After a miserable 2025 campaign, it's no secret that the Kansas City Chiefs' upcoming offseason is going to be defined by meaningful changes. Kansas City's high-powered offense has become stale, and many of its core pieces have become underpaid or will move on at the end of the season. With this in mind, the Chiefs could walk a familiar path when it comes to the future of cornerback Trent McDuffie. The defender is quickly approaching a contract year, bringing up an obvious comparison to former Kansas City corner and current Tennessee Titan L'Jarius Sneed.
Just when it seemed the Chiefs were destined to pay Sneed, the franchise trusted its coaching and organization to find new answers. This was a trade that Kansas City won, with the Titans remaining in purgatory while Kansas City had gone back to the Super Bowl before this season's implosion. Now, history must repeat itself after McDuffie ended the 2025 season with a knee injury, and Kansas City's need to retool has become glaring.
McDuffie will be playing on the club option as part of his rookie deal, creating a complicated contract situation the Chiefs simply don't need hanging over a pivotal offseason. The Chiefs must escape this by trading away McDuffie early in the offseason and bringing in a return that will help rebuild a stable roster. This is less a reflection of McDuffie's play and more due to the need for change and the model the Chiefs have built.
Chiefs Should Begin 2026 Offseason by Parting Ways with Trent McDuffie
Kansas City has never hesitated to pivot away from key pieces in the secondary, whether it was Sneed or Tyrann Mathieu; the Chiefs haven't often paid top-dollar at the position. This approach obviously generated positive results before the 2025 campaign, with this being the first season under Patrick Mahomes, the franchise hasn't ended its season in the AFC Championship or better.
Another consideration is that the Chiefs are facing an incredibly troubling 2026 cap situation. The Chiefs not only don't have free cap space, but are projected to be well north of $40 million in negative cap space. This not only paints a bleak picture in making meaningful offseason moves, but also shows the need to part ways with players who are working their way towards a payday.
Rather than not paying McDuffie and having the corner walk away for nothing, or digging yourself even deeper into a bad cap situation, the Chiefs should choose the obvious route. Starting the offseason with a trade of McDuffie helps set a needed tone of change and answers one concerning question while bringing in needed assets.
No question, McDuffie should be traded out of town, with the Chiefs' roster requiring meaningful changes. Part of this will mean evaluating every piece of its roster after the dumpster fire that was the 2025 season.