Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are 4-0, but at what cost? After another one-score victory on Sunday, the Chiefs will go into Week 5 with a more exaggerated limp organizationally after losing yet another offensive weapon to injury, this time top wideout Rashee Rice.
While Rice's long-term status remains unclear, one thing is certain: with injuries to Rice, running back Isiah Pacheco, and wide receiver Marquise Brown, the Chiefs are getting fairly thin fairly early on the offensive side of the ball.
In all reality, the situation at wide receiver doesn't feel a whole lot different than it did a year ago when the issue rested more in the arena of talent as opposed to health. The season before the sentiment was a bit less worrisome but still similar. Now that Brown is out for the regular season and Rice, presumably, will miss a significant amount of time at best, the same calls for the Chiefs to trade for a wide receiver have started to echo through the halls of Chiefs Kingdom.
Brett Veach is unlikely to import a big-ticket wide receiver for the Chiefs
A lot of names have been mentioned as potential trade targets for Kansas City. It has been well-documented on our site along with other publications, and the list of names seems to be somewhat lengthier and ultimately more realistic than in years past. In a unique scenario where several wideouts have opted for bigger contracts on teams with subpar (at best) quarterback play, the scenarios at times probably seem a lot more realistic than they are. The reality here is that unless there is a colossal swing in ideology from Brett Veach and the Chiefs' front office, a blockbuster trade for a top-tier wide receiver is not going to happen.
History doesn't always repeat itself, but it often rhymes. When you look back at the moves Veach has made as the Chiefs general manager, there is no indication that he is going to be the type to take a swing on a big-name wide receiver like Deandre Hopkins, Amari Cooper, or DaVante Adams and mortgage the Chiefs future (e.g. sell a ton of draft capital for one player) to plug a hole for the remainder of this season. The Chiefs have been in need of wideouts over the past two seasons. When fans have asked for big names, Veach's response has been "Best I can do is Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman." The cost of those two trades? Four total draft picks (one third, two sixths, and a seventh).
Trading for players like Hopkins, Cooper, and Adams comes with a price tag that Veach has historically been unwilling to pay. In fact, he has found himself on the opposite end of those transactions as the seller far more frequently than he has assumed the role of the buyer. See Tyreek Hill and L'Jarius Sneed as examples.
The Chiefs certainly need to bolster the wide receiving corps if they want to seriously pursue NFL history with three consecutive Super Bowl victories, but the big ticket name is likely not coming to town. In Lyle Graversen's piece on potential wide receiver trade targets, there is a second tier of "Brett Veach reclamation projects" that I think are far more realistic possibilities than some of the household names tossed about on social media. It's not Veach's style.
There's also a massive elephant in the room here. Can you name a team that you think is willingly going to help Kansas City continue to dominate the NFL landscape? Outside of a couple of draft day lapses in judgment from Buffalo, there seem to be very few folks who will deal with K.C. in today's NFL.
While I sincerely hope the Chiefs can pull in an elite WR for a reasonable cost before the trade deadline, all of the factors surrounding a potential transaction lead me to believe that's more of a pipe dream than a realistic vision. The continued development of Xavier Worthy and contributions from veterans like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, and Mecole Hardman will be important. Leaning on Travis Kelce, while potentially risky, will be necessary.
Last year, our biggest concern as a fanbase all year long was the lack of wide receiver weaponry on the Chiefs roster. It was warranted, and had I not already been bald it would have likely caused me to lose most of my hair. We all know how it ended, though. It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs' front office navigates the current roster needs in real-time, but precedent tells me that it will be more from within with subtle supplements from the outside rather than a colossal move for a big name.