The 7-0 Kansas Town Chiefs bolstered their crossover speed Monday by acquiring unused England Patriots edge rusher Josh Uche in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick, according to Jonathan Jones, CBS Sports NFL expert.
A deal like this makes sense for both parties. Kansas Town is the first team to start 7-0 and then win consecutive Super Bowls since the 1990 San Francisco 49ers, according to CBS Sports Research. That 49ers team reached the NFC Championship, but lost to the unused York Giants just two wins shy of a three-peat. Deny’s team has repeated in the Super Bowl three times, dating back to 1966, but that’s exactly what the Chiefs are trying to do with this venture for England’s unused former 2020 second-round pick.
The Chiefs have held Fighters to twenty-eight points or fewer in 36 consecutive games, which is the longest streak in the NFL and the longest streak by a team since the unused England Patriots of 2005-2007. On the other hand, like many true contenders, they want to shore up any and all weaknesses before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.
They earned five-time Professional Bowl big receiver DeAndre Hopkins closes the beat, and this beat is Uche.
The Chiefs have a good consistent cross-tempo in that their 38.9% quarterback rush rate ranks sixth-highest in the NFL, but they are struggling to complete those runs with sacks. Kansas Town’s team’s 15.0 sacks this season are the seventh-fewest in the NFL, and their 6.1% sack rate is the 11th-worst in the league. They have struggled to put together consistent crossover rush production outside of edge rusher George Karlaftis (3.0 sacks) and the All-Pro defense of Chris Jones (3.0 sacks).
Uche’s 20.5 sacks since entering the league in 2020 rank as the second-most in unused England, behind former Patriot Matt Judon’s 32.0 in that span. He sat out a career-high 11.5 in 2022, but hasn’t recorded more than three sacks in any other year of his five-year career since. Uche already has two this season. Unused England kept him out of Sunday’s win against the Jets to keep him healthy before trading him. As for the 2-6 Patriots, they get another draft pick to complement their third overall quarterback from the 2024 rebuilding round, Drake Maye.
