The Kansas City Chiefs have broken the mold when it comes to building Super Bowl-winning rosters. Whereas most teams focus on pairing a star quarterback with a top-tier wide receiver, the Chiefs have won two of their past three Super Bowls without a bonified wide receiver one. Of course, they had Tyreek Hill for the first Super Bowl win of the Patrick Mahomes era but have not had a pass catcher of his caliber at the position since.
Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ All-Pro tight end, was the team’s leading receiver even when Hill was on the team. The seven-time All-Pro tight end has truly been Kansas City’s most reliable pass catcher for the last nine seasons. That being said, there are some questions surrounding Kelce going into the 2024 NFL season.
Is Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce Starting to Decline?
Last season was the first time in nine years that Kelce did not have over 1,000 yards receiving. He ended the year with 984 receiving yards and five touchdowns, which was his lowest scoring total since 2019.
This is not to say that the future Hall of Fame tight end will not continue to be productive for Kansas City, but he is entering his age 35 season. One has to wonder how much longer he can continue to be Mahomes’ top receiving target.
The fact of the matter is that Kelce likely cannot keep on carrying that heavy of a load. The Chiefs had a good young wide receiver in Rashee Rice last season who helped alleviate some of the pressure, but he is likely going to be suspended for a significant portion of the season following some legal issues this spring.
While Kansas City did select Xavier Worthy in the 2024 NFL Draft, it is hard to imagine he will have the same kind of year that Rice did last season. For this reason, many analysts have suggested that the Chiefs trade for a more established and accomplished wide receiver.
PFF Suggests the Kansas City Chiefs Trade for Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Tee Higgins
One of the notable wide receivers that has been at the center of trade rumors for quite a while now is Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins. He is coming off of a campaign in which he had 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns while playing in only 12 games.
Thomas Valentine of PFF thinks that if the Chiefs were to make one more move this offseason, it would be to go get Higgins from Cincinnati:
“The Chiefs have long been in the hypothetical market for a receiver despite signing Marquise Brown to a one-year deal in free agency. The Bengals might not be too content with the idea of trading Tee Higgins to a Super Bowl-contending rival, especially when those rivals are the reigning Super Bowl champions, but a long-term contract doesn’t appear to be on the horizon for Higgins. Rather than let him walk, the Bengals could look to move him for future draft picks.
“The Chiefs should throw themselves into the sweepstakes. Travis Kelce might not have too many years left in the tank, and Higgins would give Mahomes a legitimate X receiver.”
As Valentine notes, the Bengals may not even want to send Higgins to Cincinnati as the two teams have been postseason rivals for some time now. However, if the Chiefs want to ensure their passing game remains strong as Kelce enters the back nine of his career, perhaps overpaying for Higgins in a trade with the Bengals may not be such a bad idea.
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1 Comment
Nah, were good we don’t need tee Higgins our receiver core is gonna be good enough for us to get that three peat! Let’s go Chiefs Kingdom!