KC Chiefs Bank On Current Receiver Talent by Standing Pat at NFL Trade Deadline

For better or worse, Kansas City is set to continue relying on the group of wideouts it already has on the roster.

The 2023 NFL trade deadline has officially passed, and the Kansas City Chiefs didn't make any moves on their final day of eligibility despite many clamoring for something to happen at the wide receiver position. By standing pat at the deadline, general manager Brett Veach is sending an unequivocal message.

For better or worse, the Chiefs are living and dying by their current group of pass catchers.

There are likely multiple reasons for this decision (or lack thereof), with one of them being the mere investment the organization has put into the room in the first place. Three receivers were recently acquired using picks in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft: Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney (compensatory selection via trade) in 2022, then Rashee Rice this year. Marquez Valdes-Scantling carried an $11 million cap hit into the season. There's a group of four players right there that would naturally lead to Kansas City having some pause this week. If Veach went out and brought in a premier wideout, he'd essentially be admitting fault for mixed success with those investments. Players like Valdes-Scantling, Toney and Moore are bordering on sunk-cost fallacy territory.

That's the problem, though. Should Veach have made a move anyway? Would it have made sense for the Chiefs to pursue a DeAndre Hopkins or a Mike Evans? What about a Hollywood Brown? Heck, even a Donovan Peoples-Jones, who was actually shipped out of Cleveland on Tuesday in exchange for late-round draft compensation? Many of the names above would've injected talent, proven production, floor and ceiling into the Chiefs' current receiver room. It takes two to tango in a trade, of course, but should there have been a focused attempt at making a run? The answer lies with the choices the Chiefs have made along with trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins back in the spring of 2022. 

That offseason, the team got the duo of Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster to serve as veteran leadership and floor-raising pieces. Kansas City signed Justin Watson and drafted Moore to support the unit. Toney was acquired near the deadline as more of a cherry on top to help put a bow on the collection of receivers. After Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman walked this past offseason, Watson was re-signed and Rice was drafted. Richie James got picked up and Justyn Ross was handed the keys to a roster spot. It created a group with Moore, Toney and Valdes-Scantling touted as top options, Watson and James as trusted vets and the duo of Rice and Ross being intriguing developmental pieces. Kansas City is sleeping in the bed it made months ago. 

The issue is that no one has fully managed to justify that faith. Rice and Watson, for as solid as they are, are just that: solid. Valdes-Scantling has regressed. Moore has gotten tons of run in year two and has done nothing with it. Toney, praised as the potential top guy coming into the season, is practically a manufactured-touch-only player. James did little in Weeks 1 and 2 and then ended up on the injured reserve list. Ross was inconsistent in limited snaps and is now on the commissioner's exempt list. 

Production at receiver was so bad that the team recently opted to trade for Hardman back after previously letting him go. The Chiefs' series of calculated risks is scuffling at its bottom-quartile outcome, and it's been that way for weeks. Despite that, the team didn't think bringing in another outsider would fix it. Veach has that prerogative. After all, the Hill trade helped Kansas City hit the reset button a bit and insulate the roster with young, cost-controlled talent on defense. The minimalistic approach at wide receiver worked out. 

If that was minimalistic, though, this year's version is a five-star restaurant cooking with a microwave and an air fryer. Those devices are capable of producing some great dishes, but it takes some window-dressing, creativity and a lot of faith. Veach passed on upgrading to an oven or flat top in-season, instead choosing to trust his trio of all-world chefs (Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce) to make things work. That's fine, although the aforementioned low-end outcome is always going to be a possibility the rest of the way this year.

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