In what has to be considered a pretty big surprise, the Kansas City Chiefs are listening to offers for guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif ahead of their Week 1 game against the Cleveland Browns.
Kansas City overhauled its offensive line in front of Patrick Mahomes during the offseason after he was pummeled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV back in February.
After opting out of the 2020 NFL season to help fight COVID-19 in his native Canada, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted to return to the Chiefs this year. However, he’s seemingly been surpassed on the depth chart by rookie Trey Smith.
A sixth-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2015, Duvernay-Tardif has started 57 of the 60 games in which he’s appeared. This type of experience and previous success will be of interest to multiple teams. Below, we look at three ideal trade scenarios surrounding the guard.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif trade to the Green Bay Packers
Rookie fourth-round pick Royce Newman has been getting run with the Packers’ first-team offense this summer. He’s performed extremely well, too. Interestingly, this comes with Lucas Patrick being seen as Green Bay’s likely starting right guard when training camp opened.
Either way, there’s a scenario in play here that suggests Green Bay looks to add a veteran presence in front of Aaron Rodgers. The idea would be for Duvernay-Tardif to play right guard and youngster Elgton Jenkins to play left guard once Pro Bowl left tackle David Bakhtiari returns from injury.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers
To say that Pittsburgh fumbled the ball a long the offensive line this past offseason would be an understatement. It forced the team into signing injury-plagued former Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner on the cheap. While the biggest issue with these Steelers is at tackle, adding another guard to the mix would help the immobile Ben Roethlisberger.
In this scenario, Turner moves to left guard with Duvernay-Tardif playing right guard. At the very least, it would be seen as an upgrade over untested second-year player Kevin Dotson at guard. Perhaps, Pittsburgh could entice Kansas City with embattled young receiver James Washington.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif trade to the San Francisco 49ers
First off, San Francisco has a ton of defensive linemen other teams are calling up about in terms of potential trades. This unit goes about 11 deep in Northern California. On the other hand, these Chiefs have issues both out on the edge and along the interior of their defensive line. Someone like D.J. Jones or Jordan Willis could be of interest to Kansas City.
As for a fit in San Francisco, Duvernay-Tardif might make the most sense. Daniel Brunskill is likely slated to start at right guard after rookie second-round pick Aaron Banks failed to impress during the summer. This is the only real area of concern on the 49ers’ offensive line. Adding this veteran to the mix would make a ton of sense for general manager John Lynch and Co.
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