Kareem Hunt’s former teammate at Toledo, tight end Michael Roberts, could make the perfect summer acquisition to answer all questions behind Travis Kelce.
Let’s talk about a new acquisition on offense.
I can hear the complaints already. Tight end? What about [insert position here]? Even more ignorant would be the respond with “I’ve never heard of the guy,” but that also won’t stop some people from saying it anyway.
To discuss one potential acquisition for the Kansas City Chiefs doesn’t mean they can’t also be interested in others, and so for our purposes, it’s important to shift gears away from the concerns for the secondary. Instead, it’s the spot(s) behind Travis Kelce at tight end that have our attention for now with a potential solution that could hold solid potential and a reunion for the Chiefs star running back.
The Current Tight End Situation
First it’s important to note that the Chiefs face a bit of a roster puzzle when it comes to the tight end position. Consider how difficult it is to decide who to cut in the first place given the roster constraints of the NFL. To keep a Gehrig Dieter, for example, could force them to release Marcus Kemp, and to say yes to Tremon Smith could mean waving goodbye to Darrel Williams. These are just examples, but in short, the Chiefs will undoubtedly release very good players—like every other NFL team.
Now here’s the complication. Demetrius Harris has the No. 2 tight end slot locked up by all accounts, yet he’s also suspended for the first week. The team might have to keep an extra tight end around for the first full week of the season to cover for Harris, meaning saying goodbye to a more talented player at another position just so the roster can be complete with three tight ends for Week 1. (This might not be the case if the Chiefs try to go ahead with only 2 active TEs for Week 1, obviously, but it’s a complication nonetheless.)
What’s even more frustrating about this bit of extra roster gymnastics is that Harris isn’t even easy to root for in the first place. As a player who continues to drop a disproportional amount of passes thrown his way each year, Harris isn’t exactly a fan favorite. In fact, if you took a poll of the one player that Chiefs Kingdom would like to see gone for good, he might even make it at or near the top of that list.
Behind Kelce and Harris is a Who’s Who of guys that made waves in 2014-15 and unproven guys who haven’t exactly inspired much confidence:
- Tim Wright has enjoyed the most success in the NFL of the bunch due to 11 receiving touchdowns in 2013-14, his first two years in the league. He’s had 9 receptions in the last three years and wasn’t even with an NFL team for all of 2017. It’s a minor feat that he’s even lasted the entire spring and summer with the Chiefs.
- Jace Amaro will be familiar due to his former second round pick pedigree, but he never had a single season nearly as good as Wright and he has only 3 receptions in the last three years—somehow less than Wright. Injuries and inconsistency have plagued Amaro from the beginning and it’s hard to get excited about a journeyman in his fifth year.
- Alex Ellis entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent from the University of Tennessee back in 2016, and he’s already spent time with the Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints in that span. The Chiefs claimed him on waivers from N.O. back in May.
That’s it. If you’re underwhelmed, we understand.
The Candidate: Michael Roberts
Enter Michael Roberts. The fourth round of the Detroit Lions just last year was a red zone magnet for the Toledo Rockets—yes the same Toledo team that saw Kareem Hunt drafted just one round earlier by the Chiefs.
Roberts had 45 catches for 533 yards and 16 touchdowns (yes, you read that correctly) in 2016 for the Rockets, a massive number that showed just how reliable he was as a clutch receiver. At 6’5, 270 lbs., Roberts is a very large target yet his soft hands allowed him to be surprisingly effective in college.
The Lions were hoping for more of the same at the pro level, but Roberts’ rookie season wasn’t nearly as sexy. By year’s end, Roberts had caught only 4 passes (of 7 targets) for 46 yards and 0 touchdowns—not exactly the red zone target for Matt Stafford as imagined. Once again the Lions were left wondering what the future at tight end would resemble and if Roberts could grow into a long-term answer there.
Just one year later, Roberts is now potentially on the outs. He’s not a quick option at all with “plodding speed” at tight end, and he’s being passed in practice on other players on the roster—from Luke Willson and Levine Toilolo to Hakeem Valles and former Chief Sean McGrath. In fact, the Detroit Free-Press is predicting that Roberts is destined to be cut even after just one year.
The Fit with the Chiefs
At this point, wouldn’t you much rather have Roberts than any of the aforementioned trio of players. At least Roberts is a recent draft pick who could have some serious potential. Amaro, Wright and even Ellis lack the ceiling of the Toledo product and there’s literally no reason to not check out a new player to see his upside.
Roberts could surface as an emerging tight end to develop behind Kelce and Harris since the others involved are veteran retreads hoping to somehow make another team to stretch their NFL career that much farther (and secures that pension, am I right?) The Chiefs could use a larger red zone target to create mismatches with two-TE sets near the goal line, and you know Roberts would get a nice one-on-one opportunities with the rest of the Chiefs offense taking up most of the defense’s attention.
Even more important, it would be a developmental yet cheap player coming in with three years left on his contract at a position where Harris himself is getting pricey with a cap hit of nearly $2.2 million. Perhaps if the Chiefs like one of the longshots, they could simply cut Harris instead and move forward with a bit more cap space.
Why Trade?
If the Detroit Lions are just going to cut Roberts, why even bother to offer something with a trade? That’s a good question since a team should always aspire to get something for nothing. Unfortunately the Chiefs aren’t exactly sitting in the driver’s seat when it comes to waiver claim order, and it’s unlikely a tight end so recently chosen in the middle rounds of the draft is going to fall all the way to Kansas City.
If the Chiefs really wanted to take a chance, they’re going to have to serve up something in return and it doesn’t even have to look that impressive. After all, the Lions are likely getting nothing for their investment here, so a conditional 7th round choice in 2019 makes a lot of sense here. It could be structured to read that if Roberts lasts on the active roster for more than a month or some similar layout, then the Lions get the agreed-upon pick.
In this way, the Chiefs get an exclusive chance to look at a once-promising tight end who has been given a quick hook. If some patience is needed, the Chiefs can afford to do it on a guy who will remain cheap and available for the next three years. If it doesn’t work, the Chiefs aren’t out anything but some time and effort.