Chiefs Trade 2027 Fourth- and Fifth-Round Picks to Colts for WR Josh Downs and a Seventh
Kansas City sends 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks to 2-7 Indianapolis for the slot receiver, who requested a trade last month, and a 2027 seventh-round pick
The Chiefs are acquiring wide receiver Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Colts for 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks.
Trade! The Chiefs are acquiring WR Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Colts for 2027 fourth-round and fifth-round picks, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports. Kansas City lands a receiver at the buzzer, while Indianapolis keeps loading up for the future.View on X →
Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero): Trade! The Chiefs are acquiring WR Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Colts for 2027 fourth-round and fifth-round picks, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports. Kansas City lands a receiver at the buzzer, while Indianapolis keeps loading up for the future.
The deal adds a proven slot receiver to a 6-2 Kansas City roster that just beat the Jets 35-12 and visits the Falcons on Sunday. Xavier Worthy left that win with a hamstring injury and is day-to-day, thinning a group that already leans on Rashee Rice. Downs, 25, has primarily worked from the slot and has 33 receptions for 354 yards and a touchdown in nine games this season. A 2023 third-round pick out of North Carolina, he has 231 catches for 2,494 yards and 12 touchdowns in 56 career games, including a 2024 high of 72 receptions for 803 yards and five scores. He is in the final year of his rookie contract and is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in March.
Downs requested a trade last month after Indianapolis dealt Quenton Nelson to Seattle and sent DeForest Buckner back to San Francisco. The clubs already met in Week 2, when the Chiefs won 33-30 in overtime and Downs caught seven passes for 72 yards. Adding a 25-year-old slot receiver on an expiring deal gives Patrick Mahomes a rental who can work the middle of the field during a playoff push, plus a chance to extend him before he reaches the market.
The Colts are 2-7 after Sunday's loss to the Cowboys and have been turning veterans into draft capital as they reshape the roster. Hours earlier, Indianapolis traded Keenan Allen to the 49ers for a 2027 sixth-round pick, leaving the receiving room thinner still. The 2027 fourth and fifth are a stronger return than the sixth they got for Allen, and they also move a 2027 seventh in the swap. Across the Nelson, Buckner, Allen and Downs deals, the Colts have now added a 2027 third, two 2027 fourths, a 2027 fifth, a 2027 sixth and a 2028 fifth. They host the Dolphins on Sunday.