury Timeline for Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy
Posted September 9, 2025
As the Kansas City Chiefs‘ season continues, the club is hard at work preparing for a Week 2 outing against the Philadelphia Eagles. Having star wide receiver Xavier Worthy would help, although that probability still remains in question.
Worthy suffered what’s deemed a dislocated shoulder in Week 1’s opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. As the week of practice soon kicks off, there’s some new light being shed on his outlook.
Insider Says Xavier Worthy Could Be ‘Week-to-Week’ With Dislocated Shoulder
In a Monday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” ESPN insider Adam Schefter provided the latest on the Worthy injury. He reports that the former first-round pick is likely to miss time and figures to be “week-to-week” as he recovers.
“I think he’s probably going to miss a little bit of time here,” Schefter said. “He’ll probably be week-to-week with that dislocated shoulder. Obviously, he went down there, went out of the game [and] did not come back. They sent him for tests and they don’t think it’s too bad, too serious, but it does look like he could miss a little bit of time here. So you have no Xavier Worthy right now, Rashee Rice misses the first six games, so they’re a little shorthanded right now with some of their playmakers at the wide receiver position in Kansas City.”
Head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media on Monday as well. He didn’t have a significant update on Worthy, other than confirming he’s on the mend in some capacity.
“I know Xavier is the big question,” Reid said. “He’s rehabbing and working [on] his shoulder. We’ll see where it goes day-by-day here. We’ll see where we end up.”
Now that the Chiefs are back in Kansas City, they’ve likely conducted tests on Worthy’s shoulder. Giving him some time before delivering a ruling on surgery could mean multiple things. An optimistic outlook is the shoulder being strong or stable enough to recover on its own, then tested in-game with a brace. Of course, until there’s a definitive report, it’s hard to rule out surgical intervention.
As the Chiefs found out with wideout Marquise “Hollywood” Brown last season, upper-body injuries can be tricky.
Assessing Chiefs’ Wideout Landscape Should Worthy Miss More Time
The Worthy injury sent the Chiefs for a shock, especially considering the timing and nature of it. The speedy wideout ran into tight end Travis Kelce on a third-down mesh concept on their first drive, falling victim to friendly fire and subsequently being ruled out of the game. Speaking of Brown, that’s exactly who served as Patrick Mahomes‘ go-to target the rest of the way.
Brown led Kansas City in targets with 16, converting on 10 of them. On those 10 catches, he amassed 99 receiving yards. Forty-nine of those were thanks to a big-time heave from Mahomes in the fourth quarter. Brown’s involvement, especially with Rice suspended, projects to remain healthy.
Reliable veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster was the second-leading Chiefs receiver. He went 5-for-5 in targets to receptions, racking up 55 yards on the evening. Kelce had a pair of catches on Friday night, going for 47 yards. Tyquan Thornton‘s 38-yard grab insulated his 41-yard overall output.
If Worthy is out on Sunday, the wild card of the week could be rookie Jalen Royals. The fourth-round pick missed Week 1 due to knee tendonitis. Reid said he’s working towards a return but didn’t give a strong indication of his playing status either way.
Kansas City is no stranger to navigating injuries at receiver. This time around, they’ll wait for another Worthy development.
Browns Restructure Star Corner’s Contract, Eyes on Bigger Moves
Jack Duffin takes a look at the Cleveland Browns salary cap space now they have restructured Denzel Ward's contract.
Before week one of the season the Cleveland Browns took the logical step to restructure Denzel Ward's contract converting $12,221,000 of his $13,476,000 into a signing bonus giving them additional cap space for the 2025 season. This leaves the minimum base salary for a player of his tenure which is $1,255,000.
Below is his new contract, I would expect the team to return next offseason and restructure him again. There is certainly a chance they could look to extend him with two years remaining but this is something they will only usually do with quarterbacks or star players like Myles Garrett. Denzel Ward would certainly be in that bucket if it wasn't for the injuries which might mean they want him to play out 2026 first.
