The Kansas City Chiefs are unlikely to continue their relationship with pass-rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah beyond this season and a trade in the coming weeks and months could afford the team some value back for the 2023 first-round bust.
Moe Moton of Bleacher Report on Tuesday, July 14 suggested a deal in which the Chiefs flip Anudike-Uzomah to the Chicago Bears in return for a late-round asset in the 2027 NFL draft.
“Last August, Kansas City placed Anudike-Uzomah on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, which sidelined him for the entire 2025 season. He’s made minimal impact with the Chiefs, recording 41 tackles (eight for loss), three sacks and 19 pressures,” Moton wrote. “Yet Anudike-Uzomah showed brief promise during the 2024 campaign, playing 31 percent of the defensive snaps. Perhaps a restart with a new team that needs a pass-rusher would give him more opportunities to showcase his potential.”
Chiefs, Bears Deal for Felix Anudike-Uzomah Would Mirror Move Chicago Made Last Season
GettyKansas City Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
The former Kansas State prospect is just 24 years old and has one season remaining on his $12 million rookie contract.
Kansas City has already declined the fifth-year option on Anudike-Uzomah’s deal and drafted R Mason Thomas in Round 2 back in April. Circumstances indicate the Chiefs will likely move in a different direction at the position come next offseason, so getting an asset of any kind in return for Anudike-Uzomah makes some sense, as now is their last best chance to do so.
Chicago made a similar move at the mid-season trade deadline in 2025, shipping a sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in return for a seventh-rounder and pass-rusher Joe Tyron-Shoyinka.
The former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a low-cost, potentially high-reward player. He battled fewer injury problems over his five-year career than Anudike-Uzomah has during his three years in the league and had a considerably larger sample size of games played because of it.
Thus, Anudike-Uzomah makes more sense as fringe, one-year bet in Chicago given his potentially higher upside than the move the team actually made for Tyron-Shoyinka last season.
Bears May Be Content to Ride into Season With Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo
GettyDefensive end Austin Booker of the Chicago Bears.
What might stand in the way of a such a deal between Chicago and Kansas City before the regular season is the Bears’ apparent willingness to see how Austin Booker develops in Year 3 and how successful a healthy Dayo Odeyingbo can be after a season cut short by an Achilles tear during the middle of 2025.
Kansas City is also relatively thin off the edge, though in better shape than the Bears with the aforementioned Thomas now in the building alongside George Karlaftis. Defensive tackle Chris Jones is also a strong pass-rushing presence up the middle, which alleviates some of the Chiefs’ need for pocket disruption from the outside.
Still, Kansas City might think twice before dealing a former first-round pick in Anudike-Uzomah who carries a salary cap hit under $3.8 million in 2026 given the defense’s obvious need at the position.
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