With the NFL trade deadline closing in fast, the Chiefs are staring at the same problem everyone else can see: they need help at wide receiver. The big names have already been floated - Garrett Wilson, Brian Thomas Jr. and George Pickens - but there’s a real chance Kansas City either gets priced out or watches those teams hold tight.
That’s why a more creative route makes sense. Instead of swinging for one splashy addition, the Chiefs should think about making two separate moves at receiver. One deal could land Josh Downs or Jerry Jeudy, while a second could bring in a cheaper depth piece such as Calvin Ridley, Hollywood Brown or Keenan Allen.
On their own, those kinds of moves can feel underwhelming. A single addition of Jeudy or Downs might not be enough to change much, and a lone pickup of Brown, Ridley or Allen wouldn’t exactly set off alarms around the league.
Together, though, the picture changes. Two receivers in one deadline stretch would give Kansas City a much deeper room and a better overall mix of options.
The price tags could line up, too. Downs or Jeudy would likely cost a third- or fourth-round pick, while Ridley, Brown and Allen could be had for a Day 3 pick or even a pick swap. Kansas City has the draft capital to make that work, with two thirds, two fourths, plus a fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round pick in next year’s draft.
That kind of double move would also reshape the back end of the receiver group. Andrew Armstrong, who has 2 catches for 16 yards, and Justin Watson, who has 1 catch for 7 yards, would slide back down the depth chart, and the Chiefs would be less dependent on Jalen Royals.
There are obvious limitations with Ridley, Brown and Allen, and all three are in the later stages of their careers. Still, each one is an NFL-caliber receiver who has produced at this level before. That matters for a Kansas City offense looking for more reliable targets around Patrick Mahomes.
Allen has 36 catches for 325 yards and a touchdown this season, and he would be the Chiefs’ leading wide receiver right now. Ridley or Brown would be a clear upgrade over Armstrong or Watson, and either would add more credibility to the rotation.
The ideal outcome still might not be available. Kansas City may not be able to land a true WR1 like Pickens, Thomas Jr. or Wilson. But a combination such as Downs and Brown, or Jeudy and Ridley, alongside Rashee Rice, could help the Chiefs build something closer to that level by volume and balance.
It wouldn’t create a star-studded receiver room overnight. It would do something more practical: give Mahomes more viable targets and raise the floor of the entire group.
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What makes this latest milestone stand out is how long the connection has lasted and how little it has faded. Mahomes and Kelce are into their ninth season together, and the chemistry between them has become such a fixture in Kansas City that it now sits alongside the leagues all-time marks for a quarterback-tight end tandem, a reminder that their story is still being written even as the records keep falling. [Read more 🡒]