With the Kansas City Chiefs sitting at 3-3 heading into Week 7, there’s a quiet expectation that they will be active ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline.

Now you might be asking yourself, what should the Chiefs be looking to acquire? And who could they move? Well, to answer the first question, Kansas City fans would be open to seeing the team make a trade for another running back (Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, or De’Von Achane).

If they can add any of those guys for the second-half push, the Chiefs’ offense becomes that much more dangerous. Kansas City could also look to add more depth to its defensive line, either in the interior or on the edge.

However, to address those needs by the deadline, the Chiefs will have to give up something in return. The easiest thing to give up is draft capital, but the defending AFC champs can also move on from veteran RB Elijah Mitchell, who has been a healthy scratch through the first six games of the season.

Elijah Mitchell Could Be Sent Packing Ahead of the Trade Deadline

In the offseason, the Chiefs made a concerted effort to add more options to their RB room, as they signed free agent Elijah Mitchell to a one-year deal and took rookie Brashard Smith in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL draft.

At the time, when the Chiefs signed Mitchell, fans were wondering what that meant for Kareem Hunt, who had still not worked out a new contract for the 2025 campaign. Mitchell and Hunt are the same running back from a skill set perspective, so it doesn’t make sense to have both of them. However, Kansas City’s front office opted to re-sign Hunt on a one-year contract, giving them more depth in case of injury.

For Mitchell, this was supposed to be a chance for a fresh start with a new team, as his career in the NFL had been marred by injury thus far. However, fast forward months later, and Mitchell has not played in a single game despite signing for $2.5 million, which is not a small chunk of change.

In fact, according to Spotrac.com, Mitchell’s value on his contract was tied for fourth among free agent RBs with Nick Chubb. The only other RBs who received more than Mitchell were Najee Harris, Javonte Williams, and Rico Dowdle.

Williams and Dowdle would be instant upgrades over Mitchell and might’ve made this Chiefs’ running game even better at this point in the season (118.7 yards per game – 14th in the NFL).

Now you may be asking yourself, does Mitchell have any trade value despite not playing? And the answer is, yes. For teams that might be desperate for healthy options at RB, like the Arizona Cardinals or Los Angeles Chargers, for example, Mitchell could be appealing to them.

Granted, we haven’t seen Mitchell play outside of his performance during the preseason, which wasn’t great. But if you’re Kansas City’s coaching staff and you have no plans for Mitchell to play, why not let him go elsewhere for draft capital or, potentially, to fill a need on a defensive line?

The other option the Chiefs could decide to pursue is to release Mitchell. However, that would be admitting defeat following what looks to be a terrible free-agent signing, and now you let him go for nothing. Nonetheless, all eyes will be on Kansas City’s front office and what they do to improve this roster between now and the Nov. 4 trade deadline.