The Kansas City Chiefs need help at wide receiver with the likely loss of Rashee Rice.
Rice was injured in a 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday and it's yet another blow to the team's receiving corps. After Hollywood Brown was lost for the season a few weeks ago, Kansas City's depth chart at wideout looks incredibly thin. The team is 4-0 but if it wants to have a prayer of winning a third consecutive Super Bowl title, the roster must be bolstered.
Patrick Mahomes needs more targets, which means the Chiefs must make a trade. A reminder here, Kansas City has about $5 million in salary cap space, so some corresponding moves might need to be made to open up a bit of room to land someone. But making a move for someone like Davante Adams with his $25.4 million cap hit is almost certainly out of the question. What follows is a list of five receivers the Chiefs could realistically trade for with Rice out.
Diontae Johnson
Johnson might be the perfect fit here. He's on a terrible Carolina Panthers team and having a very good season. After a slow start with Bryce Young throwing him the ball, over the past two weeks he has combined to catch 15 pass for 205 yards and two touchdowns with Andy Dalton under center. With Carolina going nowhere fast they could look to get something for their 28-year-old wideout.
Johnson signed a one-year, $10 million deal to start the season, so he's inexpensive for the production he provides. Playing with Mahomes would only raise his profile as he hits free agency, giving him incentive to push for a move.
Darius Slayton
Slayton only has 10 receptions for 122 yards this season and the New York Giants aren't prioritizing him with the emergence of Malik Nabers. He's coming off a season in which he caught 50 balls for 770 yards and four touchdowns. He is a professional receiver, though he has had issues with drops in his career. He cleaned that up a bit last season dropping from seven in 2022 to three in 2023. His cap hit is less than $8 million with a base salary of $2.5 million, so with some creative wiggling, he could fit.
Treylon Burks
Burks is in his third season and things just aren't working out with the Tennessee Titans. The franchise selected him with the 18th pick in the 2022 NFL draft but he has never really gotten it together and hasn't lived up to his billing. He has tumbled down the depth chart and only has two catches for 11 yards this season. As a rookie in 2022, he caught 33 passes for 444 yards and a touchdown and hasn't come close to matching that since. It looks like he's fully out of the Titans' plans.
The flipside is that Burks is big (6'2" and 225 pounds) and runs a 4.55 40-yard dash. He's athletic and in the right system could probably figure things out. He carries a cap hit of 3.9 million for this season and 4.6 million for 2025. Guys with his size and athleticism don't come available very often and he might be worth the gamble.
Amari Cooper
Cooper might need a change of scenery as things aren't working out with the Cleveland Browns. Through four weeks the 30-year-old has 16 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns but has really struggled to find any consistency. It's shocking because he caught 72 passes for 1,250 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. That was his second consecutive 1,000-plus-yard season. He should be far better than he is.
A move to the Chiefs could be exactly what he needs. His cap hit is only $8.7 million this season, which makes him affordable.
Robert Woods
Woods is another professional receiver who has had a really nice career and even won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams. Younger receivers have emerged for the Houston Texans, leaving the 32-year-old without much to do. So far through four games he has three catches for 28 yards.
This is a plug-and-play option for the Chiefs. Woods would likely pick up the offense fast and be ready to contribute immediately. He's only making $9.7 million this season before hitting free agency. This would be a low-risk target for the Chiefs would could pay dividends.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Potential Chiefs Trade Targets to Replace the Injured Rashee Rice.
