While luck has favored Patrick Mahomes & Co. in the referees’ decisions, the same cannot be said about their injury woes. Weeks after Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury, reports from last night speculate that Rashee Rice might be out as well — with a potentially torn ACL. This has spread the Chiefs’ WR cohort a bit too thin.
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Although the Chiefs are 4-0 this season, their injury woes have made fans wonder if they can sustain their string of unconvincing victories. In addition to losing two starting wide receivers for the season, the Chiefs will also be without RB Isaiah Pacheco for the next two months. Thus, one could argue that the club’s offense has been significantly crippled in the last two weeks.
The Chiefs likely have lost both Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice for the season, and are currently without RB Isaiah Pacheco for about eight weeks. The team is 4-0, but the offense has been hit hard. https://t.co/ofaSbibHE8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 30, 2024
The question now is: how should Andy Reid tackle this potentially season-derailing situation? Let’s first look at in-house solutions.
Starting with the versatile Travis Kelce, it’s worth noting that he has had a relatively slow start to the 2024 season. However, given that he has held his own for the last 11 years, Mahomes can rely on his trusted target a bit more for the remainder of the season.
That said, there are three total options for the starting wide receiver position: Skyy Moore, Xavier Worthy, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. As things stand, these three ideally serve as the ball catchers for the team for the entirety of this season.
While Worthy has had a great debut, let’s not forget that he is still a rookie. Moore is also in the developing stage, like Worthy, and should ideally not be given the responsibility to spearhead the receiving corps. This is where JuJu Smith-Schuster’s experience comes in handy.
While he might not be the most athletic or talented of the trio, JuJu has the experience. He is also quite familiar with Andy Reid’s playbook, which will help him take the other two receivers under his wing.
However, Reid and Matt Nagy should still prioritize Xavier Worthy as the WR1, given his dominating performance in the past few games, followed by JuJu and then Moore.
As they navigate these internal options, it’s also important to consider potential external solutions. Well, there is this one solid option lined up.
Amari Cooper to KC Chiefs?
With more than a month left before the NFL trade deadline, the Chiefs have the option to look outside for a solution. The most interesting and viable name that has popped up so far has to be the Browns’ Amari Cooper.
Thanks to the Cleveland Browns converting Cooper’s $1.2 million salary into a signing bonus, the WR has now become an extremely affordable trade prospect for the entire NFL. As per reports, by deadline day, Cooper will only cost $605,000 on the salary cap for a team. For a veteran WR who had 1,250 yards and 5 TDs last season, this is an absolute steal.
The #Browns converted all but $1.21M of WR Amari Cooper’s 2024 salary into signing bonus, making him an extremely affordable trade candidate.
Now: $941,111
Deadline: $605,000— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 30, 2024
Stylistically, Cooper fits the mold of Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown. Mahomes & Co. are really close to a historic three-peat, and it would be a bummer to see them lose out on it due to some stingy business decisions.
From the available options, Amari on a trade deal appears to be the best choice. However, as we have seen with Andy Reid, he always seems to have a trick up his sleeve. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the defending champs tackle this situation.
