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Xavier Worthy’s left hamstring injury may ramp up pressure on the Chiefs’ front office to acquire a wide receiver before the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon.
Kansas City is already without its top downfield threat, Tyquan Thornton, until at least the postseason, if he can return from a gruesome ankle injury on an accelerated timeline.
The Chiefs’ leading receiver, Rashee Rice, has already missed basically three games with his own hamstring injury, while Worthy may be out for at least a few weeks, though head coach Andy Reid said Monday he’s “day-to-day.”
Watch Reid's full comments Monday in the video player below.
Wide receiver has widely been viewed as one of the weakest positions on Kansas City’s roster.
Beyond Rice and Worthy, the depth chart includes rookie fifth-round pick Cyrus Allen, second-year former fourth-round pick Jalen Royals, return specialist Nikko Remigio, and Andrew Armstrong, who started the season on the practice squad.
Veteran Justin Watson, who re-signed with Kansas City after Thornton's injury, is one of four wide receivers currently on the practice squad along with Jacob De Jesus, Omari Evans and Bub Means.
So far this season, Allen has five catches for 65 yards, Royals has eight catches for 63 yards with a touchdown, Armstrong has two catches for 16 yards, and Watson has a 7-yard catch.
While Worthy has yet to live up to his first-round draft-pick status, he’s been a productive player, averaging more than 680 yards from scrimmage with 10 total touchdowns in his first two NFL seasons.
“He was having a good game today, made some tough physical catches, especially down there at the goal line,” Mahomes said. “Hopefully, it's not as bad as it looked out there. I haven't got to talk to him or the trainers or anything like that, but it's kind of that next-man-up mentality. We've had guys that have gotten reps. Because of the injuries, they'll have to step in and make the plays happen whenever their number’s called.”
Mahomes has been known to celebrate signings during NFL free agency on social media. However, he’ll be preoccupied with rehabbing an injury to his throwing elbow ahead of Kansas City’s Week 10 visit to Atlanta rather than possible trade news involving a wide-receiver addition.
“I leave that all up to (General Manager Brett) Veach and Coach Reid,” Mahomes said. “Whoever's in that building, I go out there and try to make the most of it and win football games. I think we've done a great job of that with a lot of different guys. I see the work these guys (Royals, Allen, et al) put in every single day, and they're ready. They're ready to go out there and make plays when their number’s called, so I'll leave that up to those guys (Veach and Reid).”
Reid didn’t rule out the possibility of a move coming.
"As you know, Brett always keeps his eyes open,” he said Monday via Zoom. “I don't have to say anything, but he's always looking and trying to improve the roster. That part hasn't changed. He's out there searching and doing his due diligence with his guys."
One challenge the Chiefs will face is a lack of salary cap space, which is projected at a shade over $1 million, according to Over the Cap.
That puts players like Minnesota’s Jauan Jennings and Tennessee’s Calvin Ridley, who may be in unexpected legal trouble, out of reach, based on Spotrac’s data.
The most common trade targets bandied about are Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr. and Indianapolis’ Josh Downs, who requested a trade after the Colts went into fire-sale mode following the firing of GM Chris Ballard.
It’s fair to wonder whether the Jaguars, who made a pair of trades Monday to bolster their defense, would be willing to send Thomas, who has yet to duplicate the production of his rookie season, to another AFC contender.
Future salary commitments probably should put Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy and enigmatic San Francisco wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk out of reach as well, to the extent he can be trusted after going AWOL with the 49ers.
That leaves Downs and former Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown, who signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia, as arguably the most realistic targets.
Downs, who has averaged 66 catches for 713 yards with nearly four touchdowns in each of his first three NFL seasons. He’s caught 33 of 57 targets for 354 yards with a touchdown in 2026, and Downs only has a 67.4 QB rating when targeted this season, far and away the worst of his career.
The 2023 third-round pick from North Carolina is a free agent after the season, and Indianapolis is thought to be asking for a third- or fourth-round pick in return, a steep price for a half-season rental unless he delivers postseason success.
Brown, meanwhile, has only appeared in four games after missing time with a sprained ankle, racking up five catches for 63 yards in three games since Oct. 26.
But he has two advantages: Brown would cost less than the draft capital needed to land Downs, and he’s already familiar with Reid’s offense, having caught 49 passes for 587 yards with five touchdowns last season in Kansas City.
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