Chiefs draft 2017: Analyzing the 4 trades made by John Dorsey
By Matt Conner
The Patrick Mahomes Deal
Kansas City Chiefs receive:
2017 1st round pick (No. 10): Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
Buffalo Bills receive:
2017 1st round pick (No. 27): Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU
2017 3rd round pick (No. 91): John Johnson, S, Boston College (traded to Rams)
2018 1st round pick
This is the trade everyone will remember, because it will be the one everyone will analyze for at least the next few years. We’ll hear about it in the interim since the Bills just fired their general manager, Doug Whaley, immediately after the draft. We’ll hear about it next March when the Chiefs will make a major decision on their commitment to Alex Smith. We’ll hear about it some more when Chiefs fans are reminded that the team has no first round pick. Even more, it will come up if (and when) the team turns over the reins to Patrick Mahomes.
In a surprising move, Dorsey traded with Whaley (or whoever was really calling the shots in Buffalo) to move up to No. 10 overall to secure the Chiefs’ quarterback of the future. After all of the homework, the Chiefs clearly fell in love with the Texas Tech star and paid the price they needed to secure his services. For some NFL analysts, the cost was steep, but if any team could afford that sort of bounty in the interim, the Chiefs are one of the few.
Why the Chiefs did it:
Getting a quarterback of the future is a costly exercise for any team. The Eagles paid through the nose to get Carson Wentz last year. Even the Chicago Bears paid a laughable price to the San Francisco 49ers to move up a single spot to get Mitchell Trubisky. Every team who wants to take the first round plunge on a draft’s best quarterback (from their perspective) has to pay the piper. Only the lucky actually stumble into these sorts of moments, and most franchises don’t want to take that chance or wait that long. The reality is that for every Dak Prescott unearthed, there’s are dozens of Aaron Murrays, Kevin Hogans and Tyler Brays who never pan out in the end. The Chiefs found their man and paid to do so. That’s the cost of doing business.
Why the Bills did it:
The Bills did well to get Tre’Davious White late in the first round as an overly physical corner who should slide right in and replace Stephon Gilmore in the secondary. They also have two first round picks in next year’s draft to either continue to bring in impact talent year after year or to move around as Dorsey did this draft. In addition, they pulled a nice move in the second round when they flipped the Chiefs third round pick to the Rams for the chance to move up and grab wide receiver Zay Jones from East Carolina.
In short, the Bills added a very dependable and tough wide receiver, a physical, lockdown corner and a first round pick for No. 10 overall. Whaley may have gotten fired but it wasn’t for this nice haul that added for the present and future in Buffalo.