Kansas City Chiefs: Quiet trade deadline was right move

The NFL trade deadline came and went at 3:00 on October 29th without the Kansas City Chiefs making a move.

Big names like Le’Veon Bell, Jamal Adams and Trent Williams were reportedly being shopped. The Kansas City Chiefs seemed to have some interest in Bell, but nothing came to pass and no team made any big splashes at the deadline.

It seems most teams made their moves prior to the deadline approaching. The Patriots traded for Mohamed Sanu, the Rams and Ravens acquired cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters respectively, and the Seahawks landed former Lions safety Quandre Diggs.

Going back even earlier in the year, and you would see the Steelers trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick and the Texans landing Laremy Tunsil. The only move that did happen on the day of the deadline was nothing more than a salary dump, as the Dolphins acquired Aqib Talib and a fifth round pick. Talib is on IR, and it appears he will never play a snap for the struggling franchise.

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So what gives? Why were the Kansas City Chiefs neither buyers or sellers at the deadline? All offseason, the team seemed like they were gearing up for a big move. Restructured contracts of multiple players opened up a ton of cap space for the team, and the Chiefs had plenty of draft capital to make a move.

So why didn’t they?

Well, we discussed that in detail on this week’s episode of the KC Kingdom Podcast. Links to the podcast and details of when every segment starts will be posted at the bottom of this page, but for now, let’s get into just why the Chiefs didn’t make a deal.

Firstly, the Chiefs kind of already made their move.

Frank Clark was this year’s big acquisition in the offseason. Kansas City gave up a first round pick to the Seattle Seahawks and extended the defender to a big contract. Now you can argue rather the move was worth it or not, but that isn’t the point.

The fact is the Chiefs already swung a trade this year. It is very rare for teams to give up capital to acquire multiple big names in the same season. It is just hard to pull off without crippling the future of the team, which brings me to my next point: The right deal wasn’t there for Brett Veach and the team to take advantage of.

Before Chiefs fans get upset at Veach, just know he really tried to bring you that big fish that we all wanted. The Chiefs offered a first round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers just happened to have a more valuable one. The team called for Patrick Peterson, but the Cardinals weren’t playing ball. Veach went all in on acquiring Jalen Ramsey. The Jaguars decided they wanted him out of the AFC entirely.

These are all things the team couldn’t control. Veach wanted to make a splash, but the right deal wasn’t there. It’s never smart just making a move for the sake of doing so. The Chiefs general manager identified the players he wanted, went to get them, and was turned away. That is okay. It is the smart way to build a team. Making something fit and panicking at the deadline is not what smart teams do.

Another thing working against a big Chiefs trade is the philosophy of how Brett Veach operates. Generally, Veach wants to take risks on former high end talent that has fallen out of favor with their current team for cheap. Also, he has been known to swap struggling players to see if new homes benefit both teams.

For example, Veach traded Eric Murray, a safety who wasn’t going to make the team, to the Cleveland Browns for former second round pick Emmanuel Ogbah. Ogbah has been a key piece for the Chiefs, tallying 4.5 sacks in the first half of the season.

Other players like Cam Erving and Reggie Ragland were failed high round picks as well. Veach got them on the cheap, and now both play big meaningful roles for the team. It is a smart approach to trading that keeps this team competitive and flexible going forward.

Look no further than Charvarius Ward to see the success of this process.

Ward is playing at an absolutely elite level. This isn’t some flash in the pan against no names either. In this time frame, Ward has seen wide receivers like Kenny Golladay, DeAndre Hopkins, T.Y. Hilton, Emmanuel Sanders, and Tyrell Williams. That is a respectable list of players that Ward has helped stifle.

To think, Veach traded Ward, straight up, for Parker Ehinger last offseason. Ehinger was cut by the Cowboys and now Ward is developing into a bright young corner in the league. These are the types of moves that propel teams higher.

By getting these bargain players and turning them into key contributors, the Chiefs can use its cap space to extend players like Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones, use extra cap during free agency, and keep the higher draft picks for potential stars down the line.

Now that the deadline has come and gone, it is time to move forward with the team we have. That means getting players like Eric Fisher, Chris Jones, Patrick Mahomes, Andrew Wylie, Frank Clark, and Alex Okafor back to full strength. Those names will be a bigger boost to our lineup than any potential trade target would have been. Reinforcements are in fact on the way for the Kansas City.

With all that being said, I would like to take a moment to talk about the KC Kingdom Podcast. Every week, me and my Co-Host Brett Strouse work really hard to give you quality content regarding Kansas City Sports. We mostly cover the Chiefs and college football right now, but will ramp up full Kansas City Sports coverage when the Royals and Sporting KC get closer to starting their seasons up again.

Below will be a link to our podcast as well as a Media Player for you to listen to it through, with time stamps for shortcuts to all of our different segments. I hope you give us a chance to add to your weekly content schedule!

Listen to “Episode Six: Nightmare on Arrowhead Drive” on Spreaker.

• • 0:31: Kansas City Sports. Mizzou Football, KU Football and Blues Hockey news
  • 1:49: Mizzou’s struggles, Barry Odom problem
  • 7:27: Around the West- Raiders, Broncos, Chargers news and notes
  • 16:57: Chiefs vs Green Bay analysis and observations
  • 38:23: Trade Deadline thoughts
  • 44:45: Parody Preview- Nightmare on Arrowhead Drive
  • 46:03: Chiefs vs Vikings preview, predictions and thoughts