Love ya McDuffie but there’s no way we should even think of paying a slot CB who struggles against bigger outside WR1’s $30 million.

Keep drafting CBs... if there is a guy you like the first, go get him.

Veach needs to have that conversation with McDuffie and his agent now.

If McDuffie wants anything north of $25 million you trade him. You cannot pay McDuffie $30 million. You just can’t.

This. All of this. Love Trent's game. Inside he is elite. Can be moved outside in a pinch but if you want $25-30M you can't be getting torched by Mack Hollins in a 1 v 1 match up. AJ, heck, even Court I get it but when I watched him get beat by Hollins I knew he wasn't a CB1.

I get it, I do, but what’s scary to me is I don’t think you can get a first rounder for him.

You might be lucky to get a top-40 selection. Most realistic case, you get a 3 + 4.

Is that worth it?

It’s not like you’re getting a Tyreek haul.

Sneed showed us that teams won’t trade much for a CB they then have to pay top dollar. Ramsey was the only one who fetched a lot, and he was a prototype outside CB.

What about when he was beating up Ja'marr Chase and stealing his lunch money?

The league isn't designed for any CB to be able to shut down any WR at any time. They are all going to have certain matchups that give them trouble.

If you're a player that makes $30 million and you shut down a player that makes $40 million, you've earned your keep.

We need to keep McDuffie. He's the lynchpin of that entire secondary.

That's why I was cringing this weekend when I saw a few different Mocks that had the Chiefs trading away the 63rd to move up for DT Grant and one of the OTs. Draft capital is more important than ever for the rare instances when a trade-up is the right move, but you have to go into each draft with a few aces in your hand.

Exactly.

People have to stop viewing slot CB with negative connotation.

Not having Trent in the slot last year got us torched game after game by players in that position.

If you can’t get at least a 1 or at least a proven starter at LT DE or WR, it’s not worth trading him.

He’s everything you want in a player on and off the field. That “star” role he plays in the secondary is the most valuable piece of a Steve Spagnuolo secondary.

Even Baltimore’s best WR is a slot guy.

Buffalo loves Shakir.

Trent means a lot to our defense when he can be moved around.

Pay Trent, go cheap at outside CB, double-bird Houston for a few more years.

I can help my outside CBs a lot more with safeties when I have McDuffie defending pass and run from the slot.

Contrary to common belief, the Chiefs have struggled mightily to find capable slots. They have been successful developing outside CBs cheap.

The idea of minimizing the value of a 'slot' CB is antiquated as hell, ESPECIALLY in a system like ours.

We'll have an easier time replacing any boundary CB we have than we would what McDuffie brings from the slot.

His ability to stop/start and change directions is without peer. It isn't something I've seen from any other CB in the league and it just leaps off the screen any time you watch him going all the way back to his college days.

It's a truly elite trait and it plays WAY up in the slot. And by having that person there, we take pressure off our LBs, safeties and boundary CBs. We also have far more versatility in what coverages we can use.

Having a guy who gives you B/B+ performance on the boundary with a very specific weakness and also gives you A+ performance at the most important position in the secondary anytime you're in a nickel set (i.e. about 2/3 of our snaps) is MASSIVELY valuable for us.

If you won't pay McDuffie, there's just nobody on the defense worth paying. He's definitely more important than Karlaftis and Bolton.

I'd give him 3/$90 on the back of the current team control with relative ease; hell, I'd take another year on there for 4/$120 million and essentially lock him up for 6 seasons. That gives you you essentially 5/$135 when his fifth year is picked up. Okay -- done. We'll have him through his age 30 season at that point and in all probability he'll have been passed by at least a handful of CBs in terms of AAV before we even hit the extension years.

Or you can wait and see what happens. I mean it hasn't worked out for any team that's gone that route, but maybe we'll be the ones to buck the trend.

(Eds Note: We won't be)

McDuffie got beat by bigger WR1’s. Sutton, Hollins, Brown. If you have to bring in Kristian Fulton to help your star corner play inside as his first option, he’s not worth $30 million.

This feels a lot like the Tyreek situation. We were prepared to give him $25 million and Adams came in and threw a bomb in the market skyrocketing it to $30 million.

If McDuffie is cool with taking what Jaycee Horn got then fine. But if he wants closer to $30 million you trade him. A $30 million CB1 is a true consistent shutdown outside corner. That’s what Surtain and Stingley are. It’s not what McDuffie is.

You’re looking at it all wrong man.

They aren’t moving Trent to protect him.

They’re moving Trent to save the pass defense.

Sneed never once made a pro bowl or all-pro. He was an older player (27) who had known knee issues and wanted elite money. He also was a penalty machine. That’s why he had no market.

McDuffie is only 24, has 2 years cheap left on his rookie contract and was an all-pro.

The trade market for McDuffie would be robust. You’d get value for him.

I’ll add a few thoughts:

- Markets don’t always reset with a top contract. No one followed Cleveland’s lead with fully guaranteed QB money.

- The salary cap growth makes the numbers feel different. Salary was $143m in 2015, $198m in 2020 and $279m in 2025. $30 million now is the same % of the cap as $20 million 5 years ago and $24 million 2 years ago.

- Mahomes and Jones are 1 of 1-type players. McDuffie is elite but there are others like him. You have to consider trades if you can get good value out of him but you also have to consider paying him big money. He improves our defense significantly when he’s out there.