Despite a flurry of recent wide receiver trades, it doesn't appear the Kansas City Chiefs feel they're in an arms race.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders dealt WR Davante Adams to the New York Jets. Hours later, the Buffalo Bills acquired wideout Amari Cooper in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Chiefs WR Rashee Rice — who leads the team in receiving yards (288 in four games) — recently underwent surgery on his knee and is expected to miss the rest of the season. They also placed WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown (shoulder) on injured reserve.
"The receiver-depleted Chiefs haven't been overly aggressive on the market to this point," wrote ESPN's Jeremy Fowler Wednesday. "As was told to me, coach Andy Reid values receivers who have either played in his system or know it well. Finding a plug-and-play situation isn't always clear cut. That said, Kansas City will stay nimble."
Fowler added that the Chiefs "liked" WR DeAndre Hopkins when he was a free agent in 2023, but the Tennessee Titans (1-4) aren't planning on trading him before the Nov. 5 deadline.
With Hopkins seemingly unavailable, the Chiefs' next trade target would probably be Carolina Panthers WR Diontae Johnson. However, his base salary ($7M) would eat up cap space. Spotrac estimates K.C. has $3.64M in cap room, 28th in the NFL.
If K.C. doesn't acquire another wideout before the deadline, that wouldn't be a shocker.
During his Wednesday news conference, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said he's "confident" the team's pass-catchers can deliver throughout the rest of the season.
After Rice's and Brown's injuries, the Chiefs' top three wide receivers are rookie Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Justin Watson. The trio has combined for 27 receptions for 413 yards and three TD catches through K.C.'s first five games.
Tight end Travis Kelce also logged 159 receiving yards in his last two games after failing to eclipse 34 through the first three weeks of the season.
While it's not a star-studded lineup, that should be enough for K.C.'s passing attack to remain productive. The Chiefs rank ninth in the league in passing yards (236.8).
Plus, the Chiefs (5-0) are still Super Bowl favorites. As of Wednesday, FanDuel Sportsbook gives the defending champions the best odds (+500) to hoist the Lombardi Trophy again.
