The Kansas City Chiefs kept trying to move up to get their top-rated wide receiver on the board. With the door closing on the first round, General Manager Brett Veach found a willing trade partner in the Buffalo Bills. In moving up four spots, Patrick Mahomes has a new offensive toy.
It’s hard to fathom what Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane was thinking about making a draft-day trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. I have no words, but it was clear the Bills, who are rebuilding, needed more draft capital. So, they traded Pick #28 to their AFC rival, allowing them to take the fastest wide receiver in this class, Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs are getting one of the best wide receivers in this draft. The 5’11” Texas Longhorn standout doesn’t have a big frame, but he has speed and can create separation at the line of scrimmage.
Now, he’s not Tyreek Hill, and that’s not his job on the Chiefs offense. Worthy is an exceptional athlete, and with the Chiefs’ desire to upgrade the wide receiver position, they added Hollywood Brown and now Worthy to give Patrick Mahomes a weapon he coveted.
Mahomes talked openly about Worthy, and the Texas receiver spoke at the NFL Combine about how much he’d like to catch passes from the best quarterback in the NFL. Now he gets his wish courtesy of the Bills.
General Manager Brett Veach has always been aggressive, but when a player falls like Worthy, and you’re four picks away from the highest-rated player on your board, he isn’t afraid to give up draft picks.
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid’s relationship with Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian might be the key to this selection. Per Reid, he spoke after the selection about his conversation with Sarkisian months earlier. He clarified that the Chiefs were getting a hard-working athlete who could transition his game to the NFL from day one.
Despite winning the Super Bowl again last season, the wide receivers’ struggles were painful to watch, and it was clear Veach was going to address the poor play from a year ago.
Suddenly, Brown, Worthy, Rashee Rice, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, and Nikko Remigio have elevated the Chiefs’ wide receiver room with speed and playmaking abilities. Veach will still add another receiver before this draft ends on Saturday.
The price of getting Worthy cost the Chiefs their third-round pick Friday night, but they still have five third-day picks.
For those that don’t like this move, it was clear Worthy was the Chiefs’ top-rated receiver for his fit within the culture of the team and his ability to make the kind of plays this offense hasn’t had since Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins two years ago.
To me, this was a no-brainer, and the fact that Veach swung a deal with the Bills again—we all remember what happened last time the two teams traded in the first round—makes this trade even sweeter.
