Chiefs GM Brett Veach disappoints with lack of 2025 NFL trade deadline moves despite clear needs for Kansas City
The 2025 NFL trade deadline has passed without a move from the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Kansas City Chiefs failed to make a move ahead of the 4:00 p.m. ET NFL trade deadline for the 2025 season on Nov. 4, despite some obvious needs after the Week 9 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
This comes a season after Brett Veach made two moves to acquire WR DeAndre Hopkins and OLB Joshua Uche at the trade deadline, to varying degrees of success. What went wrong for Kansas City this year after being so active around the trade deadline in seasons past?
Three factors weighed into the Chiefs’ decision to stand pat at the NFL trade deadline
The reality of the Chiefs’ situation is that they needed a perfect storm for a trade to make sense. The salary cap, draft capital, and player availability had to sync up, and they clearly didn’t for Kansas City.
Acquiring a player was always going to be difficult because the Chiefs had about $3 million in salary cap space for the remainder of the 2025 NFL season. If you make a trade, you’ve got to fit a salary within those constraints. If you trade for a player who would require an extension, you’re doing so with the understanding that the team is currently $30 million over the salary cap in 2026 and has only 35 players under contract.
That also weighs into the draft capital you can spend, since you’ll need an influx of new players in 2026. Right now, the team is projected to have just seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Chiefs Projected Draft Capital in 2026 & 2027
- 2026 First Round
- 2026 Second Round
- 2026 Third Round
- 2026 Fourth Round
- 2026 Fifth Round
- 2026 Fifth Round (projected comp pick for Tershawn Wharton)
- 2026 Seventh Round
- 2027 First Round
- 2027 Second Round
- 2027 Third Round
- 2027 Fourth Round
- 2027 Fifth Round
- 2027 Sixth Round (via 49ers for Skyy Moore trade)
You also have to consider the availability of a true difference-maker and the cost associated with it. The Chiefs weren’t shipping off first-round picks for Quinnen Williams or Sauce Gardner. Sitting at 5-4, the Chiefs may finish this season with a crop of draft picks much higher up in the round than they’ve had in a long time.
That likely caused a bit of hesitation on Veach’s part when it came to making deals as well. Of the potential targets, could Kansas City have acquired anyone who would’ve made an impact? We’ll never know for sure, but making a trade to make a trade won’t solve anything.
When it comes to the Chiefs’ player assets, the cornerbacks looked like a group that could potentially have a player traded away. The problem is convincing a team to take on a contract like Kristian Fulton’s, given that he was hurt this offseason and hasn’t played much. It’s equally challenging to convince a team to surrender assets for a rental player like Josh Williams, who has been relegated to the fifth cornerback on the depth chart in Kansas City.
The Chiefs still could make an addition now that the trade deadline has come and gone
In past years, when the Chiefs haven’t made a move at the trade deadline, they’ve looked for help on the free-agent market. Sometimes, you’ve got veteran players who are chasing a chance at a Super Bowl who request their release from bad teams.
See Terrell Suggs or Le’Veon Bell, for instance. If they go that route, keep in mind that all players are now required to pass through the NFL’s waiver system after the trade deadline, regardless of their number of accrued seasons.
Other times, you’ve got players who are getting healthy from injury who can contribute, like D.J. Humphries last season. Former Las Vegas Raiders DT Christian Wilkins, for instance, could be healthy from a foot injury and looking for a team sometime soon.
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