The best-laid plans of mice and Super Bowl champs often go awry.
After struggling through inadequate receiver play in 2023, Kansas City entered the offseason with apparent designs on opening up the offense in ways we’d not seen since the days of Tyreek Hill. General manager Brett Veach signed Hollywood Brown in free agency and traded up in the first round to draft speedster Xavier Worthy.
The plan seemed clear: Worthy would be the top-off speedster, Brown would be an intermediate prowler with field-stretching potential, Rashee Rice would exploit defenses off the line and after the catch and Travis Kelce would do Travis Kelce things, making linebackers look foolish in space.
A month in, and that plan has seen a wrecking ball fly through it.
Brown suffered a preseason shoulder injury and, despite early optimism that he’d be back soon, underwent SC joint surgery that is expected to knock him out for months, with a potential playoff return being a likely best-case scenario, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. Still, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs plowed forward, starting off undefeated despite some passing struggles.
But then Week 2 delivered another bummer, with Isiah Pacheco, the RB1 and the offense’s energizer bunny, going down, landing on IR. And on Sunday, the hits kept coming: Rice was carted off after Mahomes collided with the WR’s knee while attempting to make a tackle following an interception. Rapoport reported afterward that it’s feared Rice suffered a torn ACL.
The double-whammy took out the Chiefs’ most productive player, leaving a massive void on the roster as they attempt to three-peat. Even without catching a single pass in Week 4, Rice still leads all Kansas City players with 288 receiving yards (130 more than Kelce). With Rice and Brown down, K.C.’s receiver corps is led by Worthy, a rookie with speed still finding his way, Justin Watson, a declining JuJu Smith-Schuster, disappointing former second-round pick Skyy Moore and retread Mecole Hardman. A 34-year-old Kelce remains to draw attention, and fellow tight end Noah Gray has proved useful, but this pass-catching group does not have a lot of upside or proven reliability.
I’m not here to suggest the season will be sunk without Rice. It never is with the best player in the game still sporting a red No. 15. But if the Chiefs want a chance to lift a third-straight Lombardi, the offense needs help.
With the Nov. 5 trade deadline just over a month away, let’s look at a few fits, ranging from splash plays to veteran depth additions.
One caveat: We won’t get into the salary-cap machinations for each player’s situation. The Chiefs currently have $4.93 million in cap space, per Over The Cap. It would take some maneuvering from Veach to work out details, but we know teams can manipulate the cap if they genuinely desire to add a player. Let’s not let accounting get in the way of a good time, people!
Reports connected the Chiefs to the big-play receiver during the 2023 offseason before Arizona released him, though he ultimately landed in Tennessee. Current circumstances could renew the interest K.C. might have had in the wideout. Hopkins started the season banged-up and on a pitch count but looked more like his former self in Week 3 (six catches, 73 yards, one TD), and he appeared healthy enough in Monday’s win over the Dolphins. Nuk showed he still has plenty of juice left last season, generating 1,057 yards on a struggling offense. Imagine what he could do with Mahomes throwing him the ball. The 32-year-old might no longer be a perennial All-Pro, but he can still dominate for stretches. Even after earning their first win of 2024, the 1-3 Titans could look to cash out now, with Hopkins set to be a free agent after the season. Snagging Hopkins would give Mahomes a go-to target who can win back-shoulder throws and throws on the boundary. He’d combine well with Kelce patrolling the middle and Worthy driving deep.
It would not sit well with the denizens of The Black Hole for the Raiders to send their top weapon to a bitter rival. But Adams’ base salary over the next two years is exorbitant ($35.64 million in 2025 and $36.64 million in 2026), and there will be no more guaranteed money remaining on his deal, per Over The Cap, essentially making his future in Las Vegas untenable. Adams is reportedly week-to-week after missing Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury suffered Thursday in practice. When asked by Kay Adams in an interview Tuesday if he’s played his last down for Vegas, Adams did not answer directly, which will do little to squash the notion that he could be on the move. Pairing Adams with Mahomes would be a massive coup for the back-to-back Super Bowl champs. The 31-year-old can still scorch corners off the line of scrimmage and would do wonders for K.C. in the red zone.
UPDATE: NFL Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday that Adams informed the Raiders on Monday he would prefer to be traded.
Cooper was reportedly part of a potential trade package between the San Francisco and Cleveland during the offseason for Brandon Aiyuk, who eventually re-signed with the Niners. If the Browns were willing to part with Cooper then, it follows that they’d consider it now; they’ve started 1-3, while the wideout has struggled to begin the season. Cooper has just one game over 40 yards receiving this season, and his awful drop Sunday led to an interception in the loss to Las Vegas. The veteran also has not yet seemed to mesh consistently with Deshaun Watson, having found more life when Joe Flacco took over late last year. Cooper is in the final year of his deal (which was restructured after he sought a pay raise this summer), and Cleveland could look to move on as its season spirals. Cooper would provide a field-stretching and boundary-producing weapon who would pair well with Worthy, with his addition serving as an upgraded version of the plan K.C. tried to enact with the Brown signing.
If they don’t add Cooper, the Chiefs could check in on the little-used Moore. The move certainly wouldn’t be as significant, but it would presumably be much less costly.
Chargers fans would probably have a conniption if Allen ever donned a Chiefs jersey. He makes the list because K.C. has seen up close how Allen can torch a defense — he’s logged 91 career catches for 1,083 yards versus the Chiefs. While it’s probably too early to make any resounding statements about Chicago, the Bears’ offense has been enough of a mess that GM Ryan Poles could consider paring down the receiver corps already. Remember, the Bears acquired Allen — set to be a free agent after the season — from the Chargers before they knew they’d land Rome Odunze in the draft. Rolling with DJ Moore and Odunze while recouping draft assets for Allen (whom they landed in exchange for a fourth-rounder) makes some sense for a Bears offense that got out of the gate wobbly. Chicago also uses 12 personnel at the ninth-highest rate in the NFL (a figure that increased in Week 4 as they got the ground game going). The veteran did miss two games due to a heel injury, and that could be an issue for the Chiefs, considering injury concerns are what put them in this spot in the first place. In the two games he’s played this season, Allen has earned seven catches for 48 total yards and hasn’t had a grab that’s gone for more than 9 yards. Perhaps Father Time is catching up, or perhaps it’s just a result of the circumstances in Chicago.
Let’s hit another player who was traded this offseason and could be on the move again. The Panthers’ plan to buffer Bryce Young went sideways quickly. However, the move to Andy Dalton proved that Johnson (acquired from the Steelers) could still perform at a WR1 level. In two weeks with the veteran quarterback, Johnson has put up 205 yards on 15 catches with two touchdowns. With Johnson headed toward free agency this offseason, the cost of a trade shouldn’t be exorbitant. Johnson owns the ability to win off the line and can gobble up YAC on slants. The fit is nearly perfect in terms of replacing what K.C. lost with Rice’s injury.
The 0-4 Jags could look to shake things up after a rocky offensive start to the season. Like most of the Jacksonville offense, Kirk has been inefficient in the early going: He leads the Jags in targets (29) but is averaging just 1.4 yards per route run, per Next Gen Stats. The veteran is set to count for $24.38 million against the cap in 2025, the final year of his contract, with zero guaranteed money remaining. Jacksonville could decide to part ways now and funnel targets to rookie Brian Thomas. In K.C., Kirk would serve as a reliable intermediate route-runner who could take advantage of the attention paid to Kelce.
Five seasons removed from his last 1,000-yard campaign, Bobby Trees wouldn’t be a field-tilting weapon, but he would provide Mahomes with a reliable target. Woods is an experienced, savvy route runner and isn’t afraid to put his nose in and make a block. It would seem to be an ideal personality fit in Kansas City. The 32-year-old is currently buried deep down the Texans depth chart; in four games, he’s caught three passes for just 28 yards. I believe there is still talent in those veins — it’s just locked on a roster where the opportunities are few behind star Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and (when healthy) Tank Dell.
Osborn grew into a productive target in Kevin O’Connell’s offense in Minnesota before inking a one-year, $4 million contract in New England. The problem is, he’s currently in an offense that can’t pass the ball. In four games, he’s earned five catches for 31 yards. Osborn has essentially been doing cardio, running 82 routes but seeing just 13 targets. The 6-foot wideout showed under O’Connell he could be a solid No. 3 weapon, earning a positive EPA per target in each of the past three seasons. That wouldn’t completely replace what K.C. lost in Rice, but Osborn would be a low-cost addition who can play with physicality. If you’re Eliot Wolf in New England, you’re jumping on a chance to get any sort of compensation for a superfluous asset at this stage.
Veach and Giants GM Joe Schoen have done business before, when Big Blue shipped first-round bust Kadarius Toney to K.C. Schoen could have two options to share this time around. Slayton led the Giants in receiving yards four out of the past five seasons but is currently playing the role of third fiddle behind rookie stud Malik Nabers and former second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson. Slayton is in the final year of his deal and sat out a portion of the offseason before additional incentives were added to the contract. He’d provide the field-stretching ability that K.C. lost with Brown’s preseason injury. Hyatt is a 2023 third-rounder buried on the depth chart (zero catches on three targets this season). We know Andy Reid loves his young speedsters, and Hyatt could probably use a fresh start, though his skill set might be a tad duplicative of Worthy’s.
Robinson makes this list because we know the Chiefs love bringing back former players who know the system — SEE: Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Drafted in the fourth round by Kansas City in 2016, Robinson spent his first six seasons with the Chiefs, never truly breaking out and dealing with some infamous drops. Since leaving, Robinson has developed into a trusty WR3 who can find space over the middle. In four games this season in L.A., Robinson is averaging 17.9 yards per catch on nine grabs. Even with the Rams at 1-3, it’s questionable whether Sean McVay would want to part with the second-most targeted receiver on the team, given the injuries that Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are dealing with.
Bonus option: Bring back Marquez Valdes-Scantling — because we know the Buffalo Bills love helping Kansas City add critical pieces.
