Could the Kansas City Chiefs still be in the market to add a wide receiver via trade ahead of the 2023 NFL season?
In a recent column from Around the NFL co-host Marc Sessler, the biggest remaining offseason needs for each team in the AFC were addressed. For the Chiefs, he landed on the wide receiver position. He noted that Year 2 development from players like Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling will be expected. He mentioned the additions of Richie James, Rashee Rice and even Justyn Ross returning from injury, but he still thinks the team could go out and get a star receiver — suggesting both DeAndre Hopkins and Mike Evans as potential options.
While the ship for Hopkins has probably sailed for Kansas City and Arizona, Evans is an option that hasn’t often been brought up. One of the reasons for that comes down to price and timing. A pre-June 1 trade would cause the Buccaneers to assume a huge dead cap hit ($21.3M) in 2023. A team that trades to acquire Evans in a post-June 1 trade would acquire his $13 million base salary and would need that amount of cap space to fit his contract.
That number alone would make a deal for Kansas City and most other NFL clubs, quite restrictive. For the Chiefs to fit a deal like that in 2023, they’ll have to agree to terms with Chris Jones on a long-term contract extension and lower his cap hit. Factor in the compensation the Buccaneers desire for Evans and a deal might simply be too rich for K.C. and most other clubs.
But the price tag also begs the question — Does Evans fit into the Chiefs’ plans at the receiver position? Sure, he’s ultra-talented and will make the team significantly better. He’s quietly gone his entire career with no less than 1,000 yards receiving and three touchdowns in a given season.
That said, everything the team has shown us about the position this offseason is that they have a limit on what they’re willing to spend to acquire talent. They didn’t pursue re-signing JuJu Smith-Schuster as hard as they could have in free agency. Instead, they waited around and signed James, re-signed Justin Watson and drafted Rice as their moves at the position.
We know that last season, the team learned that they can do it without a star wide receiver like Tyreek Hill. What their offseason has shown us so far is that they believe Patrick Mahomes can elevate any wide receiver room, even if they don’t necessarily have a ‘WR1’ among them.
