Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy runs up field after a catch during the Big 12 ... [+]
The narrative was that the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs were so dominant that no one wanted to trade with them.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach even alluded to that prior to the 2024 NFL Draft.
“The ability to deal with certain teams,” Veach said, “just some of the AFC teams in general that are consistent playoff performers — I mean, the Buffalos, the Cincinnatis, the Baltimores — it’s probably a little bit harder to deal with those teams.”
Surprisingly, one of those aforementioned teams — the Buffalo Bills — was able to consummate a trade with the Chiefs on the first day of the draft.
The Chiefs traded their original first-round pick (32nd overall), a third-round pick (95th overall) and a seventh-round pick (221st overall) to Buffalo for the Bills’ first-round pick (28th overall), a fourth-round pick (133rd overall) and a seventh-round pick (248th overall).
Prior to the draft, Veach said: “There is always a way to make a deal, but yeah, some of the teams will probably up the price a little bit.”
The Chiefs, though, seemingly did not give up a bounty.
While trading up in the first round to select wide receiver Xavier Worthy 28th overall, they sacrificed a third-round pick but gained a fourth-round pick and swapped seventh-round picks.
What’s strange is that the Bills, whose season was ended by the Chiefs in three of the last four postseasons, would be willing to trade with the Chiefs.
“They had a mindset of what they wanted to do,” Veach said. “Obviously, they’ve done a great job over the years. They’re a really good organization. I’m sure it made sense to them.”
Though they’ve won the AFC East four consecutive years, the Bills have some infamous first-round draft trade history with the Chiefs. In 2017 they traded their first-round pick to the Chiefs, allowing Kansas City to move up to select Patrick Mahomes.
And the two-time NFL MVP now has a new weapon to take advantage of his prodigious arm strength and make the Chiefs offense less of a dink-and-dunk operation.
One of the obvious things that makes Worthy so enticing is his world-class speed. He set the NFL Combine record with a 4.21 in the 40-yard dash.
His speed can take the top off the defense, allowing Travis Kelce to work the middle of the field, and Worthy can be a weapon as a punt or kickoff returner, taking advantage of new special teams rules, which should enable more returns.
“We’re excited about adding Xavier to the roster,” Veach said. “Anytime you can add speed and add a guy with that type of versatility, you’re going to be interested.”
Last year the Chiefs were interested in adding a receiver in the first round, but finding a willing trade partner proved difficult.
“It was,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “I mean, we were trying to move around a little bit last year, and it was just tough. People didn’t really want to do a whole lot.”
Who would’ve guessed the Bills would be the trade partner in 2024?
In addition to being a rival, the Bills have a major need at wide receiver that they need to address in the draft after trading away Stefon Diggs and losing Gabe Davis in free agency.
(Davis signed a three-year, $39 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. As the wide receiver market continues to get more expensive, that’s another reason why drafting a player like Worthy, who will be on a five-year rookie deal, is pragmatic.)
Bills GM Brandon Beane said if they hadn’t traded with the Chiefs someone else would have, though that goes against what Veach said about the difficulty of finding trade partners. And Buffalo might have figured that it wasn’t helping Kansas City because it’s possible Worthy would’ve been available at No. 32 anyway.
Presumably, the Bills, who traded back again after the Chiefs trade, have their eyes on another player who they knew would be available at the top of the second round.
Perhaps that’s Adonai Mitchell, Worthy’s Texas teammate who a lot of draft experts actually had ranked as a better prospect.
But if Worthy helps the Chiefs knock the Bills out of the postseason once again, Beane’s draft-day decision will come under intense scrutiny.
