After DeAndre Hopkins Swap, How Aggressive Could KC Chiefs Be at the Trade Deadline?

On Wednesday morning, it was announced that the Kansas City Chiefs were trading for DeAndre Hopkins to bolster their receiver room. The move was necessary after Rashee Rice, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster were injured. While the Chiefs’ need for a receiver was obvious, there is an argument that they should make another transaction at the trade deadline and even add another one.

Starting with the move Kansas City already made, Hopkins is an intelligent veteran who can take pressure off the rest of the offense. He hasn’t had the numbers that football fans have become accustomed to this season, but playing with the best quarterback in the league and a contending situation should bring out the best in him.

There have been reports and rumblings that the Chiefs believe Brown is progressing well and could return before or during the playoffs. That alone may give them the belief that they have enough at receiver with Hopkins, Xavier Worthy and then Brown and Smith-Schuster returning from injuries. That is definitely a better group than what they entered last postseason with, but do they want to bet on health?

Unfortunately, the wideout room hasn’t been the only position group hit by injuries. Cornerback Jaylen Watson fractured his ankle in the Chiefs’ win last week. His season isn’t definitively over but if he does come back, it likely wouldn’t be until some point in the playoffs. Watson was playing at an exceptionally high level, which was one of the reasons the Chiefs’ defense has been one of the best in the league. Replacing his production will be tough, so they could look externally.

Nazeeh Johnson and Joshua Williams are the next men up with Watson out. Johnson hasn’t logged much NFL experience and has had rough snaps while out there. Williams has played exponentially more during his time with the Chiefs but has seemed to have fallen out of favor with the coaching staff. Are those two enough to stop the Chiefs from exploring other options?

Kansas City didn’t want to give up a Day 1 or 2 draft pick for a receiver during trade talks, so it’s hard to see them being willing to pay that type of capital for a cornerback. They have also emphasized through actions that they value draft capital more than most franchises and have already lost a pick for Hopkins. However, they could look into doing a pick swap-type deal for a corner they feel helps the roster right now without affecting the number of picks they have moving forward.

The last area the Chiefs could get aggressive at is on the defensive line. Charles Omenihu is slated to return at some point, but Mike Danna has struggled with multiple injuries this season and the group as a whole has been up and down. With a weakened secondary because of the Watson injury, they could try to offset that by reinforcing the pass rush. There is a history of good pass rushers being moved at the deadline, so Kansas City could look to get involved in that market.

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