AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

• Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II said there is a different energy around the team after Russell Wilson‘s addition: “You can tell the energy’s been different. The culture is different.” (ProFootballTalk)
• Denver hosted Mississippi State CB Martin Emerson for a top 30 visit on Tuesday. (Mike Klis)
• The Broncos hosted Georgia RB Zamir White for a top 30 visit. (Klis)

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was shocked when he learned that WR Tyreek Hill had been traded to the Dolphins.

“My initial reaction was a little bit of shock,” Mahomes said, via ESPN. “Even though you knew this was a possibility, [losing] a guy you had played with and built a friendship with over the last six years, it was definitely something you didn’t want him to leave more for being able to hang out in the locker room and do that stuff more than the actual on-the-field stuff. But you’re happy for him. Obviously, he got a great contract (four-year, $120 million extension with $72.2 million guaranteed). He’s back where he has a house in the offseason around a lot of his family and stuff like that. I wish the best for him.”

Mahomes explained that the team will need to continue forward even without Hill, and will have to continue to find ways to get better this offseason.

“We’ve just got to keep rolling,” Mahomes said. “That’s just how it is in this league. It’s a business as much as it is about friendships and stuff like that. We know in order to have success in this league we have to keep evolving and keep getting better. So I got with those new receivers as quickly as possible and tried to build that so we could have success when we get going this year.”

• USA Today’s Josina Anderson, citing a league source, reports the Chiefs view 49ers WR Deebo Samuel as “highly talented” but are not actively pursuing him and are focused on the 2022 NFL Draft.

Raiders

The Raiders’ hope by hiring HC Josh McDaniels is that they can tap into some of what he did to help the Patriots and QB Tom Brady be so good over the last decade. It helped that Brady was always willing to take below-market deals to give New England more money to spend elsewhere and McDaniels was able to successfully pitch Raiders QB Derek Carr on doing the same thing after trading for WR Davante Adams.

“I don’t know how [Brady’s] name came up necessarily, we may have touched on it briefly. And that’s an example—it’s kind of a unicorn, I know that—but it’s also a good example of what can happen when that player at that position chooses to do something that helps the team,” McDaniels said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “There’s not a straight line there between what Tom’s done with his situation and winning championships. But I’m sure it didn’t hurt. The reality is, it’s not a complicated conversation. The more you give to one person, the less you can give to others.

“That’s just really what it is. And so the point of that is the more we allocate to one person, the less we’re going to be able to do around that person. I think everybody saw it pretty much the same way. And look, Davante’s Davante. He probably took less too. The goal is try to get a bunch of guys where, yes, they’re doing right by themselves, but they’re also acknowledging that if I give a little bit, then maybe our team can benefit from that.”