While the Kansas City Chiefs weren't originally scheduled to see Myles Garrett during the 2026 NFL season, that's no longer the case. The Cleveland Browns shipped the two-time and reigning Defensive Player of the Year to the Los Angeles Rams in a blockbuster trade on Monday, receiving Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder, and a 2029 third-rounder in return.
As such, the Chiefs will now see Garrett when they head to SoFi Stadium this December for a high-profile Week 13 matchup with the Rams on Thursday Night Football. This game was already a big deal for Kansas City, of course, with cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson now in LaLa Land, but this obviously adds even more intrigue. But that's not our focus here.
Instead, we're here to look at some of the potential fallout from this deal. The Rams are clearly all in on making a run at the Lombardi Trophy in the last years of the Matthew Stafford era, and they've got a lot of money wrapped up in veteran players. And as a result, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler is reporting that Los Angeles—and these are his words—"is giving early impressions it won’t extend" a number of the team's younger stars over this summer who are set to become free agents next offseason.
One player Fowler referenced, in particular, was wide receiver Puka Nacua, and if the Rams indeed do let him hit the open market, the Chiefs should undoubtedly pounce.
Puka Nacua would be an easy candidate for the Chiefs to replace Rashee Rice
Nacua, of course, has been one of the top wideouts in the NFL since the Rams effectively stole him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft with the 177th overall pick.
The BYU alum made an immediate impact in Los Angeles, setting a new rookie record for receiving yards during that '23 campaign, racking up 1,486 with six touchdowns on 105 catches. A knee injury limited him to just 11 games in 2024, but he still tallied 79 grabs for 990 yards and three scores.
And just this past year, he had his best season to date, catching a league-high 129 passes for a career-best 1,715 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns, adding another 24 catches for 332 yards and two scores in the Rams' three postseason outings.
Yeah, the guy can go.
Now, one has to assume that the Rams have at least had a conversation or two (or 10 or 20) about extending Nacua, as it seems unfathomable that they'd just let one of the top wideouts in the game just walk out the door. But these days, you just never know.
The Chiefs, of course, also picked up a receiver in that same 2023 draft, selecting Rashee Rice in the second round at No. 55 overall.
And while he had a solid rookie year, catching 79 passes for 938 yards and seven scores during the regular season and another 26 for 262 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs, he's obviously had some issues since, both on and off the field. Between the '24 and '25 seasons, the SMU product played just 12 total games, recording 77 receptions for 859 yards and seven touchdowns.
Like Pacua, Rice, who's currently sitting in a jail cell, is set to become a free agent next offseason, and if the Chiefs (or any team, for that matter) had their choice, one would assume that there would be no question of picking Puka.
Xavier Worthy still has two years remaining on his rookie deal, so he's not going anywhere for the foreseeable future, and it would be very interesting to see how he'd line up opposite Nacua.
Naturally, money could be a problem, as Nacua could make a case for being the highest-paid wideout in the league, which would run whatever team signs him between $40 million and $45 million per season, given the current market. The Chiefs' salary-cap situation for the 2027 season doesn't currently look great, but we all know money can be freed up with contract restructuring and such.
Again, it's hard to picture a scenario where the Rams just let Nacua leave, but as I said, anything is possible these days, and the Chiefs certainly need to keep an eye on this situation as it progresses.
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