The Kansas City Chiefs need a wide receiver, even more so after a new hamstring injury has put Xavier Worthy’s immediate availability in question, and there is one player they want more than any other ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network reported on the Monday, November 9 edition of “The Aftermath” that at the very top of the Chiefs’ wishlist is Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Brian Thomas Jr.
“The Kansas City Chiefs, they have been interested in Brian Thomas Jr. for some time, even going back to last year,” Rapoport explained. “It feels like a matter of when, not if. We just don’t know if that’s something that’s going to happen this season or maybe in the offseason.”
Jaguars Incentived to Deny Chiefs Brian Thomas Jr. at Trade Deadline
Obviously for the Chiefs, a deal done by the deadline would be far more valuable than one in the spring, as Patrick Mahomes has been absent a true deep threat since Tyquan Thornton dislocated his ankle in Week 4.
Worthy ran a 4.21-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2024, but his straight-line speed has not translated into a player who can force opposing defenses to truly respect over-the-top explosive passes that change the nature of a game in a single play. And now Worthy’s injury mitigates him even further in that regard.
But for the Jaguars, it might make sense to hold onto Thomas, or to trade him elsewhere if they want to move him for an asset before the deadline. Kansas City sits among a group of teams that includes the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and perhaps the Denver Broncos as the greatest threats to Jacksonville’s Super Bowl chances coming out of the AFC.
“One of the issues for the Jaguars is how much do they want to help a team that could potentially be someone they would see down the road?” Rapoport continued. “But Brian Thomas Jr. seems to be the player that is garnering the most interest on the receiver market.”
Thomas tallied 10 TDs and nearly 1,300 receiving yards as a first-round rookie in 2024 before tailing off in 2025 and all but falling out of the rotation this season, with just seven total targets and one catch for 12 yards over the past four games combined.
Chiefs Will Have to Pay Premium for Brian Thomas Jr.
The Jaguars are unquestionably loading up for a Super Bowl run given the moves they made on Monday.
Jacksonville sent the Philadelphia Eagles a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-rounder in return for defensive tackle Jordan Davis after flipping a 2027 second-rounder and a 2028 fifth-rounder to the Atlanta Falcons for safety Jesse Bates. The Jaguars also traded the New Orleans Saints a future sixth-rounder for DT Davon Godchaux.
There is nothing ambiguous about how Jacksonville is operating after a 6-2 start — they are going all-in on trying to win a championship. That means that whatever future draft capital the Jaguars can get for Thomas is entirely irrelevant to their immediate 2026 goals, thus the team’s incentive to make a deal happen now is minimal.
The opposite end of that argument is the kind of price Jacksonville might be able to extract for Thomas given its current leverage and how sought after he is across the league.
Thus, if the Chiefs hope to land the pass-catcher who Rapoport says they want more than any other, it is probably going to cost them a second-round pick and another quality draft asset just to get a seat at the negotiating table.
Chiefs Keyed in on Trade for 1,300-Yard WR to Pair With Patrick Mahomes