The Kansas City Chiefs are once again champions! After a tumultuous regular season, no one really believed in the defending champions. There were just too many holes in the wide receiver room, too much inconsistency from the offense to succeed. However, Patrick Mahomes and co. turned all the doubters into believers during the playoffs.
With their incredible defense leading the way, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense found timely scores during the course of the playoffs. They were able to come back from a 10-point deficit in the Super Bowl to overcome the San Francisco 49ers. Even though they captured the title, though, there's still plenty of issues for the Chiefs to fix. Luckily, those issues can likely be fixed via a trade.
Let's look at the perfect trade that the Chiefs can make in the offseason in order to go for the elusive three-peat.
Chiefs' biggest needs
The Chiefs are about to have a massive roster turnover, whether they like it or not. After their championship win, they have a ton of valuable free agents that could decide to leave the team without notice. Players such as L'Jarius Sneed, Chris Jones, Drue Tranquill, and Mike Danna are all free agents, and all four were integral parts of the team's championship run. On the offensive side, Jerick McKinnon is set to be a free agent. While McKinnon isn't as utilized as much by the Chiefs, he still provides them with excellent depth.
When talking about the Chiefs' biggest need, though, it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room. Kansas City's offensive woes last season was due to their lackluster wide receiver room. Multiple drops and an inability to create separation plagued Kansas City last season. Kadarius Toney was the one who took the brunt of the jokes, but truth be told, it was nearly every receiver that struggled.
Another area of concern is their offensive line. The departure of Orlando Brown Jr left a massive void at the left tackle position. Donovan Smith was unable to properly man this role, allowing more pressure than the team would like. Other areas, such as right tackle could also use an upgrade.
Ideal trade target: Brandon Aiyuk
Most of the Chiefs' needs could be addressed by free agency or in the NFL draft. Kansas City has done a remarkable job drafting talented contributors, especially on defense. Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis are two of the team's best success stories recently. It's also worth noting that the Chiefs could target some underrated names in free agency if they want to minimize their cap space.
The offensive line woes are concerning, yes. The Chiefs usually did a great job protecting Mahomes, but their protection dwindled this season remarkably. However, it's rare for a team to trade for a left or right tackle, and we don't expect the Chiefs to go trade hunting for an offensive lineman.
That leaves the wide receiver position as the area that the Chiefs can address via trade. While there's plenty of talented wide receivers in free agency, they could just choose to trade for another established star.
Make no mistake about it: the Chiefs won in spite of their wide receivers. Rashee Rice was solid, but they still need that headliner to take attention away from him and Travis Kelce. This is where Brandon Aiyuk comes in for the Chiefs.
Brandon Aiyuk is just 25 years old, and he's coming off an excellent year statistically. He accumulated over 1,300 yards for the 49ers last season and was the defacto WR1 at times. That being said, the 49ers already have two WR1s with Deebo Samuel, who is already signed a massive extension. With Brandon Aiyuk likely seeking a contract extension, San Francisco could try and trade for the wide receiver.
The 49ers will want immediate draft compensation for Aiyuk in case of a trade. They'd like to draft his replacement in this scenario. So, the trade will likely be the Chiefs sending a few picks (some of which are 2024 picks) to the 49ers in exchange for Aiyuk. That's a pretty good deal for Kansas City, and it gives them a chance at retaining Brandon Aiyuk after trading for him.
With Aiyuk in the fold, the Chiefs would be a much more dangerous team to go against. Aiyuk would give Mahomes one more weapon to utilize in the passing attack. It would also be much more difficult for teams to guard against Travis Kelce, as they can't exactly double him with Aiyuk there.
We all know the Chiefs to be the team that tears you down with their incredible high-flying offense. Bringing in Aiyuk would make their attack much more dangerous than ever before.
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