The Kansas City Chiefs stood pat at the NFL’s trade deadline. Here’s how to interpret the silence and what it means for the future of the franchise.
The NFL trade deadline, much like the NFL Draft and free agency, is a lot like Christmas. You make a list of new toys you want, that you have been admiring from afar for so long. You spend the days before dreaming of what could come your way. You wait eagerly for Santa Brett Veach to bring you those new toys, only for the clock to strike midnight and a big ole’ nothing tumbles down the chimney.
That’s how a lot of Chief fans felt late on Tuesday afternoon. We watched as several teams made moves to acquire high profile players with baited breath, hoping our turn would come. Chiefs Kingdom grew mildly annoyed when the Rams, Superbowl favorites who the Chiefs match up within a few weeks, acquired former #3 overall pick Dante Fowler Jr. Fowler had mediocre production and wasn’t exactly a glaring need for the Chiefs, so there was no need to get too upset. Then news broke that Ha Ha Clinton-Dix of the Green Bay Packers had been traded, to the Washington Redskins for a 4th round pick. That is when the Twitter dam broke and a feeling of hopelessness set in.
There is something to be said about the Chiefs standing firm at the deadline. Brett Veach has tipped his hand, and it appears the Chiefs are not going to auction away the future for players that could be nothing more than rentals. The Chiefs season is at the halfway point, but they will enter the off season with 4 picks in the first 3 rounds of the draft, and around $40 million to spend in free agency. The loudest statement made today by the Chiefs today is simple: There is a plan, and confidence in that plan, for the future of this team.