KC Chiefs: 5 wide receiver trade targets not named DeAndre Hopkins

5. Rashid Shaheed

Ah yes, kicking off the list with an unknown is New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. He was an undrafted free agent out of Weber State last year, but Shaheed outplayed everyone’s expectations for him. If the Saints are not attached to the second-year player, the Chiefs could trade for a more proven player rather than a Day 3 flyer.

The 24-year-old Shaheed dealt with the Saints’ lackluster quarterback depth chart in 2022. He caught passes from three different quarterbacks, totaling 28 receptions for 488 yards and two touchdowns. He put up some crazy averages, with 17.4 yards per reception, 40.7 yards per game, and 14.3 rushing yards per attempt. In a small sample size, Shaheed proved he deserves a bigger workload or could at least handle one.

That is unlikely to happen in New Orleans, with the team retaining Michael Thomas and rising star Chris Olave ahead on the depth chart. Keith Kirkwood and Tre’Quan Smith have longer tenures in New Orleans, and Shaheed is hard-pressed to pass either one in 2023. On the surface level, Shaheed looks expendable for the Saints.

If you need more reason to look at Shaheed, look at his return skills. He had 20 punt returns and 14 kick returns in 12 games for the Saints, a role that he won slowly. The Chiefs gave punt return duties to veteran Justin Watson later on in the 2022 season, but now Watson is gone. The Chiefs need a replacement, and they could do much worse than Shaheed. PFF graded him as the league’s 10th-best punt returner in 2022, and Chiefs fans will like that he did not muff any punts in his rookie year.

Shaheed is not going to come in and be an immediate star but rather a Watson replacement-level player. The Chiefs could get him for little financial commitment or draft capital investment, as long as New Orleans is listening to offers for him.