A Chiefs trade with AFC rival to add Travis Kelce’s replacement well ahead of time

The Kansas City Chiefs have a difficult question to answer this offseason: How do you make a back-to-back Super Bowl-winning team even better? Thus far, it hasn’t come easy.

The Chiefs have made some moderate additions along with notable subtractions. L’Jarius Sneed was traded to the Tennessee Titans. Chris Jones signed a long-term extension to stay with the Chiefs. Hollywood Brown could be the deep threat Patrick Mahomes has lacked since Tyreek Hill was shipped to Miami.
However, the offseason is just beginning. The NFL Draft is a few weeks away, and at least one NFL Mock Draft suggests Kansas City should do the unthinkable — prepare for life after Travis Kelce.
“If Brock is sitting here at 32, that’s the easiest pick for me,” Bryant McFadden wrote. “He’s a difference-maker, and he’ll get an opportunity to learn from Travis Kelce. Whenever Travis Kelce decides to call it quits and get ready for his invitation to Canton in the Hall of Fame, you have his heir apparent right there WAITING in the wings, right there in the building. So this was super easy for me, and just imagine the offense that has Travis Kelce, Brock Bowers, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, Isiah Pacheco along with everything they have along the offensive line. Good luck trying to slow them down.”
Now, there’s an obvious issue with McFadden’s approach: There is a zero percent chance Bowers is still on the board when Kansas City picks. Mel Kiper Jr. has the Georgia product headed to the New York Jets at pick No. 10. Bowers has also been floated as a likely target of the Los Angeles Chargers, who pick ahead of the Jets.
What a Chiefs trade for Brock Bowers would have to look like
In this scenario, the only way the Chiefs could acquire Bowers would be to trade up 22 picks. That asking price is sure to be steep, especially if Kansas City is forced to trade with the Jets, an organization already upset with them over the Mecole Hardman fallout this very offseason. Hardman suggested that he called Chiefs personnel in hopes of a KC reunion in the middle of last season. While that claim has yet to be proven, it would be tampering if true.
Things move quickly in the NFL, of course, so the Jets would stil
l be willing to do business with the Chiefs for the right price. Here’s my guess as to what it’ll take to move up nearly two-dozen selections.
That may seem like a steep asking price to the untrained eye, but moving up in this year’s first round won’t come easy for the defending, back-to-back Super Bowl champions.