Photo by Dave Kaup/Getty Images The Kansas City Chiefs are saying goodbye to an Arrowhead Stadium fan-favorite in 2021.
With the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, November 2, transactions between teams will likely start stirring up over the next 24 hours.
For the Kansas City Chiefs — who have a bunch of talent but sit at 3-4 on the season with just an estimated $2.15 million in available cap space, per Spotrac — it would make sense for them to free up some money in an effort to try and bring another asset in the building via trade. That’s why one proposed trade, in particular, which sends one of the Chiefs’ offensive players to the Dallas Cowboys should — and hopefully will — happen.
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Trade: Blythe to Cowboys for 7th Rounder
Ben Solak of The Ringer suggested seven trades he would like to see happen before the trade deadline in an October 27 article and named Kansas City and Dallas in a trade that would send backup center Austin Blythe to the Cowboys and a 2022 seventh-round pick to the Chiefs.
“We often see veterans traded away after they’ve been supplanted by surprisingly successful rookies. Such is the argument for Austin Blythe, whom the Chiefs signed for the veteran minimum of $990,000 guaranteed, with another $760,000 tied up in performance incentives that Blythe is unlikely to meet,” Solak wrote. “Blythe has yet to see a snap this season, as the Chiefs selected Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft, and he immediately established himself as an impressive starter through camp and into the regular season.”
Solak also noted Blythe’s fit with the Cowboys, who sit at 6-1 after a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 8.
“Blythe would come cheap and at the very least should provide some nice depth—but ideally, he replaces Biadasz at the pivot,” he explained. “Blythe is lighter than most Cowboys linemen, but they have been heavily working outside zone this season, which is Blythe’s best system. Cowboys offensive line coach Joe Philbin should know how to work with Blythe to get him in a position to succeed—he was the offensive line coach in Indianapolis in 2016, when Blythe was drafted by the Colts in the seventh round.”
Proposed Trade a Win for Chiefs
Though it may not seem like it at the surface, the trade Solak proposed would be a win for the defending AFC champions. Seeing that rookie center Creed Humphrey is a stud, which has led to Blythe receiving no playing time this season, getting anything in return for Blythe — but more importantly, freeing up money by shipping off a player that isn’t making an impact for Kansas City — is a win.
So, shipping off Blythe in exchange for a draft pick, albeit a seventh rounder, and putting the team in position to have about $3 million in available cap space to potentially spend is a deal that is one of the more likely ones to take place for the Chiefs prior to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. Because of that, let’s cross our fingers and hope that general manger Brett Veach is active in the trade market, whether it be before or after Kansas City’s Week 8 game against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.