Kansas City Chiefs trade DJ Alexander to Seahawks

In a move that has caught absolutely everyone off guard, the Kansas City Chiefs traded Pro Bowl linebacker DJ Alexander to the Seattle Seahawks.

There have been a lot of surprises this offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the one coming today probably ranks up there pretty highly. The Chiefs have traded inside linebacker DJ Alexander to the Seattle Seahawks for linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis.

The Chiefs have a log jam of potential talent at inside linebacker on their depth chart. However, DJ Alexander was a Pro Bowler last year as a Special Teams player, so this move is highly questionable. Especially given the fact that they added a player who would seem to have much less to offer the team.

DJ Alexander joins Dontari Poe, Jeremy Maclin, Jaye Howard, and Jamaal Charles as notable players the Chiefs have moved on from this year. This adds to an offseason that has already been very confusing from a strategic point of view.

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That’s It?

The frustrating part about this trade is that the Kansas City Chiefs announcement includes nothing about any draft pick compensation. That means it is a straight up trade of a Pro Bowl Special Teams player for a linebacker who might not make the roster. It is very hard to justify that kind of a move.

You’ll see plenty of folks trying to sugarcoat this somehow, but I’m not one of them. On its surface, this trade absolutely sucks for Kansas City. I see no redeeming value to it right now. It would appear to be entirely one-sided.

The only possible redemption here is if Kevin Pierre-Louis ends up starting next Derrick Johnson at ILB. Apart from that, this really just doesn’t make very much sense. Frankly, I’m not putting too much stock in that possibility either. Pierre-Louis saw just 71 snaps on defense for the Seahawks last year, and has never played a full season.

My money will still be on Justin March-Lillard or Josh Mauga to win that starting job.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to have a very confusing offseason in 2017. It’s still somewhat difficult to gauge exactly what direction the team is trying to head in. However, they are still a very talented team, and should continue to have high expectations…regardless of how frustrating things have been this summer.