KC Chiefs: Five trade deadline targets for the offense
By Scott Loring
The 2021 NFL season is approaching its halfway point, which means the NFL trade deadline is drawing near. Teams are making last-minute evaluations to tinker with their current rosters or acquire future assets before Tuesday’s deadline (Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 3 pm CST).
At 3-4, the Kansas City Chiefs are down, but not out. Teams probably aren’t looking to give them any help, given their pedigree, but as we saw this offseason when the Chiefs agreed to a trade with the Ravens, it is possible. Furthermore, there are plenty of teams who could be already looking ahead to the 2022 offseason. The Chiefs should be able to find a trade partner if they want to.
The biggest problem for the Chiefs won’t be finding a team willing to make a deal; it will be fitting a new acquisition under the team’s 2021 salary cap. The Chiefs currently have just under $3 million in cap space, and an acquisition would mean the Chiefs would need to make room on their roster.
The most obvious move that would free up millions for the Chiefs would be a Tyrann Mathieu contract extension. However, that seems unlikely at this point in the season, especially given Mathieu’s recent social media jockeying with fans and media members. That all might be a smokescreen, but the fact remains that if Brett Veach is negotiating with Mathieu’s agent this weekend, the latter would be able to leverage a top-dollar deal. If that does happen, the Chiefs would have over $10 million to work with in 2021.
The Chiefs’ offense, while a perennial power in the league, does have a few perceived needs. Here are a handful of offensive veterans who could be on Veach’s radar before Tuesday’s deadline.