The Chiefs' agreed-upon trade of Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams saps Kansas City of a dynamic playmaker in the secondary and shifts the pressure on the front office to find a replacement -- or three.
Joining Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show, Chiefs guard Trey Smith said Thursday that losing McDuffie -- who is "without a doubt one of the best in the NFL," and one of the best all-around people in the game -- stings, but the players trust the front office.
"I think they're the best," Smith told Adams of Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and his crew. "You look at their ability to find talent, especially deep in the drafts. They found me in the 6th round; no one wanted me. I was supposed to be an undrafted free agent, but here they come, saving me. But you know, they've found other talent. Like Jaylen Watson, for instance, a guy who's contributed a ton. There are a lot of guys they ended up finding deep in the draft. So, for us, we have full confidence in them for picking up talent."
Watson is another reason the club could have traded McDuffie, with the former seventh-rounder set to be a free agent that Veach would like to retain.
The Chiefs have been here before. They've traded away big-name players and kept stacking wins, i.e., Tyreek Hill. Veach has been particularly allergic to paying cornerbacks, believing in Kansas City's scouting process to identify capable replacements. They traded Marcus Peters. They traded L'Jarius Sneed. They've continued to make Super Bowls.
Given their success with moving on from CBs too early rather than too late, the trade is understandable from Veach's perspective. However, now he's under immense pressure to nail his replacement plan.
