KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A few weeks ago, several people in the Kansas City Chiefs organization, including owner Clark Hunt, felt the team was preparing to make another midseason trade.
One aspect of the Chiefs' dynastic run has been general manager Brett Veach's acquisitions of veterans through a trade once the calendar turns to November -- bringing in contributors such as defensive end Melvin Ingram and receivers Kadarius Toney and DeAndre Hopkins. Just hours before the Chiefs hosted the Washington Commanders late last month, Hunt acknowledged he was interested to see who Veach would add ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET.
"If he feels like we have a need, he's not shy about going out and addressing it," Hunt said. "I think that'll be true again this year."
Instead, this year's trade deadline for the Chiefs was different.
Surprisingly, the Chiefs stood pat -- a decision that was made just minutes before the deadline. The closest the Chiefs came to making a trade was for New York Jets running back Breece Hall. According to a team source, the negotiations between the teams broke down over the compensation for Hall, who is in the final year of his rookie contract. The Chiefs offered a 2026 fourth-round pick for the 24-year-old, who the source says wanted to join another team after fellow teammates cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were traded Tuesday. The Jets, though, wanted a 2026 third-round pick.
"I think I've said this a million times over and over: Breece was not a guy I wanted to get rid of," Jets first-year coach Aaron Glenn said Wednesday. "I mean, he's a damn good player."
Hall, who has recorded 581 rushing yards on 117 attempts, would have been an improvement for the Chiefs' running attack, which has been the weakest element of the unit. According to the same team source, the Chiefs felt surrendering a 2026 third-round pick -- a future player with four years of team control -- was more valuable than eight games (and a potential postseason run) from Hall, who will be an unrestricted free agent in the spring.
The Chiefs are optimistic that starting running back Isiah Pacheco can return to the lineup for next week's game against the Denver Broncos (Nov. 16). In Sunday's 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Pacheco missed his first game of the season after sustaining a right MCL sprain in the win against the Commanders the previous week. Without Hall, running back Kareem Hunt will remain as the Chiefs' top option on short-yardage plays and on third downs. Coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will also continue the development of rookie running back Brashard Smith.
Although the Chiefs (5-4) are third in the AFC West, they are still the outright Super Bowl favorites, according to ESPN BET.
"I feel good about it because I know the characters that we have in the [locker] room," tight end Travis Kelce said Wednesday during the "New Heights" podcast he co-hosts with his brother Jason Kelce. "We're going to come back recharged and ready to rock and roll. I can't say that I'm not frustrated, more from the entire start of the season than just this Bills game.
"There's games I don't think we had any business losing. I feel like we didn't come out with our best punch against Buffalo. We've got to find a way to clean all of that up, man. We've got to get back to playing passionate Chiefs football, dying for each other out there on the field, man."
Entering Tuesday, the Chiefs had just around $5 million in salary cap space if they did acquire a player before the trade deadline. If the Chiefs don't sign another player this season, they could roll the $5 million into next year's salary cap sheet. In the preseason, Veach said the Chiefs felt that was a good move to make.
Next year's offseason for the Chiefs could once again be about retaining two top players still on their rookie contracts: cornerback Trent McDuffie and receiver Rashee Rice.
A two-time All-Pro, McDuffie, according to sources, is expected to want a contract extension from the Chiefs that will exceed the terms of the contract Gardner signed in July -- a record-setting four-year, $120.4 million extension that included $85.653 million guaranteed.
Rice will also be eligible for a contract extension in the offseason. Since he returned from his six-game suspension, Rice has led the Chiefs with 233 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns over the past three games.
The Chiefs' limited cap space also restricted them from adding another defensive lineman, another weakened area of the roster especially after rookie defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott sustained a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee last month. Last week, the Chiefs signed 11-year veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who was with the team in training camp before he was released as part of the initial 53-man roster cuts.
Entering their bye week, the Chiefs' biggest weakness appears to be their pass rush surrounding Chris Jones. Jones is second in the league among defensive tackles in pass rush win rate, beating his block within 2.5 seconds on 15% of his 125 snaps. But the Chiefs' defensive line has a collective pass rush win rate of 36%, ranking 21st. Bills quarterback Josh Allen completed 88.5% of his passes against the Chiefs, the highest percentage in Bills history (minimum 15 attempts).
Jones knows the easiest way for the Chiefs to generate more pressure on the quarterback is if teammates -- such as George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu and rookie Ashton Gillotte -- improve in the second half of the season.
"I don't think we need to make any drastic changes, and I feel like we have the guys to do it," Jones said after Sunday's loss to the Bills. "There's still room for improvement. If we plan on winning, especially the front four, we've got to affect the quarterback. We've got to. It makes it easier for the [entire] defense.
"We've got to take advantage of one-on-one [matchups]. When we get a single block, you've got to win. That's huge going forward. We've got to emphasize on winning our one-on-ones."