From the FanPosts -Joel
Lately, I’ve been seeing a few teams have to deal with injuries at some positions where they may not have a lot of depth to work with. This reminds me of the fact the Chiefs this year have some excellent depth on the roster, and could create some interesting potential roster moves as roster cuts begin later in the preseason. Losing talent on the roster hurts (such as David Irving being picked off the practice squad by the Cowboys last year), but if you can get something for it in a trade then it can add value for the team.
#Bears C Hroniss Grasu tore his right ACL and will need surgery, sources told the @Suntimes https://t.co/06pRSb9pYk
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) August 7, 2016
#Cowboys backup QB Kellen Moore will have surgery on his broken ankle today in Dallas, source said. Recovery time is 3 or 4 months.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 3, 2016
The early word on #Lions TE Eric Ebron getting carted off is that he suffered an Achilles injury, I’m told. Could be devastating.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2016
Rapaport did later tweet this, so it’s possible Ebron’s injury isn’t as severe as some feared.
#Lions TE Eric Ebron, who suffered an Achilles injury today, has indicated to at least two teammates that he’s OK… So could be minor.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2016
As #Bills wait to learn the severity of Reggie Ragland’s injury, they were dealt another blow to LB depth: Kevin Reddick has an MCL sprain
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 5, 2016
#Bills LB Reggie Ragland, who injured his knee, had an inconclusive MRI, source said. He’s seeing more docs and getting 2nd opinion Monday.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2016
We’ve been able to manage draft picks from trading backups or expendable players before.
The Chiefs traded linebacker Edgar Jones to the Dallas Cowboys in 2013 for a 2014 6th round draft pick, that draft pick was used to select Zach Fulton. Pretty good deal for us, as Edgar Jones hasn’t played in a game since 2013 and the stat sheet on Pro Football Reference indicates he did very little after the trade. Zach Fulton meanwhile has been a starter and solid depth since we drafted him and is still with the team.
The Chiefs also managed to trade backup guard Rishaw Johnson in 2014 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for safety Kelcie McCray. Kelcie McCray was traded in 2015 to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2016 5th round pick, used to select Kevin Hogan. A really good trade for the Chiefs as Rishaw hasn’t seen any games since the trade, and the Chiefs got some production out of McCray as a backup safety and special teams player before getting a 5th rounder for him.
Time will tell if Hogan was worth the selection, but having extra drafting power never hurts for filling in positions with depth, allowing you to draft for pure talent with other picks hoping you may strike gold (DJ White later in the 6th round for example).
Also consider that compensatory picks will be tradeable going forward, so getting mid-late round picks here and there can help in packaged deals to trade up if the Chiefs have any desire to do so in future drafts. The Seahawks did this very thing in 2015 drafting Tyler Lockett in the 3rd round and trading a number of later picks to move up for him, and it’s paying off nicely for them so far. Had they not moved up, I’m sure a number of Chiefs fans would have wanted the Chiefs to draft him too, and having those extra draft picks helps for making those trades.
It’s possible the Chiefs wait until preseason games are finished to make a trade, watching more injury situations including their own unfold first before pulling the trigger. There’s also cap room to consider, and after the Nick Foles signing it’s possible the Chiefs would want a bit of extra room to work with during the season if they needed it.
So who do we have exactly that could be traded, if at all?
1. De’Anthony Thomas
One name that’s come up before is De’Anthony Thomas. There were rumors that San Fransisco’s new head coach Chip Kelly was interested in making a trade for him, being his former college football coach. Kelly was known for taking in some former Oregon players into his system in Philadelphia, and with the Chiefs’ draft selection of Tyreek Hill who has been impressing in training camp a spot on the roster for DAT may be difficult to earn.
If there’s a team out there that needs a return man enough, it’s possible someone may be able to offer a later round pick for him since he’s had some success as a returner (mainly his rookie season). His value on offense is mainly as a gadget player which depends primarily on how a team would want to utilize him.
2. Josh Mauga
Maybe I’m just grasping at straws here with this one, since he’s Bob Sutton’s guy and probably values him more than other teams would. He’s also been solid at times but not impressive enough for me to think I’d want him as a starter, and other teams would probably end up feeling the same way. That said, starting experience is starting experience, and we’ve traded backups for draft picks in the past who didn’t have that to their name so some teams could see the value to having him around as a durable role player or replacement.
With reports of how 2nd year linebackers Justin March and Ramik Wilson have been playing in training camp so far, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wasn’t starting for the Chiefs and the coaches saw him as expendable depth. They were also playing him as an OLB at times before he dealt with an injury at training camp, so the writing could be on the wall for him even after getting a new deal from the Chiefs after his 2014 performance. I don’t know if he has any value to other teams, but teams are always able to use extra depth or injury replacements to patch up a position and may be too low on the waiver wire list to pick up any depth that way.
3. Demetrius Harris
Here’s a bit of an interesting one. We just gave Travis Kelce a new deal this offseason, so we shouldn’t need to worry about who our starting tight end is the rest of the remaining decade. Harris has been one of the primary backup tight ends the past few years after being a converted basketball player which made him a developmental prospect, and it seems that development has seen some returns in our multi tight end sets (when he’s been healthy). If a team has thin depth at tight end due to injury, it seems like a move the team might do if they like the players behind him (like James O’Shaughnessy or Ross Travis).
Would other teams value him enough to trade for him? Hard to say as he hasn’t done much as a receiver so far, but the potential is there with his large frame to be a redzone threat other teams may value.
4. Knile Davis
This might be a bit of a tough sell, considering he’s buried on the Chiefs depth chart right now even with Jamaal Charles out of the lineup at the moment. But he does have some raw talent there that just hasn’t been able to come together so far for one reason or another (or maybe just poor vision as a RB). Regardless, he has done some nice things as a kick returner and has started a few games at RB in the past (even having a few 100 yard games in 2014). There were rumors this offseason he was on the trading block but I’ve seen no real proof of that.
Some other team out there may find him a better fit in their system than ours and like having the utility of someone who can return kicks, though that position has lost some value as rule changes have made returning kicks less common than they used to be. Either way I doubt that the Chiefs keep him on the roster as players like Tyreek Hill or even DAT could serve as an emergency RB instead while playing a different position (and both could return kicks). Keeping 4 pure RBs on the roster seems like a huge stretch.
5. Charcandrick West
Perhaps a more intriguing trade prospect than Knile Davis, considering he supplanted Knile Davis himself on the depth chart in 2015 and started several games (including the Patriots game in the playoffs). He did fairly well all things considered, being a young undrafted back who was on the practice squad just a season earlier. He ran hard and was a fairly good receiving outlet for Alex Smith, and having a decent 3rd down back to give Charles a rest is something I bet we want to have.
That said, we’re still deep enough at RB where a trade wouldn’t be out of the question, though he doesn’t have any value as a return man like some other players do. A team that suffers an injury and is in dire need of a RB that’s proven they can do something in this league could still happen though, and West doesn’t have to come off the field on passing downs.
6. A QB (besides Alex Smith)
It’s honestly hard to pinpoint who might have trade value at this point of the four Chiefs QBs competing behind Alex Smith. Kevin Hogan is a 5th round pick and looks to be headed towards the practice squad, so a team could try getting him off waivers if they really wanted him. Tyler Bray and Aaron Murray were competing for the #2 QB spot before Nick Foles was signed, but Bray seems to have been taking almost all of the #2 snaps ahead of Murray in the offseason (and from what I’ve read his throws have been looking better than what Murray’s done so far).
Both Bray and Murray haven’t ever taken a regular season snap however, and it’s all purely potential at this point with them. Murray’s preseason in 2015 was decent enough and showed improvement, but maybe he hasn’t improved enough to have any value to another team. Bray has the arm talent some teams might covet, but he’s been injured the past few seasons which probably has hindered his development in Reid’s system. I doubt either of them could get traded, but it wouldn’t be surprising if someone traded a late round pick for Bray based purely on his arm talent. I think Murray barring being on the mystery IR is the odd man out.
We just signed Nick Foles and he’s been sharing No. 2 snaps with Tyler Bray. Andy Reid’s former draft pick in Philadelphia signed with the Chiefs over other teams like the Cowboys and Bears who could have used a decent backup. It’s still early and he’s just getting a hold of things in KC but from what I’ve read his throws haven’t looked as accurate as Bray’s so far while they’ve been sharing snaps. Hard to believe Reid would be okay with trading him after signing him so shortly before preseason (and Reid having originally drafted him), but Reid did trade Kevin Kolb once upon a time. He’s the only backup QB on the roster who has regular season experience, so personally I believe there’s no way he gets traded but I’ve seen some weirder things happen before.
7. Anthony Sherman or Albert Wilson
I put these two players in the same category because they’re both players that play a valuable role in the offense and should definitely make the team. They’re both also excellent special teams players when not playing on offense, as we remember in 2014 against the Bills when a gang tackle by those two forced a key fumble leading to a victory that wasn’t looking likely.
Regardless, why would the Chiefs think of trading them? After all fullbacks are seldom used by teams anymore (even Sherman doesn’t see as many snaps with the Chiefs), and Wilson has had only one season as an up and down No. 2 receiver (and some nagging injuries).
Well, value is the one reason I can see for it. Wilson seems to have been doing decently well in this year’s training camp, but fellow young receivers like Chris Conley and Tyreek Hill have been impressing quite a bit, and Rod Streater has filled in with the No. 1 offense in training camp while Albert Wilson deals with a nagging injury (a worrying pattern for Chiefs fans). Albert Wilson’s contract is cheap for a team to take on and he could be a decent backup receiver and special teams contributor for a number of teams. He was also undrafted for the Chiefs, so acquiring a draft pick for a player they didn’t invest much in could be seen as a win for the team if guys like Conley, Streater, and Hill can step up.
As for Sherman, maybe a team wants to make an adjustment to have a bit of power running game and wants arguably the best blocking FB in the league to lead the way. He’s also a good special teams player, though Dave Toub probably would want him more than other teams would in that respect. At this point in his career I doubt he could see a position change to something like linebacker, but you never know if a team is looking for a swiss army knife (like the Patriots have done with players in the past).
In closing:
Creating an extra roster spot while gaining a draft pick could be seen as valuable (some have suggested before that Sherman could be cut to make room on the roster elsewhere because of his low snap counts on offense).
Or possibly we end up trading for an interior lineman, like Ronald Leary of the Cowboys who was made a backup last season after Dallas was able to sign a first round talent in La’el Collins as an UDFA. The guard position has been arguably the worst performing position on the team since Andy Reid has been here, so a player for player trade would make sense there. Also it could depend totally on the positions of the players who are being traded (do we value a decent guard about the same that a different team values depth at RB?). From what I’ve read on Arrowhead Pride and musings from training camp, our starting guards haven’t been doing so hot in lineman drills.
Whatever the case, considering the depth and talent of the roster, there’s definitely more potential to make trades to other teams than there have been in years past. We’re no longer a top heavy roster like we were in 2012 sending a number of players to the Pro Bowl but fielding a really bad team. When someone like De’Anthony Thomas (who’s clearly a talented player) is considered to be on the roster bubble you know that’s a good problem to have.
So what do you guys think? Fat chance we make a trade before the season starts? Good chance? Or do you think the team just feels confident in who we have and will stick with it?
