NFL trade grades: Chiefs upgrade Patrick Mahomes’ safety net in deal with old rival

The Kansas City Chiefs might be 7-0 on the season, but they haven't exactly played the brand of football NFL fans have been used to ever since Patrick Mahomes took over. Mahomes, shockingly, has more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (eight), and he has thrown at least one interception in every game he's played in thus far.

The defense is the main reason why they're undefeated. Kansas City's defense ranks fifth in yards against per game (295.0) and fifth in points against per game (17.6). It's been good enough to not only keep them in games, but put them over the top in every single one. Now, with a trade on Monday, that unit has just gotten better.

According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Chiefs have acquired former New England Patriots linebacker Josh Uche. Not too long ago, the Chiefs and Patriots faced off in the AFC Championship Game. Now, with the Patriots in an obvious rebuild and the Chiefs gearing up for what they hope will result in a third straight Super Bowl win, the Patriots traded Uche to their former AFC rival.

New England's return for Uche is a sixth-round pick, according to Rapoport.

Chiefs bolster defense even further, upgrade Patrick Mahomes' safety net with Josh Uche trade

When Uche was kept out of Sunday's Patriots game against the New York Jets despite being injury-free, it felt inevitable that New England was going to trade him sooner rather than later. Sure enough, Uche was traded just 24 hours later to Kansas City for a late pick.

This is a disappointing ending to what wound up being an up-and-down tenure for Uche in New England. The 26-year-old was selected in the second round by New England in the 2020 NFL Draft and after a couple of years of developing, really burst onto the scene in 2022. He recorded 11.5 sacks in 15 games that season after racking up a total of four sacks in his first two years. He did this despite playing in only 38 percent of the team's defensive snaps.

Unfortunately, Uche has never come close to replicating that one breakout year. He has accumulated a total of five sacks since the 2022 campaign, two of which have come this season. Uche has a total of two sacks, three QB hits, and 13 tackles in seven games played for New England.

What kind of role Uche will play in Kansas City remains to be seen, but the move to Steve Spagnuolo's defense should only help him. It wouldn't be shocking at all to see Uche look more like the 11.5-sack player he was just a couple of years ago, and to get a player with that kind of upside for just a sixth-round pick is great value. Inconsistency should be expected, but again, the Chiefs gave up very little for what could be an extremely impactful defensive player with a high ceiling.

Offense is the area that needs most of the improvement on this team, but trading a sixth-round pick to improve the team's biggest strength can't be looked at in a negative way at all.

It's a great deal for the Chiefs, and it's fair to question whether New England made the right decision to move on if that was the return. Sure, Uche is an expiring contract, but if all they can get for a player who had double-digit sacks just two years ago was a sixth-round pick, the Patriots might've been better off keeping him around and trying to improve his game rather than trade him for a marginal at best return.

Chiefs trade grade: A-
Patriots trade grade: C