Chiefs may turn crowded WR room into midseason trade gold

When the Kansas City Chiefs decided to retain eight receivers for their 53-man roster to start the regular season, or at least to meet the NFL's cutdown deadlines the week before, the expected payoff was maintaining a strong offensive core through a difficult time. One secondary benefit might come a few weeks later.

For now, the Chiefs look ready to handle the six-game suspension levied on wideout Rashee Rice. Eight receivers will shrink to seven when the team places Rice on the exempt list. Yet the WR room will still be robust enough for Patrick Mahomes to conduct the orchestra to great effect—even without Rice as his most trusted target.

But what happens when Rice is ready to return. While the upside there is an obvious offensive boost in Week 7 and beyond, Rice's return also brings forthcoming questions about what to do with the glut of talent at the position.

Yes, other injuries may render this question irrelevant. Perhaps the Chiefs will actually lean on eight capable receivers for the duration of the '25 campaign. Maybe someone like Jason Brownlee or Tyquan Thornton or Nikko Remigio will make an offensive difference from Week 1 to Week 18.

The Chiefs' decision to keep eight receivers could pay off in more than one way.

With that disclaimer out of the way, it's also possible that the Chiefs' plethora of talent at wide receiver could yield benefits on the NFL's trade market. The league has a November 4 trade deadline this season, while Rice returns on October 17. That's right around the time when franchises start to make moves to secure their status as contenders or sell off assets in a losing situation.

If the Chiefs are sitting on more receivers than they know what to do with, ones with real value, then it could lead to that surplus bringing back a trade return at midseason. The Chiefs won't keep eight receivers for the long haul, but they could use one to bring back some extra draft assets for next spring, while giving another team the same sort of positional boost they enjoyed the start the season.

It's impossible to say how everything will turn out for the WR room between now and then, but on paper, the Chiefs might find a real bonus to maintaining control of eight receivers by the time the NFL's trade deadline arrives. It'd be the cherry on top of also having weathered the storm of a Rice-less offense to start the season.