The Kansas City Chiefs earned a hard-fought 26-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, as the team now sits at 5-0 and is the heavy favorite to win the AFC West for the ninth consecutive year.
Although Kansas City is one of the best teams in the league, the wide receiver room is extremely fragile for Andy Reid’s team due to season-ending injuries to Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown.
Rookie Xavier Worthy flashed and veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster had a 130-yard performance Monday, but the Chiefs lack a true WR1 in quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
With Kansas City’s wide receiver unit in need of another dynamic playmaker, Draft Network’s Justin Melo wants to see the team make a trade for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper.
The Chiefs recently lost No. 1 receiver Rashee Rice for an extended period of time, perhaps for the entire campaign. Offseason rookie Marquise “Hollywood” Brown also suffered a regular season-ending injury earlier this year. Those two setbacks propelled rookie Xavier Worthy into a bigger role, which he potentially isn’t ready for.
Travis Kelce is currently the only reliable pass-catching weapon in Kansas City, and he’s even starting to show signs of decline. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach currently only has $4.1 million in effective cap space, according to Spotrac, but Cooper’s aforementioned cap charge is feasible. Realistic financial gymnastics would allow the Chiefs to fit Cooper into their 2024 budget as they aim to become Super Bowl champions.
Although Cooper is off to a slow start by his standards, that shouldn’t stop general manager Brett Veach from aggressively pursuing the veteran pass catcher.
Cooper’s struggles aren’t his fault, as Deshaun Watson is a bottom-five quarterback, making the Browns offense extremely inept. The 30-year-old is in desperate need of a fresh start in the latter years of his career.
Cooper has been one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL since entering the league in 2015, posting seven 1,000-yard seasons during his underrated career. The former Raider totaled a career-high 1,250 yards in 2023 with inconsistent quarterback play.
If paired with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, Cooper could return to his 2023 form and make the Chiefs the heavy favorites to complete the first three-peat in league history.
