Getty Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.
The NFL offseason is the prime season for hypotheticals, and former NFL general manager and ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum dished out a hypothetical trade involving the Kansas City Chiefs that will leave you scratching your head in disbelief.
During a segment on ESPN’s morning show “Get Up,” Tannenbaum explained why he believes the Chiefs should trade All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Jaylen Waddle.
“I love this one. Two great young players,” Tannenbaum said, via a transcription by AllDolphins. “Trent McDuffie straight up for Jaylen Waddle and here’s why: If you’re Miami, you’re probably going to cut Xavien Howard as a cap casualty. So you get Trent McDuffie, who is a great young player. So that’s for Miami. Obviously, you still have a great receiver in Tyreek Hill. For Kansas City, you need a No. 1 receiver. Jaylen Waddle really has a chance to be a No. 1.”
Why This Trade Makes Little Sense for Chiefs
Kudos to Tannenbaum for trying to think outside the box on this one to fix a big need on Kansas City’s roster. But his hypothetical trade makes very little sense for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.
McDuffie is fresh off of his first-ever All-Pro season, has two years remaining on his rookie deal (plus his fifth-year option), and will become more important to Kansas City’s defense depending on L’Jarius Sneed‘s status with the team next season.
Meanwhile, Waddle, who has played alongside former Chief Tyreek Hill in Miami, is coming off of a season in which he had career-lows in catches (72), receiving yards (1,014), and touchdowns (4). He also only has one year remaining on his rookie deal, plus his fifth-year option.
Taking all of this into consideration, it makes very little sense for Kansas City to trade away a young, proven commodity who will be relied on more moving forward for a player who could be a No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs but will want to be paid regardless in 2025.
There are many effective ways in which the Chiefs can provide a boost to their wide receiver room this offseason, but Tannenbaum’s scenario isn’t one of them.
Twitter/X Reacts to Mike Tannenbaum’s Trade Scenario
Users on X, formerly Twitter, reacted to Tannenbaum’s hypothetical trade.
“Not a chance. Chiefs are a smart organization that knows what wins,” another user wrote. “Lose tyreek and win 2 championships. We all know they need another wide out for mahomes to put up better numbers. But they don’t need one to win when it matters.”
“TV has become ‘I am going to say this just to get a reaction’, and it works,” another user wrote. “Most of the time, I don’t even think the personalities actually believe in what they say anymore.”
“How they keep letting Mike T get sauced up and fire off random trades everyday? lol, gotta keep em talking I guess,” another user wrote.
“I know people say stupid stuff for content and hot takes for tv but when are we gonna hold these people accountable for the stupidity they put out here,” another user wrote.