Kansas City Chiefs will find trade deadline needs clarified after Titans game

Wide receiver

At some point, it was clear the Chiefs were going to go shopping at wide receiver since Veach was chasing bigger-ticket items in free agency like T.Y. Hilton, Josh Reynolds and JuJu Smith-Schuster back in the spring. The Chiefs did little to address the position late in free agency or in the NFL Draft, and the lack of moves just meant that Veach never liked his options on the market.

Then came the Josh Gordon signing.

When the NFL reinstated Gordon to play once again, the Chiefs swooped in and signed him away with multiple other teams interested. This was the assumed move to bolster the offense, and Chiefs Kingdom is hoping that Gordon can look like his former self soon enough now that he’s gotten a couple weeks to get familiar with the team and get into game shape in practice.

But here’s the thing. Gordon is not a sure thing after not having played last season and he’s not signed beyond this season. Think about this: Brandin Cooks is available from the Houston Texans and it seems like just the sort of trade that Veach might take on if he just wants to pour plenty of gasoline on the Chiefs fiery offense. That’s not to say that Veach will. That’s not to even say that he should. It’s just a note that Veach loves to take the big swing and the commitment to Gordon is not the sort that would keep Veach from making the big move if he likes one.

That said, all of this could be changed if Gordon shows up on Sunday. If Gordon can prove to be the sort of dangerous player to leave one-on-one as defenses also try to figure out ways to cover Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, then Veach can kick back and relax when it comes to another pass catcher.