Vahe Gregorian: Why Chiefs' trade for Josh Downs was worth it -- especially in the Mahomes era

Vahe Gregorian, The Kansas City Star on Nov 10, 2026

Published in Football

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Into NFL Week 10 all of a sudden, the Chiefs at 6-2 already have matched their victory total of last season — dismal as that 6-11 campaign was.

Brutal as each loss was in its own way, they have been to the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks and Denver — which may have been in that Super Bowl if not for having to play without injured starting quarterback Bo Nix in its 10-7 AFC championship Game loss to New England.

And considering they’ve played in seven of the last eight AFC title games, advanced to five Super Bowls and won three in that span, the Chiefs’ start largely suggests the 2025 season at least was more a blip than the outright end of an era.

Just the same, though, the ultimate trajectory of this team remains hazy. Or at least left to the eye of the beholder or whatever prism you might view it all through.

Who are they, exactly, and where are they going?

That indistinct sense of their identity is in part because of the nature of those losses — getting clobbered in Seattle and blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead in Denver — and because of the suspect early schedule that’s enabled the record:

Those six wins, after all, were against teams that have a combined record of 21-36. Take out the 31-10 win over the Broncos in the opener, and the other five are 14-34.

That’s quite a contrast to the crucible ahead after they play this week at Atlanta (3-6) and return home against the Cardinals (3-6).

Read it and wince: The following five games are at Buffalo (7-1), at the Los Angeles Rams (5-4) and at Cincinnati (6-2) before home games against the Patriots (5-4) and San Francisco (7-1).

All of this took on a fresh context as of the trade deadline Tuesday afternoon, when the Chiefs traded a fourth- and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft to the Indianapolis Colts for receiver Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick, The Kansas City Star confirmed.

While Downs is a fine player who figures to bolster an injury-riddled and increasingly dubious receiver room, the trade was no blockbuster. Nor was it something that mortgages the future.

But it still begs the question:

Do the Chiefs have enough potential to make this worthwhile? Or might they have been better off protecting more resources going forward?

At least from here, the investment easily was worth it to shore up what looms as a liability.

Midway through his fourth NFL season, Downs has 231 catches for 2,494 yards and 12 touchdowns and a knack for getting open that has been a recurring issue for the Chiefs.

It’s hard to see how he won’t be an improvement on what they have and make the Chiefs better … and perhaps be part of their broader future after he becomes an unrestricted free agent following this season.

But there’s a more profound and abiding reason making the move was a must.

When it comes to the Patrick Mahomes era, the future always is now. That’s the mandate, really, whether it’s spoken out loud or not.

A decade into his career and 31 years old now, less than a year since he suffered a season-ending knee injury, we can understand more than ever that this magical time is fleeting and fickle.

Not one precious season should be squandered.

Especially when a need is so glaring.

And since one element of the equation is going to be true until it’s not.

Nobody wants this: to face Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs, during which they’re 17-4 in his career with wins marked by all sorts of sorcery and impossible escapes he generated.

In the annals of NFL history, only Tom Brady has more postseason wins (35) to his name.

Yes, we can all debate the way it came to this gap in the Chiefs’ game and what they might have done otherwise along the way.

Ditto for other areas, most notably the offensive line.

And the ultimate evaluation of the merit vs. cost of this trade will hinge on how much Downs can change the dynamics of the receiving group … and where it gets the Chiefs. Maybe it won’t have the spackling effect it appears to create.

But right here, right now should be the prime directive while the two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP bestrides the NFL.

Even if it’s hard to know yet just what these Chiefs are about or really have, the only shame would be deferring and wishing they’d done more about something they so conspicuously need.