Chiefs To Acquire Josh Downs From Colts

Kansas City will send 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks to Indianapolis for Downs and a 2027 seventh-rounder, The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero reports. Downs will see a massive quarterback upgrade as he plays for a second contract, while the Chiefs’ latest WR search will bring a young talent into the fold.

The Colts had wanted more than a fourth-round pick for Downs, and Pelissero reported over the weekend they had received an offer of a fourth-round pick and an additional asset. After a slow start to deadline day, we have seen several trades transpire. Three of those involve AFC buyers, with the Bills adding safety Amani Hooker and the Broncos landing linebacker Daiyan Henley.

This will be a prime opportunity for Downs to boost his free agent market, going from Daniel Jones (and Anthony Richardson and Gardner Minshew before that) to Patrick Mahomes. Downs (via X) appears to appreciate his landing spot; he had requested a trade after the Colts began selling pieces following Chris Ballard’s ouster.

The Chiefs needed to pay a decent price for Downs, who ended up going for more than Jakobi Meyers required (fourth-, sixth-rounders) at last year’s deadline. Kansas City had offered Indianapolis a fourth-rounder for the walk-year receiver over a week ago, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz, but the Colts — who had been connected to wanting a third-rounder for a seemingly coveted rental player — held firm and extracted more in this agreement.

Downs is also primarily a slot player, topping out at 11.3 yards per game in a season (2023). This is certainly not a one-for-one replacement for Tyquan Thornton, but with Mahomes becoming more of a short- and mid-range merchant post-Tyreek Hill, it fits Kansas City’s more methodical offense.

The Commanders and Steelers also emerged as interested parties here. The Chiefs were believed to have preferred Brian Thomas Jr. to Downs, but the 6-2 Jaguars understandably appeared hesitant to trade a former first-round pick to an AFC threat. After Jacksonville loaded up its roster for a Super Bowl push Monday, the team stood pat on Thomas. This figured to ignite the Downs market, with other possible WR options — Garrett Wilson and Jerry Jeudy among them — off the table. Calvin Ridley loomed as a backup plan, but unless an 11th-hour deal emerges, the Titans have retained the ninth-year vet.

Downs ended up costing the Chiefs more than Jeudy cost the Browns in 2024. Both players profiled as shifty targets who were tied to shaky quarterback situations. Jeudy fetched fifth- and sixth-round picks in March 2024 (and remains tied to a suboptimal QB situation). Downs primarily caught passes from Jones over the past two seasons, with a memorable cameo from a 44-year-old Philip Rivers mixed in, but was tied to a historically inaccurate Richardson in 2024. Downs still produced a career-high 72 receptions for 803 yards and five touchdowns that season, which did admittedly involve a handful of Joe Flacco starts.

Downs, 25, averaged just 9.8 yards per reception last season. Even as Jones showed intriguing form before his Achilles tear, Downs saw his yardage figure regress from the Minshew and Richardson seasons. After his 566-yard 2025, Downs is at 354 (10.7 YPC) through nine games this season.

He will join an offense that relies on short-area producers Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice. The Chiefs lost Thornton to what may be a season-ending injury early in the year, and Xavier Worthy has not morphed into a quality deep threat despite setting the Combine 40-yard dash record (4.21 seconds). Worthy suffered a hamstring injury in Week 9. Rice has battled frequent injury and off-field issues, though the team’s nominal WR1 is healthy presently.

This represents yet another in-season WR trade for the Chiefs, who have continued to misfire at the position in recent years. They had acquired DeAndre Hopkins in 2024 and Kadarius Toney in 2022. Finishing out an age-25 season, Downs is both much younger than Hopkins and much more reliable than Toney. This won’t exactly remind of a prime Kelce-Hill setup for Mahomes, but it may be the best receiver cadre he has possessed since 2021.

As for Hill, this might take a reunion off the table. Even as the Andy Reid-era Chiefs have continually added players with off-field troubles, Hill’s recent civil trial producing battery liability — which may produce a suspension — accompanies a long-running rehab stretch. Hill is not yet 100%, and Chiefs connections — prevalent earlier this season, before the civil trial began — slowed in the days after the battery verdict.

The Colts, who also traded Keenan Allen (to the 49ers) on deadline day, ended up unloading four players — Allen, Downs, DeForest Buckner, Quenton Nelson — in what had been deemed a fire sale. All four were in contract years, with Indy setting a high price on Jonathan Taylor. The team also informed Jones he would not be traded.

Here is the capital the Colts ended up collecting for the walk-year assets:

• 2027 third-round pick (Nelson)
• 2027 fourth-round pick (Downs)
• 2027 fourth-round pick (Buckner)
• 2027 fifth-round pick (Downs)
• 2027 sixth-round pick (Allen)
• 2028 fifth-round pick (Nelson)

Indy rejected a Giants offer that included second- and fifth-round picks for Taylor, aiming for either a first or a collection of picks that match or approached first-round value. No such offer is believed to have materialized, and Taylor — who signed a two-year, $44MM summer extension — will play out his age-27 campaign on a rebuilding team. The Colts will exit this season without acquiring a 2027 first-rounder, which they dealt to the Jets for Sauce Gardner on deadline day last year.

While Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s to-be-determined GM hire will have a host of mid- and late-round picks to help launch a rebuild, the team passed on cashing in on Taylor’s prime. More dealing could take place ahead of the draft, but for now, the Colts — who will field a skeleton crew at wide receiver until Alec Pierce returns from IR — will wrap their deadline deals without a first- or second-rounder coming their way. Pierce is now all that’s left from Ballard’s WR surplus that was in place before the 2025 deadline; the team has traded Downs, Michael Pittman Jr. and Adonai Mitchell in a 12-month span.