Report: Raiders kept K.C. Chiefs from adding Rodney Hudson

The K.C. Chiefs were off to such an impressive start in free agency. During this year’s legal tampering period, the Chiefs were quick to win the battle for New England Patriots guard Joe Thuney. At the same time, they were also fighting to lure Trent Williams away from San Francisco to be their next left tackle when word leaked that the Las Vegas Raiders were, for reasons unknown, going to release starting center Rodney Hudson.

For a brief moment, it felt as if the heavens had opened over the heart of the Chiefs offensive line.

Hudson, of course, was a familiar face to Chiefs Kingdom after spending four seasons manning the center position. The Chiefs made him their second round pick back in 2012 under then-GM Scott Pioli, and then watched him leave for a division rival when the Raiders were willing to make him the highest-paid center in the game. Just like that, there was a massive hole to plug in the middle of the offensive line.

Years later, it looked as if a reunion was on the books. The Chiefs might have had some competition, but their hole at the position would offer Hudson a chance to play against his former team twice each season and a clear path to chase a Super Bowl ring. The Chiefs had also cleared enough money to make it work.

Peter King confirms the report that the Raiders kept the Chiefs from reuniting with Rodney Hudson.

Then suddenly it all fell apart. The Raiders went from releasing him to trading him. And just like that, the door was closed. Fans were quick to realize that the Raiders were very unlikely to reward the Chiefs with such an obvious fit and need, even if they were given back a draft pick in return—likely the same posture as the Baltimore Ravens when it comes to trading Orlando Brown to a fellow AFC contender.

It wasn’t long until the Arizona Cardinals had decided to part with a third-round pick in order to take on Hudson’s contract. Kyler Murray would be the beneficiary of his services instead of Patrick Mahomes. And just like that, what looked like an all-star assembly along the offensive front turned into Thuney and a rebuild still in progress.

In this week’s Football Morning in America column, Peter King confirms what Chiefs Kingdom thought was likely true at the time of Hudson’s release-turned-trade.

"Kansas City probably overpaid for Joe Thuney, but KC has a better line today with Thuney and Kyle Long than the team had at the Super Bowl this year. The player they wanted but didn’t get is center Rodney Hudson, who got traded by the Raiders to Arizona. Hudson wanted to be released, not traded. And if he’d been released, I’m pretty sure he’d have been snapping to Patrick Mahomes this year. KC was ready to pay Hudson more than Arizona did."

Hudson had a wish. So did the Chiefs. Unfortunately for both sides, Hudson is now in the NFC making a new home in the desert, and the Chiefs are facing a wasteland of their own looking at options at center (dramatic overstatement but it fit the analogy). While it doesn’t help anyone to dwell on the past, it’s hard not to wonder what might have been.