Kansas City Chiefs stole a highly coveted player that the rest of the league wanted to take in Round 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft
The Kansas City Chiefs managed to land one of the most highly coveted players in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The Athletic's Michael Silver took a deep dive into what it's like to be in a draft room, providing a unique look into the 2025 NFL Draft through the lens of Jacksonville Jaguars […]
The Kansas City Chiefs managed to land one of the most highly coveted players in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Athletic's Michael Silver took a deep dive into what it's like to be in a draft room, providing a unique look into the 2025 NFL Draft through the lens of Jacksonville Jaguars rookie GM James Gladstone. It's a fun and revealing story that also sheds some light on how hot a commodity new Chiefs DE Ashton Gillotte was.
The Jaguars held pick No. 70 in the 2025 NFL Draft, where they had been targeting two specific players: UCF RB RJ Harvey and Louisville DE Ashton Gillotte.
Harvey went 10 selections earlier to the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs, of course, selected Gillotte at pick No. 66, which they received from the Tennessee Titans in the L'Jarius Sneed trade.
Leading up to pick No. 70, the Jags communicated with two teams regarding potential trades: The Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams.
Once Harvey and Gillotte were both off the board, the Jags pivoted back to potential trades. . . There was a problem, though. One of those teams no longer wanted to make a deal.
The Kansas City Chiefs, with a pick acquired from the Titans in last year’s trade for cornerback L’Jarius Snead, snagged Gillotte with the second pick of the round. With the Jags’ selection just four picks away, quick decisions had to be made.
“Well, now the (Detroit) trade sounds good,” Tony Khan said.
Added Temme: “I’d agree to that trade right now.”
“I love it,” Gladstone said. Then, gesturing to director of player finance Trip MacCracken, who was communicating with Mike Disner, the Lions’ chief operating officer, the GM exclaimed, “Let it rip, baby!”
Yet Detroit wasn’t ready to make the deal. The suspicion in the Jags’ draft room was that the Lions had been targeting Gillotte. Also, minutes earlier, Gladstone had instructed MacCracken to ask for a sweetener: Instead of including their fifth-round selection in 2025, the Jags proposed trading their sixth-round pick.
A few minutes later, MacCracken called back for a status check. “They’re considering it,” MacCracken told Gladstone.
The Patriots took Washington State receiver Kyle Williams with the 69th pick, putting the Jags on the clock. Gladstone brought up the Rams’ trade proposal: “That future second will likely be late, but a second is still a second.”
Finally, MacCracken got clarity from Disner: The trade terms were a go. “Detroit’s in if you want it,” he announced. Seconds later, Gladstone fielded a phone call and grimaced. “The Rams are out,” he said. “Guess who they wanted? Gillotte.” – The Athletic's Michael Silver
Ultimately, the Jags did make the deal with the Lions, who moved up to select Arkansas WR Isaac TeSlaa (a Michigan native). It's easy to understand why the Jaguars, Rams, potentially the Lions, and other NFL teams were targeting Gillotte, though. He's not just an extraordinarily talented and productive player at the edge rusher position, but the quality of his character on and off the field separates him. Just look at how he used his NIL earnings while at Louisville. . .
Just like every other team, upon putting in the work, they realized that Gillotte had a chance to be a special player in the league, and they actively targeted him in the third round.
"This kid plays a hundred miles an hour," Chiefs Sr. Director of Player Personnel Mike Bradway told reporters. "He is everything you want in a football player from makeup to how he plays the game, inside, outside. When you turn the tape on the guy is absolutely relentless. (He’s) probably one of the higher character kids we came across all year. You know (Co-Director of College Scouting) Pat Sperduto and (Senior College Scouting Executive) Terry Delp went in there and did a phenomenal job just gathering information and came back and said, ‘This kid’s special.’ And then you turn the tape on (and) he’s got the athletic traits, the physical traits, and he’s a very skilled player, too.
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