Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on January 16, 2022.
Remember the trade proposal that involved sending Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the Washington Commanders, which was brought to life by Bleacher Report in February? Well, the Commanders took one step towards making that crazy scenario actually happen.
Washington, who has been looking for a franchise quarterback since the departure of Kirk Cousins in 2018, apparently reached out to the Chiefs, along with the 31 other NFL teams, to gauge the interest of a trade for a number of quarterbacks, according to ESPN’s John Keim.
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“All of this is why, according to a source, Washington has reached out to every team to inquire about a quarterback’s availability and the cost,” Keim wrote on March 1. “The team started its search with a list of 42 quarterbacks.”
While Mahomes’ name wasn’t specifically mentioned in Keim’s column, inductive reasoning tells us that Mahomes was the reason the Commanders called the Chiefs.
Veteran quarterback Chad Henne is a pending free agent, and Shane Buechele did nothing as a rookie behind Mahomes and Henne during the 2021 season to prove he would be an upgrade over Washington’s current starting quarterback, Taylor Heinicke. So, it’s safe to say the Commanders wanted to know if Mahomes was available for trade, and at what cost.
Chances are, general manager Brett Veach told Washington that Kansas City’s superstar quarterback wasn’t available for trade. But there’s no way of knowing that for sure unless Veach says so publicly.
Wild Trade Proposal Sends Mahomes to Commanders
We’ve seen recently how trading for a high-profile quarterback in the NFL can pan out positively.
In January 2021, the Los Angeles Rams gave up two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and quarterback Jared Goff to acquire longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Just over a year later, they won the Super Bowl.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski laid out an interesting — yet absurd, as he put it — trade scenario in which Washington could make a similar move to shift the direction of their rebranded franchise. In this scenario, the Commanders would be trading for Mahomes.
“No bigger move can be made than trying to pry the game’s best quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, from the Kansas City Chiefs,” Sobleski wrote in a February 16 column. “Washington clearly has a significant need behind center, but Snyder & Co. would have to move heaven and earth and then some for Kansas City to even consider the possibility.”
Mahomes Cap Impact Minimal for Chiefs in Trade
Sobleski also explained the minimal cap impact that a Mahomes trade would have on the Chiefs.
“In turn, the Chiefs made Mahomes the highest-paid player in NFL history when the quarterback signed a 10-year, $450 million contract extension last offseason,” Sobleski wrote. “Surprisingly, the Chiefs could theoretically move Mahomes by trading him after June 1 and only endure a $6.3 million salary-cap hit this coming season (with the same number over the next two years and $4.3 million in 2025).”
The biggest reason that this trade scenario would never come to fruition, as Sobleski wrote, is the draft capital Washington would require. The Commanders would have to offer much more than the three draft picks given up for Stafford. And, of course, Kansas City would have to be willing to part ways with their franchise quarterback.