The Kansas City Chiefs have had an interesting offseason, flying relatively under the radar, save for a few key instances.
Among them are the loss of star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, kicker Harrison Butker’s comments during a commencement ceremony and the fallout that followed, and new kickoff rules that could see safety Justin Reid handle duties to fill the need for an additional tackler. Then there is Rashee Rice who, like Butker, hasn’t made headlines for football reasons.
Rice’s pending legal matters have put an additional emphasis on the Chiefs’ trade with the Buffalo Bills. KC selected Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the No. 28 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Chiefs Beat Out Patriots for Xavier Worthy: Lombardi
Patriots Wanted Chiefs Xavier Worthy ‘Badly’
“They [Buffalo] had an opportunity to take a deal from New England,” former Cleveland Browns general manager Michael Lombardi said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on May 31. “New England was in high-speed pursuit of Worthy. They wanted Worthy badly. They were making calls to get that pick. And Buffalo had them on the phone, and so was Kansas City.”
The Chiefs sent the Bills the No. 32 pick in the deal that landed Worthy. They also exchanged fourth and seventh-round selections.
“New England made a substantial offer to them, and they took the Chiefs’ offer. Now, I don’t know if the Chiefs’ offer was substantially more than the Patriots,” Lombardi said. “At some point, you have to get away from the [trade value] chart and just do what’s in the best interest of your team.
“The Patriots wanted worthy, that’s a fact. And they tried to get him.”
Speedy speedy speedy 💨 pic.twitter.com/zcMYHeZkEM
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 4, 2024
Lombardi pointed out that his former boss – late Las Vegas Raiders owner Al Davis – gave two ground rules when doing trades.
The first was not to trade within the division. That would rule out accepting the Patriots’ supposed offer. The second rule was to not do any trades with any team on the upcoming schedule, which would also rule out the Patriots, whom the Bills face twice.
However, the Bills also face the Chiefs in Week 11 this season.
Bills May Have Let Chiefs Draft ‘Next Tyreek Hill’
More importantly, the two teams could meet up in the postseason, which was a significant factor in Lombardi’s reaction to the trade. The deal may have yielded the “next Tyreek Hill.”
“If you’re Brandon Beane, you have to sit there and say, ‘Yeah, maybe Kansas City offered me a lot more. But why would I give Worthy to them, who’s a weapon, who could become the next Tyreek Hill for them?’” Lombardi told McAfee. “‘Why am I doing anything to help the Chiefs?’”
Lombardi specifically pointed to the 13-second come-from-ahead loss in 2022.
He also mentioned the missed potential game-winning kick from this past season. That and the Patriots not being a threat made them a better potential trade partner, saying, “Helping the Chiefs out would be the last thing that I would wanna do.”
“That’s gonna come back and bite them in the a** if Worthy is as good as we think he could be.”
Main Photo: Sara Diggins / USA TODAY NETWORK
