KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are hopeful quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have recovered from recent toe surgery to participate in the team’s June mini-camp. The expectation is that he will be ready to go by the start of training camp later in the summer.
Mahomes had surgery for turf toe on Feb. 10
“It’s a three-month recovery so we’re hopeful (Mahomes returns) somewhere around that mandatory mini-camp, if we have it,” general manager Brett Veach said. “We certainly think by training camp he’ll be ready to go and we’ll be smart with him.”
Veach said the Chiefs were also hopeful starting tackles Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher would be ready for the start of training camp. Schwartz last week had back surgery and Fisher on Jan. 29 had surgery for a torn Achilles tendon.
“I would probably say Pat’s ahead of them just because of that type of injury and a quicker recovery,” Veach said. “Hopefully we’ll have all three ready to go by training camp.”
On other matters, Veach said:
• The Chiefs would try to extend the contract of defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, much as the Chiefs re-signed Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive lineman Chris Jones last year. Mathieu has one season left on the deal he signed with the Chiefs as a free agent in 2019.
“We’d put Tyrann in that category,” Veach said.. “We’ll have some work to do to get with him and his agents but enough can’t be said about Tyrann and his importance to this team both on the field and in the locker room. He’s proven not just to be a great player but a great leader and great person to have developing the young guys and out in the community.
“We hope he’s secure with this organization for years to come.”
• The Chiefs would like to retain wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
“I love Sammy and I love what he does for our offense,” Veach said. “There will be challenges this year. It will be a lot more challenging to retain him and bring him back this year just because of where we are. We were able to work with him and his agent last year and make it work. This year it will probably be more difficult just because we’ll have some work to do to get under the cap and once we do, we’ll have to see where the markets go.”
On what the Chiefs would do if they need to replace Watkins, Veach said, “We’re certainly blessed to have Tyreek Hill and expecting big things out of Mecole Hardman this year. We’re all excited about the development of Byron Pringle. We feel really good about those three players.
“I can’t see us running out of the gates the first week in free agency and signing a receiver. I don’t think that’s where we’re at. If the market falls and things make sense for us, we’ll be smart and selective. If something doesn’t work out for us in free agency, I think there’s enough depth to allow us to address it potentially in the draft.”