Dwayne Bowe Trade Talk Is Crazy Talk

Adam Schefter thinks the Kansas City Chiefs should trade WR Dwayne Bowe.

Adam Schefter is out of his mind.

The ESPN reporter, whom I have great respect for, ran down a couple of trades he thinks should happen but that probably won’t. One of his trade suggestions was that the Chiefs should send Bowe to the Tennessee Titans for a second and fifth round pick. Here is what Shef had to say:

"Kansas City invested a first-round pick in wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin and millions in free-agent wide receiver Steve Breaston. The Titans could use a replacement for Kenny Britt, along with some insurance in the event he encounters more legal issues."

My thoughts after the jump.

Ever since the Chiefs drafted Jonathan Baldwin, folks have been talking about the possibility that the Chiefs might trade Bowe. For the life of me, I’ve never been able to figure out why that would make sense.

I never saw the Chiefs drafting Baldwin as a move to replace Bowe. I saw their selection of Balwin as a move to bolster their absolutely pathetic receiving core. Bowe has long been the team’s only reliable WR. Scott Pioli and Todd Haley saw in 2009 just how terrible the team would play with only one legit threat. That is why in 2010 they drafted Dexter McCluster and Tony Moeaki. They also re-signed Chris Chambers in hopes that he would prove a reliable #2.

We know now how that turned out. Chambers was a bum, Moeaki was a great pick and Mccluster, while valuable, is not a WR. Lack of threats at WR cost the Chiefs dearly in the playoffs when the Baltimore Ravens clamped down on the run game. The Chiefs and Soctt Pioli, quite wisely, doubled down in the offseason and snagged Steve Breaston in free agency and drafted Baldwin.

These moves were not made so the team could get rid of Dwayne Bowe. They were not made because the team doesn’t like Dwayne Bowe. They were made so the Chiefs could win football games.

Some experts who don’t really pay close enough attention to the Chiefs seem to think the team may not be interested in Bowe. They seem to think Bowe is a problem child that the Chiefs may want to avoid giving big money to.

But has Dwayne Bowe ever really done anything that bad? So he put his foot in his mouth with the whole “importing women” story. Big deal. So he took a dietetic in an effort to cut weight and got himself suspended. Again, big deal.

Look, if the worst thing that can be said is that Bowe is sometimes immature, then the Chiefs are in good shape with the WR. Bowe has never been arrested. Never gotten busted for beating on women or using drugs. He’s never gone on a homophobic tirade on Twitter.

The only thing Bowe has ever done wrong is run his mouth a little bit too much. His taking of the diuretic, while wrong, still showed that he cared. He shouldn’t have tried to cut a corner but sometimes we learn hard lessons.

Can anyone really argue that Bowe hasn’t learned lessons? He has played outstanding football over the last two years and he only appears to be getting better this season. He’s been more consistent in 2011 than he has in his entire career. He appears to be dropping few passes. He showed up to camp in incredible shape, despite there being a lockout. No diuretics necessary.

Why would the Chiefs want to trade away a top shelf WR in his prime? To roll with a rookie with unknown potential at the NFL level and a WR in Beaston, who, while very efficient, can’t carry an offense on his own? Losing Bowe would be disastrous for the Chiefs, not only now, but in the future.

KC has a chance to have a very dangerous offense in 2012. With Charles and Moeaki coming back, Bowe, Breaston and Baldwin, the Chiefs could be tough to stop. Sure, the team still has questions at the QB position but those will likely be answered this season. Whether it is Matt Cassel, Ricky Stanzi or a rookie QB, whoever is calling signals for the KC offense in 2012 is going to need Dwayne Bowe.

The only other argument for trading Bowe is that the Chiefs don’t want to pay him a big contract. Even if you believe the Chiefs are the cheapest pro sports team in the entire world, paying Bowe would be no skin off their backs. The team still has boatloads of money left to spend on free agents. They’ve meticulously re-signed some of their top tier players in Jamaal Charles, Derrick Johnson and Brandon Flowers. There is no reason to believe that they won’t do the same for Bowe at some point this season.

Bowe is worth way more to the Chiefs than a couple of draft picks. In a couple of years, he could be worth a Super Bowl.