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The Kansas City Chiefs are looking for more wide receiver help before this week’s NFL trade deadline, a task that may have grown more urgent after the team took a big loss on Sunday.
The Chiefs cruised to victory over the New York Jets, but may have lost speedy wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the process. Worthy suffered a hamstring injury, with no clear indication of how much time he could miss.
Chiefs Facing Trade Deadline Challenges Before Xavier Worthy
The Chiefs had already been shorthanded in their wide receiver group before Worthy’s injury, though general manager Brett Veach said the team had difficulty in finding some top-shelf candidates to help quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Worthy had a strong game before going down with a non-contact injury on Sunday, catching all six of his targets for 48 yards. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Worthy “tweaked” his hamstring, but did not give specifics on the severity or whether Worthy could miss time.
The uncertainty comes at a difficult time for the Chiefs, who already lost Tyquan Thornton to injury earlier in the season. Veach told CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on Sunday that the team was looking for a wide receiver, but noted that “some of the major franchise players they’ve looked at are off the market.”
Reporter James Palmer of NFL on Prime noted that the Chiefs had been active in looking around for a wide receiver in recent days, with a move even more likely after Worthy went down with an injury.
“The Chiefs have been calling on WRs for weeks, and now Xavier Worthy goes down grabbing his hamstring,” Palmer wrote in a post on X. “It was likely KC would add a WR before Tuesday.”
Chiefs Still Have Several Options
Though some of Veach’s top choices may not be on the market, the Chiefs could still have several candidates to consider. ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted that the Indianapolis Colts are expected to continue their sell-off by shopping wide receiver Josh Downs — though with a high asking price.
“If there is a position to watch, it would be wide receiver. There are a lot of wide receivers out there whose names are being mentioned before the trade deadline. The Colts want a third-round draft pick back for Josh Downs,” Schefter reported.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported on Saturday that the Colts do have a team willing to give a fourth-round pick.
“Indianapolis has told other teams that it has received an offer of a fourth-round pick for wide receiver Josh Downs, who requested to be traded in the final year of his contract,” the pair reported. “The Colts initially were asking for a third-round pick for Downs. But if they want, based on what they have told teams, a fourth-rounder is waiting for them.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty