Kansas City Chiefs floated as potential landing spot for Giants DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, Bears TE Cole Kmet in ESPN trade pitches
ESPN’s Ben Solak recently played the role of Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach, sending hypothetical trade offers to the New York Giants for DE Kayvon Thibodeaux and the Chicago Bears for TE Cole Kmet.
The Kansas City Chiefs already have a highly competitive 90-man offseason roster, but they continue to be mentioned in trade scenarios. A recent ESPN article has floated K.C. as a landing spot for two players, with hypothetical pitches from analysts.
The reality behind any trade scenario is that the Chiefs would need to clear more salary cap space. Could any of these trades realistically work for Kansas City, or are they merely pipe dreams?
ESPN’s hypothetical Chiefs trade offers fail, but one of them had the right idea
ESPN’s offer to Giants for DE Kayvon Thibodeaux
ESPN’s Ben Solak played the part of Chiefs GM Brett Veach, offering up an early Day 3 pick for Thibodeaux.
- Chiefs get: Kayvon Thibodeaux
- Giants get: 2027 Fourth Round Pick
Goldman’s Verdict: This position is the right idea for the Chiefs because it substantially raises the floor for the edge-rushing group. However, the Giants didn’t accept this trade offer or any of the other offers, and rightfully so. Edge rushers are hard to come by in the NFL. Having three legitimate threats off the edge is much more valuable to New York than a fourth-round draft pick. Similarly, the Chiefs could just wait the Giants out and sign him as a free agent next year without having to surrender draft capital.
Personally, I think that Cardinals DE Josh Sweat is much more appealing as a post-June 1 trade candidate for Kansas City. Sweat might cost more after coming off a 12-sack season, perhaps a third-round pick. He’s under contract for the next three seasons and is fairly affordable, with no more than a $19M cap hit in any given season.
ESPN’s offer to Bears for TE Cole Kmet
ESPN’s Ben Solak again played the part of Chiefs GM Brett Veach here, offering up a Day 2 pick for Kmet.
- Chiefs get: Cole Kmet, 2027 fifth-round pick
- Bears get: 2027 third-round pick
Goldman’s Verdict: The Bears also didn’t accept this trade offer or any other offers for Kmet. Kansas City has two third-round draft picks, its own and the L.A. Rams, as a part of the Trent McDuffie trade. I’d offer the lower of the two picks here. Yes, Kmet fills the need of a traditional blocking tight end, which Solak mentions. I think the Chiefs need to be more future-focused with Travis Kelce approaching the end of his career. I’d like to see them find that talent in the 2027 NFL Draft, perhaps with that third-round pick. Remember, they found Kelce in Round 3. That makes more sense to me, rather than having to trade for and pay Cole Kmet a new deal to lower his $15M cap hit in 2027.