The Kansas City Chiefs have several options if the organization chooses to trade up from the ninth-overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, depending on how high they want to go. It seems highly unlikely the team would attach the 29th overall pick to move up, so let’s assume the biggest asset they would be willing to part with is their second-round pick, 40th overall.
Pairing the No. 9 with the No. 40 is worth approximately 1,850 points, according to the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart. That should
be enough to swap with the Tennessee Titans for the fourth overall selection, assuming Tennessee is willing to trade down.
If that’s too rich for the Chiefs’ blood, the team could attach its third-round selection, no. 74 overall, with the ninth-overall pick to swap selections with the Cleveland Browns (6th) or Washington Commanders (7th). In this scenario, let’s see what it would look like to move up in a trade with Cleveland.
The main benefit to such a trade-up would be adding a premium player at a premium position, the likes of which the Chiefs have not had access to in quite some time. Maybe that’s an edge rusher in David Bailey from Texas or Rueben Bain Jr. from Miami. Maybe it’s a wide receiver like Carnell Tate from Ohio State or even a less-preferred move-up target in the draft’s top offensive tackle, Francis Mauigoa from Miami.
Moving all the way up to deal with the Titans would be highly aggressive, but doing so with the Browns could be more easily justified.
Trading up from #29 overall:
If Kansas City decides to sit and pick at No. 9 overall, general manager Brett Veach could still make a move up the board with the late first-round selection. In fact, this might be the more likely pick to be moved.
Moving up the board in the top 10 can be costly. Doing so in the middle of the first round is far more manageable. Heck, it’s the exact kind of trade the Chiefs made to move up for cornerback Trent McDuffie the last time the organization had multiple first-round selections.
The bigger question is who the Chiefs would want to move up for in such a scenario. McDuffie was a surprise at the time because he didn’t meet the physical traits the Chiefs traditionally looked for in a cornerback, but the talent was undeniable.
Who would fit the billing this time around? Could it be an edge rusher like Keldric Faulk from Auburn, in the event the team takes a wide receiver in the top 10? Maybe the Chiefs could move up for another cornerback, this time in the form of Jermod McCoy from Tennessee, a blue-chip talent who missed the entire 2025 season due to a torn ACL.
What would such a trade require? Let’s take a look.
Kansas City could also make a smaller jump into the mid-20s by pairing pick No. 29 with pick No. 109.
My personal preference, though, is a combination trade in which the Chiefs would both trade and acquire multiple draft picks. This would allow the Chiefs to maintain the current number of selections while moving up in the first round, then down later in the draft. Here’s an example of what this kind of trade could look like.
The Philadelphia Eagles feel like a prime trade-down candidate this year. General manager Howie Roseman is always looking for ways to squeeze more efficiency out of the draft, and this would be one way to do so. The Eagles might view the 29th and 23rd picks as a wash, given their needs, and moving up nearly 25 spots from the 98th overall pick might be too much to turn down.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs could move up for the targeted player.
How should the Chiefs play the board?
It’s a lot, I know — but this is the kind of pre-draft preparation the Chiefs need to do to determine the best ways to move around the board.
The draft is not a static endeavor. Teams are constantly attempting to bargain draft positioning. Kansas City is no exception, with plenty of ammunition to find a trade partner.
I came into draft season assuming a trade up from No. 9 would be bad business. Everything suggested this would be a draft without true blue-chip players, so why move up?
My tune has changed based on recent mock drafts. The Chiefs are in desperate need of an upgrade at defensive end and wide receiver. If the front office believes it can get a game-changing presence at either position by forfeiting a later-round selection, so be it. Giving up a second-round pick to do so would be a little rich for my blood, but utilizing no. 74 to do so seems like good business.
The Chiefs could then move down from pick No. 29 or No. 40 to recoup some of that lost draft capital from the early trade-up. A team I would be targeting for a trade down from the Chiefs’ late first-round pick is the Chicago Bears, who currently own the 57th and 60th selections in the second round.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are also an interesting trade-down candidate in the second round. Jacksonville lacks a first-round selection, but the team does have three third-round picks and no. 56th overall. Pairing pick No. 56 with pick No. 88 would be roughly equal value to the Chiefs’ 40th overall selection.
You get the point. The Chiefs are in a unique position to maneuver up and down the board as Veach sees fit to acquire the players he and his staff are targeting. This is a vital draft to the future of the organization.
No pressure or anything.
