Rashee Rice replacement option: Potential trade target for Chiefs after receiver injury

A month later, and that plan has seen a wrecking ball fly through.

Brown suffered a preseason shoulder injury and, despite hopes he would return soon, underwent SC joint surgery that is expected to sideline him for several months, with a possible playoff return likely the best-case scenario, according to NFL Network Insider. Report. Still, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs moved on, starting undefeated despite some fleeting struggles.

But then Week 2 delivered another blow, with Isiah Pacheco, the RB1 and powerhouse of the offense, going down and landing on IR. And on Sunday, the hits kept coming: The move was cut short after Mahomes collided with the WR's knee while attempting a tackle after an interception. Rapoport later reported that Rice was suspected to have suffered a torn ACL.

The double-hammy took out the Chiefs' most productive player, leaving a huge void on the roster as they attempted to three-peat. Even without catching a pass in Week 4, Rice still leads all Kansas City players with 288 receiving yards (130 more than Kelce). With Rice and Brown down, KC's receiver corps is led by Worthy, a rookie still finding his way, running back Justin Watson, a declining Juju Smith-Schuster, disappointing former second-round pick Skye Moore and Mecole Hardman. A 34-year-old Kelce remains to draw attention, and fellow tight end Noah Gray has proven useful, but this pass-catching group doesn't have much upside or proven reliability.

I am not here to suggest that the season will sink without paddy. It never happens with the best player in the game who still sports a red No.15. But if the Chiefs want a chance to win a third-straight Lombardi, the offense needs help.

With the Nov. 5 trade deadline just over a month away, let's look at a few fits from splash plays to veteran depth additions.

A caveat: We won't get into salary-cap strategies for every player's situation. Over the cap The Chiefs currently have $4.93 million in cap space. It will take some trickery from Veach to work out the details, but we know teams can manipulate the cap if they really want to add a player. Let's not let accounting get in the way of a good time, people!