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5 Sure-Handed Wide Receivers the Chiefs Should Target in a Trade

The Kansas City Chiefs should target these sure-handed wide receivers in a trade if they continue to struggle.
Chiefs Wide Receivers

Amid key injuries and holdouts, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their season-opener against the Detroit Lions in a sloppy game, particularly from the wide receivers, sparking trade rumors. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes reaffirmed his faith in wide receiver Kadarius Toney who had such a rough game that fan ridicule led to him deactivating his account on X. He was not alone with second-year man Skyy Moore also struggling.

Rookie Rashee Rice flashed, and the Chiefs got modest returns from Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson. The Chiefs are also optimistic about Travis Kelce’s ability to return in Week 2. All of this suggests they might want to practice patience.

But waiting to find out if Week 1 was an aberration could be very costly.

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5 Trade Targets to Fix the Chiefs’ Wide Receivers

Michael Pittman Jr. – Indianapolis Colts

Pittman, 25, is a young, big-bodied pass catcher, the likes of which rebuilding teams like the Colts – complete with a top-five draft pick at quarterback – typically covet. But they are at the very beginning of that rebuild and committing top dollar to a wide receiver may not be at the top of their to-do list.

There is precedence set with the Colts’ handling of Jonathan Taylor who is holding out for a new contract.

As a running back, though, Taylor’s situation is vastly different from Pittman’s.

Pittman hauled in a career-high 99 passes on 141 targets last season, racking up 925 yards and four touchdowns. Most notably for the Chiefs, the 6-foot-4 wideout caught a career-high 70.2% of his targets last season.

Tyler Boyd – Cincinnati Bengals

Boyd’s situation is even more convoluted than Pittman’s in the sense that, if things go right for the Bengals this season, there is very little chance he is even available at any point of the season. We cannot assume health for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow any more than anyone else, though. And Cincinnati is already mired in a bit of a contract standoff with Tee Higgins who would replace Boyd here if those negotiations do indeed prove unfruitful.

For now, with Burrow’s extension, Higgins in the spotlight, and Ja’Marr Chase taking notes, Boyd’s best path to new money could be with another franchise.

Kansas City could be the perfect spot for the oversized (6-foot-2) slot receiver.

Boyd, 28, recorded 58 grabs on 82 targets – a 70.7% catch rate – for 762 yards and five receiving touchdowns. And, with a 68.6% career catch rate, Boyd ranks 10th among all receivers since he entered the league in 2016, per Stathead.

Donovan Peoples-Jones – Cleveland Browns

Essentially a rinse-and-repeat of Boyd’s scenario, the likelihood of Peoples-Jones hitting the trade block rests largely on how competitive the Browns are out of the gates. A slow start could have them planning for the future and, like the rest of this list, Peoples Jones will be needing new money at season’s end.

Peoples-Jones, 24, drew 96 targets last season, converting them into 839 yards and three scores on 61 receptions. His 63.5% catch rate is the lowest of anyone on this list but he is also the youngest of all the entrants.

He has a 62.6% catch rate for his career with a 70% mark in his rookie season setting the pace, though it came on just 14 grabs in 20 total targets.

At 6-foot-2, Peoples-Jones is a bigger body on the outside, and one with some upside.

Sterling Shepard – New York Giants

The oldest player on our list, Sterling Shepard, 30, is also the most unreliable. Shepard has appeared in just 10 games over the last two seasons, and he has not played a full slate of games since 2018. Injuries have been a bugaboo for him starting in his second NFL season when he missed six games.

Still, he could provide the kind of safety blanket the Chiefs need in a wide receiver room full of explosive athletes. Shepard would quickly become the Chiefs’ second most reliable pass catcher behind tight end Travis Kelce.

The 5-foot-10 receiver caught just 54.3% of his 24 targets last season for a 13/154/4 line.

But Shepard caught better than 67% of his looks the years before and 73.3% the season before that, sporting a 66.8% career catch rate.

Kendrick Bourne – New England Patriots

Bourne, 28, could be the most attainable of any player on this list. The Patriots aren’t typically in the business of letting players out of the building if they still view them as useful. But they have DaVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster ahead of him on the “unofficial” depth chart and second-year man Tyquan Thornton is healthy.

The Chiefs should hope Thronton does make Bourne – a 67.6% career pass-catcher who caught 72.9% of his targets last season, finishing with 35 grabs, 434 yards, and a touchdown in a limited passing attack – expendable.

He set career-highs in 2021 catching 55 of 70 looks (78.6% catch rate) for 800 yards and five scores.

If the Patriots stumble out of the gates, they should be one of the first teams the Chiefs call.

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Main Photo: Mykal McEldowney/USA TODAY NETWORK

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