The Kansas City Chiefs had a bit of an injury scare this week when second-year edge rusher Ashton Gillotte came up limping from a rep in practice. While it was feared to have been a torn achilles by many Chiefs fans online, ESPN's Nate Taylor eased those thoughts quickly.
Taylor reported the news first on Twitter/X, saying, "In their initial evaluation, the Chiefs are optimistic that Ashton Gillotte, who ruptured his plantar fascia, could return in about 3 weeks." He added that if all goes according to plan, there is a real chance Gillotte could be ready to suit up for the Chiefs' season-opener versus the Denver Broncos on Sep. 14. This is far better than first feared and leaves the Chiefs hopeful that they will have their full group of pass-rushing options by the season's start.
With that said, there is no way around the fact that even at full health, the team's current depth along the bookend defensive line positions is a major point of concern. And while most major offseason trades have been over and finalized, there is still room to make moves. And Arizona Cardinals veteran Josh Sweat is the perfect Chiefs target.
Ashton Gillotte's injury tanks an already thin Chiefs edge room, but a potential trade for former pro-bowler Josh Sweat remains on the table.
Sweat had 12.0 sacks just last season after putting together an impressive postseason run that helped fuel the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. It simply makes far too much sense to keep a close eye on the situation, given the fact that 2026 projects to be a lost season for Arizona, and very likely they will look for avenues of gaining draft compensation for older players.
The star defender asked for a trade earlier in the summer, but for whatever reason, Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort refuses to acquiesce to Sweat's request. This makes it more likely that if a trade is going to happen, it would be towards the middle of the season, when the Chiefs have a large enough sample size to decide who they can rely on to rush the passer, and Ossenfort finally realizes he needs to make some moves to save his own job.
The best-case scenario for Kansas City is that multi-year starter George Karlaftis has the expected bounce-back season, second-round rookie R Mason Thomas provides an explosive burst, and Gillotte returns back to 100% sooner rather than later.
If the young pieces don't have the expected impact and small steps of regression from an aging Chris Jones, continue, the Chiefs might have no choice but to maybe overspend to improve the d-line room.
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