Five trade deadline targets for the Kansas City Chiefs to consider

Inside Linebacker

Target: Preston Brown

Specs: 26 years old, 5 year NFL vet, 6’1, 250 lb, nearly 600 career tackles in 5+ seasons, injuries limited 2018 but has started all six games for Cincinnati this year.

The Why: Brown is a run stuffing inside linebacker who is fair in pass coverage but excels playing at the line of scrimmage. He’s averaging nearly 7 tackles per game over the course of this season and his career. He hasn’t been asked to do much pass coverage this year, but also would not be asked to do much of that in K.C. He would instantly upgrade the run defense for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and even if he gave only average play, would have an impact.

The How: Brown has a modest cap hit each season topping out around $5.8m in the 2021 season, which makes him an attractive option for a Chiefs team who will soon be up against the cap. And, if it doesn’t work the team can get out of the duration of the contract (2 years) for only $2.5m in dead cap space. The Bengals may be hesitant to let go of Brown, but the team should take any and all offers for any players who are unlikely to be a part of any significant turnaround, and with his ability to hit free agency after the 2021 season, Brown will likely want to move on before he hits 30.