KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Within minutes of the Kansas City Chiefs’ first seismic move this offseason — a trade that sent cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams — several players Wednesday expressed emotional reactions. On their X accounts, receiver Xavier Worthy, defensive end Charles Omenihu and fellow cornerback Jaylen Watson each shared their disappointment in learning that McDuffie, the Chiefs’ second-best defender behind pass rusher Chris Jones, would no longer be their teammate.
Even quarterback Patrick Mahomes chimed in on X, summarizing his thoughts with a single word: “Damn.”
Inside the Chiefs’ training facility, a team source with knowledge of the situation said coach Andy Reid, general manager Brett Veach and longtime defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo felt similar to those players about trading McDuffie — a two-time All-Pro — to the Rams in exchange, sources told Adam Schefter, for a package of four draft picks, including the No. 29 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft. As part of the trade, the Chiefs will receive 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks and a 2027 third-round pick.
According to a team source with knowledge of the process, the trade was one of the most difficult decisions in Veach’s tenure, which began in 2017. But ultimately, the Chiefs deemed that it was more important to revamp and reload their roster to remain Super Bowl contenders than sign McDuffie to an extension that could’ve potentially made him the highest-paid cornerback in league history. The last time Veach and Reid made such a decision was four years ago, when the Chiefs made another blockbuster deal, sending receiver Tyreek Hill, a three-time All-Pro at the time, to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for five draft picks.
With two-first round picks, the Chiefs hope to accomplish the same feat they executed in 2022, the lone time in the past 15 years in which the franchise made multiple picks during the draft’s opening night.
McDuffie was the first draft selection — and the highest draft pick of Veach’s tenure — in the team’s pivotal 2022 class. The second first-round pick was used to acquire defensive end George Karlaftis, who last summer became the first member of the class to sign a second contract with the team. The 2022 draft class — also featuring Watson, running back Isiah Pacheco, safety Bryan Cook and linebacker Leo Chenal — helped the Chiefs further establish themselves as the NFL’s most recent dynasty. With their help, the Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls and reached the championship game again in 2024, becoming the first repeat champion to reach the Super Bowl for a third consecutive time.
When Wednesday began, Reid and Veach knew the Chiefs still had plenty of other positions on the roster they needed to address this offseason — pass rusher, running back, receiver, safety and linebacker. The Chiefs also felt they needed additional draft capital, too, since they had just six picks prior to trading McDuffie. That same set of factors in 2022 led to the Chiefs trading Hill for them to have 12 picks entering that year’s draft.
“The last few years, we were kind of just, like, in a maintenance stage,” Veach said last week at the combine. “Now we’re trying to rebuild this thing again. I think for a GM and a personnel staff, that’s exciting.”
Another benefit to Veach and Reid in the aftermath of the McDuffie trade is that the Chiefs still have 49 days to prepare and build their strategy for the draft.
As part of the plan to replace McDuffie, the Chiefs could use the No. 29th pick to select one of the top cornerbacks in this year’s class of prospects. With the help of Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt, the Chiefs have developed several cornerbacks who Veach identified and acquired in the draft — such as McDuffie, Watson, L’Jarius Sneed, Nohl Williams, Joshua Williams and Rashad Fenton.
Reacting to the trade, ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid had the Chiefs in his mock draft Wednesday selecting Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy with the 29th pick. Such an acquisition would be one in which Veach could see McCoy becoming a significant contributor for Spagnuolo for several years despite him missing all of last season after sustaining a torn ACL in January 2025. Other top cornerback prospects are Mansoor Delane (LSU), Avieon Terrell (Clemson), Colton Hood (Tennessee), Brandon Cisse (South Carolina) and Chris Johnson (San Diego State).
Throughout his tenure, Veach has never signed a cornerback who played for the Chiefs on their rookie deal to a second contract. In fact, the last time the Chiefs signed a defensive back they drafted to a second contract was in 2017 with safety Eric Berry.
Wednesday proved to be the third time in seven years the Chiefs have traded a top cornerback instead of signing them to a large extension. In 2024, the Chiefs traded Sneed to the Tennessee Titans. Sneed later signed a four-year, $76.4 million contract with the Titans. Marcus Peters, entering the fourth year of his career, was traded to the Rams in 2018. Peters signed a three-year, $42 million contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019.
McDuffie’s situation wasn’t much different. Sources told Schefter that McDuffie, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal, is expected to sign a long-term extension with the Rams that surpasses the record-setting contract cornerback Sauce Gardner signed in July (four years, $120.4 million) with the Jets, before he was traded to the Colts. As a two-time All-Pro, Gardner’s deal included $85.653 million guaranteed. According to league sources, the Chiefs knew prior to the start of last season that signing McDuffie to an extension would require exceeding the terms of Gardner’s contract.
In the absence of having to pay McDuffie, the Chiefs have further opened the door for free agent signings to bolster the roster as well.
When the offseason began, the Chiefs were more than $57 million over the cap. By trading McDuffie, the Chiefs saved $13.6 million against the salary cap. Earlier this offseason, the Chiefs released right tackle Jawaan Taylor and defensive end Mike Danna in cap-trimming moves. The team also restructured Mahomes’ contract last month. The Chiefs can create even more cap space — having more than $50 million available to them next week when free agency starts — by releasing linebacker Drue Tranquill and tight end Noah Gray while restructuring Jones’ contract.
“We have $60 million in convertible contracts,” Veach said. “We have many different ways to attack this, and I think that’s the one thing we’ve been good at. We don’t do a lot of money-push-down-the-future-years. We run a pretty tight ship there. This gives us flexibility to do different things. We’ll see how the [free agency] scenarios shake out.”
That extra money will likely be directed at two key positions: running back and pass rusher.
Last year, Pacheco, the starting running back, didn’t have a single carry of 20 or more yards. Fellow running back Kareem Hunt had one. The Chiefs are expected to target signing one of the top running back options, candidates such as Kenneth Walker III (Seattle Seahawks), Travis Etienne Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons).
On defensive line, the Chiefs could target players such as defensive ends Boye Mafe (Seahawks), Bradley Chubb (Dolphins), Jaelan Phillips (Philadelphia Eagles), Kwity Paye (Indianapolis Colts) and defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers (Denver Broncos).
Like in 2022, the importance of making the most of the opportunities Kansas City is creating for itself this offseason is not lost on Veach. Their future success on the field could depend on it.
“We know we have to execute an efficient game plan in free agency and then we’ve got to nail these picks,” Veach said last week. “That’ll be important for us to keep this run going.”
