Do the Kansas City Chiefs even have a preseason trade candidate?

A new comprehensive list of players available for preseason trade was just posted at ESPN and there are no Chiefs. Is that really true?

Corey Coleman was the first to move. Others will be going soon enough.

The NFL preseason is a prime time for various teams to try to gain some value out of depreciating assets before having to set them free for the low, low cost of nothing. The trade by the Cleveland Browns to the Buffalo Bills was a perfect example from this week as they tried to get pennies on the invested dollar in wide receiver Corey Coleman. It’s just the nature of the situation.

Picture this: a new regime comes in with new front office perspectives and coaching demands. Their goal is to identify the best players who will work out best for their own needs and roster, and hanging on to some detritus because of potential trade value just can’t happen. Football rosters are thin enough as it is given the fatigue and injury concerns of a grueling 16-game regular season. No one can afford to “hold onto” a guy for the sake of value. A team must simply move on from an asset with no internal value (on the field).

It’s easy to look back at last summer and say that Brett Veach “ripped off” the Buffalo Bills for Reggie Ragland. An injured second round pick went for a future fourth and now he looks the part as a vocal leader and steady performer in the middle of a young and toughened defense. It was a great move for the Chiefs. But for the new Bills regime, Ragland was somehow deemed a bad fit. For whatever Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane are trying to do, they decided he had to go. Adding a mid-round pick isn’t honestly that bad for a second round pick with a torn ACL in the rearview mirror.

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So moving forward, how about this offseason? Are there any internal trade candidates the Chiefs might try to pawn off as they pare down the roster from 90 to 53? Is there any value they can squeeze out of another franchise before having to set everyone free on the open market?

A recent ESPN story came out identifying several potential trade prospects, and it was an interesting read for not only what was there (17 trade possibilities) but also what was not there (Chiefs players). Despite the number of potential trade ideas, there wasn’t a single Chiefs player in the list, which made me wonder: do the Chiefs really have anyone who could be traded?

Running down the list, it’s interesting to note that the Chiefs really have very few positions of strength from which to trade. Consider the following quick breakdown:

Quarterbacks – No one is going to want to trade for the loser of Matt McGloin and Chase Litton.
Running backs – Is this deep for the Chiefs? Yes. But it has to be with the team not knowing if Spencer Ware can come all the way back. Someone like Charcandrick West or Kerwynn Williams could be available, but those types of players are readily available on the open market, sorry to say.
Wide receivers – Again this looks like a deeper position, but Chris Conley is coming off of a season-ending injury and he’s not going anywhere if he’s back to form. He’s also never getting traded if he’s still not ready to go.
Tight end – Let’s see: Jace Amaro? Tim Wright? Alex Ellis? Are you not surprised they’re not already free agents?
Offensive line – The Chiefs haven’t drafted a single offensive lineman in the last two years save for a long-term sixth round project that we’re not even going to count for our purposes. They can’t decide on a left guard and lost their super sub in Zach Fulton. No trade fodder here.
Defensive line – While they’re deeper here than they’ve been in recent years with the emergence of Chris Jones, the presence of Allen Bailey and the additions of Xavier Williams and Derrick Nnadi, they are still not in a position to trade away anyone unless they feel much better about other camp bodies. Bailey’s $8 million salary could be moved but he’ll likely play it out and walk.
Linebackers – Honestly if there’s a single place the team could deal from, I could see a minor trade of a Terrance Smith like player for a conditional pick. Dave Toub’s special teamers tend to be appreciated by others around the league (e.g. Kelcie McCray, D.J. Alexander) and the Chiefs have a nice corps of inside linebackers. I could see Smith or Eligwe being moved for low round pick if the Chiefs loved Ben Niemann enough.
Secondary – There’s a shortage of riches here to be sure among the cornerbacks and the safeties don’t exactly inspire confidence. Maybe in a month this unit looks better as players grow and exceed low expectations (and Berry shows he’s fully back from another season-ending injury), but for now, the Chiefs aren’t in any position to give away pass defenders.

In short, if there’s going to be any trade movement here, it will likely be an import of Brett Veach to add competition to some needy position or to buy-low on another player a la last year.

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