When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, they will be attempting to remain the NFL's lone unbeaten team. A win would also maintain their two-game lead for the playoff bye in the AFC. That would be a huge advantage in the team's quest to complete the NFL's first-ever Super Bowl three-peat.
While the team and coaches try to make that happen on the field, Brett Veach could have one last move to make before Tuesday's NFL trade deadline that could help the three-peat hopes as well.
The Chiefs have already been big players before the deadline. First, it was the acquisition of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans. Then last week, the Chiefs added pass rusher Joshua Uche via a trade with the New England Patriots. It's rare to see a team make two trades like that before the deadline, let alone three, but there is enough speculation out there from NFL insiders that Kansas City could still be shopping for one more move that it at least warrants some consideration.
The buzz around a third possible Chiefs trade revolves around two positions, cornerback and wide receiver. Yes, the Chiefs already brought in DeAndre Hopkins, but with JuJu Smith-Schuster banged up, Rashee Rice out for the year, and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown out for at least the regular season, K.C. could still use another contributor at the position. As far as cornerback goes, the loss of Jaylen Watson (after trading L'Jarius Sneed in the offseason) has left KC a little thin at the position.
The Chiefs don't have a ton of cap space to work with. Depending on whose numbers you believe, Over The Cap has Kansas City at about $3.8 million in space after the Uche addition. Spotrac has them at closer to $2.5 million. Either way, the Chiefs don't have a ton of space to add a player without moving some money around.
So who might the Chiefs target if they do make one more move? Let's start with a couple of options at cornerback.
Possible Chiefs Trade Targets at Cornerback
Marshon Lattimore - New Orleans Saints
If the Chiefs were going to swing for the fences and make a big move that would have the rest of the NFL freaking out, this is the one. Marshon Lattimore is one of the NFL's premier cornerbacks and pairing him with Trent McDuffie on an already elite defense would be terrifying for opposing offenses.
If you want to look on the optimistic side of this possible deal, the Saints are something like $70 million over the cap next season and after a loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, they are now 2-7 and have to be looking at selling off some pieces. While Lattimore is under contract for two additional seasons (2025-2026), his base salary for this season is incredibly low, so the Chiefs could acquire this top corner without clearing any more space.
The problem with acquiring Lattimore (besides a decent draft capital cost) is that it would require paying him significant money over the next two seasons, which could make keeping some of the team's homegrown players (like Trey Smith and Nick Bolton) hard to do.
The other question is how healthy is Lattimore? He missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury. Was this more of a precaution because they want to trade him or could this be a lingering thing that could give a team like K.C. buyer's remorse if they did trade for him now?
Ronald Darby - Jacksonville Jaguars
If the Chiefs wanted to make a much less high-profile move for a veteran cornerback, Ronald Darby might be a guy to keep an eye on. Darby would be a flyer more than a game-changing move like Lattimore would be. Darby is 30 years old and in the first year of a 2-year/8.5 million dollar deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Darby hasn't been fantastic in Jacksonville, but he could potentially be another reclamation project for KC. He has experience playing man coverage and is a solid tackler on the outside (his 78.0 Pro Football Focus run defense grade is 13th best by a CB, one spot behind Trent McDuffie). Plus, the Jaguars have other younger corners in Tyson Campbell, Jarrian Jones, and Montaric Brown that they can build around going forward.
Darby would be owed less than a million dollars for the remainder of this season and would be under contract with K.C. next season for about $3.5 million (not guaranteed) if things did pan out with him.
The reason this makes sense isn't just because he's cheap and Jacksonville would likely part with him for almost nothing. Many of you may remember, back in 2019 Brett Veach and then newly signed defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo brought Darby in during free agency and were reportedly working to try and sign him. It didn't pan out, but we've seen on numerous occasions where the Chiefs will circle back years later to bring in a guy they showed interest in before.
Possible Chiefs Trade Targets at Wide Receiver
Demarcus Robinson - Los Angeles Rams
It seems highly unlikely that the Chiefs will make another major addition at wide receiver after trading for DeAndre Hopkins. What they could use is another proven wideout that could be part of a rotation for the Chiefs. Of all the cheap options out there, Demarcus Robinson probably makes the most sense because of his knowledge of K.C.'s offense from his previous years in Kansas City. Plus, if the Chiefs plan on using DeAndre Hopkins in the Rashee Rice/JuJu Smith-Schuster role in the offense, adding a bigger body that could play some traditional X-receiver snaps on the outside makes some sense.
The Chiefs have been running the ball more lately and having someone like Robinson take some snaps on early downs to save wear and tear on Hopkins makes more sense than using 160-pound Xavier Worthy in those situations. While the Rams do look like they still want to try and contend this season, Robinson is on an expiring contract, and with Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, and rookie Jordan Whittington all as viable options, they may feel like they could part ways with Robinson in return for a late round draft pick.
K.J. Osborn - New England Patriots
While K.J. Osborn may not have experience in the Chiefs' offense, he still makes a lot of sense as a possible last-second addition before the trade deadline. Osborn has become a non-factor in New England this season. He's only been targeted once in the past two games and only has 7 receptions for 57 yards on the season. The Patriots have other young wideouts they are prioritizing and Osborne is on a one-year expiring deal. He should be even cheaper than Joshua Uche was and would be owed less than a million dollars for the rest of the season.
So why would the Chiefs want to trade anything for a wideout who hasn't been producing and doesn't know their offense? Osborn can block really well. In fact, Osborn entered last weekend with PFF's 9th best run blocking grade by a wide receiver this season. He's another guy Kansas City could use on the outside when they want to run the ball and save the wear and tear on guys like Hopkins, Worthy, and Smith-Schuster. Plus, Osborn was a fairly reliable secondary receiver in Minnesota before coming to New England. In his three seasons with the Vikings, he averaged 52.7 receptions per season.
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you think the Chiefs will make a last minute move? If they do, what do you think of these four options? I know Lattimore is the only big name, but would you approve of any of the other depth options if the price was cheap enough? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.