KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With the NFL's trade deadline next week, I'm getting a lot of questions asking whether the Kansas City Chiefs should trade their backup quarterback, Chase Daniel or acquire either of two veteran receivers, Tampa Bay's Vincent Jackson and Buffalo's Mike Williams. My answers:
Chiefs should not trade Daniel: Despite their 3-3 record, the Chiefs have a pretty good thing going. They've played one of the NFL's toughest schedules so far but have one of the easiest remaining slates. They've got a significant chance to make the playoffs and, if they get there, win a postseason game for the first time in 21 years.
They shouldn't weaken their roster without getting a significant return. Trading Daniel would weaken the roster. The Chiefs know Daniel can come in and win a game, or more than one, for them. He played well in his one start last season, well enough that he deserved to be the winning quarterback. He's far more advanced at this point than their other quarterback, Aaron Murray, a developmental prospect. By trading Daniel, the Chiefs would be betting their season that Alex Smith will stay healthy for the duration. Sending Daniel away would make sense only if the return was overwhelming.
Chiefs should not trade for Jackson or Williams: Jackson would look good in a Chiefs uniform. He's just not practical. He'll be 32 in January. Buyers should be aware of receivers at that age. He also makes a salary of $10 million this year and about $10 million in each of the next two seasons. So the Chiefs would have a large chunk of their salary cap tied up in two over-30 wide receivers, Jackson and Dwayne Bowe. That's a one-way ticket to salary-cap purgatory. Prying him out of Tampa Bay would require a decent draft pick, so this would be an expensive purchase in more ways than one.
Williams carries red flags. Tampa Bay gave up on him and now the Bills have benched him, so he may not be any better than the receivers they have now. His contract is also problematic. His base salaries of $1.6 million this year and $5.2 million in 2015 are fully guaranteed.