Desperate Chiefs Finally Get WR Help, Trading For Colts' Josh Downs

Chiefs land Josh Downs from Colts

The Chiefs were 6-2 and still desperate for help. The Colts were selling everything that wasn't nailed down. The Josh Downs trade was inevitable.

Chiefs strike late to fix receiver room, acquire Josh Downs from Colts...

Kansas City has finally made its move. Desperate for reliable help on the outside, the Chiefs have landed wide receiver Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts in a trade completed just ahead of Tuesday's deadline.

The deal sends Downs along with a seventh-round pick to Kansas City, giving Patrick Mahomes a polished route-runner who can create instant separation and move the chains on third down.

In exchange, Indianapolis receives a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick, a solid return for a receiver the Colts were willing to move as they look toward the future.

Downs, 25, has been steady if not spectacular this season, hauling in 33 catches for 354 yards and one touchdown across nine games. The former third-round pick from the 2023 draft had spent his entire four-year career in Indianapolis before the move.

He now arrives in Kansas City at the perfect time. The 6-2 Chiefs have been crying out for dependable wide receiver help, and Downs gives them exactly that as they push for another run to the Super Bowl.

The struggles in Kansas City's receiver room tell the whole story. Not a single Chiefs wide receiver has topped 300 yards or two touchdowns this season, and the combined total of their top two wideouts Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy with 570 yards is barely 88 yards more than what Travis Kelce has managed on his own with 482.

Despite that, the Chiefs still sit 10th in the NFL in passing offense at 246.4 yards per game. Now Downs arrives with the chance to take some of the load off Mahomes and Kelce, and finally give this offense another dimension.

Chiefs acquiring WR Josh Downs and a 7th-round pick from the Colts for a 4th and 5th-round pick. (via @adamschefter, @rapsheet) https://t.co/IOwoTJqvLW

— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2026

For Indianapolis, the Downs deal is the latest in a full-blown fire sale. It marks their fourth trade ahead of the deadline, following the moves that sent Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks, and DeForest Buckner and Keenan Allen to the San Francisco 49ers.

In total, the Colts have now banked a third-round pick, two fourth-round picks and a sixth-round pick for 2027, plus a fifth-round pick in 2028, as they tear it down and stockpile for the future.