The Kansas City Chiefs have added another player ahead of the 53-man roster cutdown on August 27, trading for Arizona Cardinals edge rusher Cameron Thomas.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport announced the deal on Monday night (August 26), revealing that the Chiefs will give up a seventh-round pick for Thomas in this transaction.
He also noted that this will provide KC with “some added edge help” ahead of the deadline.
The Chiefs’ depth is particularly weak at defensive end right now, at least until Charles Omenihu returns from injury. So, Thomas is a welcomed addition.
The former San Diego State product only has 3.0 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss and 7 QB hits in 32 NFL appearances. However, Thomas broke out with 20.5 tackles for a loss and 11.5 sacks his senior year of college, as well as another 18.5 TFLs and 9.5 sacks split pretty evenly between his sophomore and junior campaigns — so there could be some serious untapped potential here.
As he has in the past, it appears general manager Brett Veach will bet on talent — and his coaching staff — once again. After all, few teams develop prospects like the Chiefs.
Chiefs Trade for Cardinals’ Cameron Thomas Is Bad News for Truman Jones & DL Bubble Candidates
With Kansas City trading a draft pick for the 24-year-old Thomas, you can lock him into a 53-man roster spot alongside George Karlaftis, Mike Danna and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. But this is bad news for the rest of the Chiefs’ DE crew trying to make the cut.
The main bubble candidate impacted here is probably second-year undrafted prospect Truman Jones. Certain beat reporters had Jones sneaking on the active roster ahead of Week 1, while others kept him as a practice squad candidate for the second straight season — wisely anticipating an addition at this position.
The trade for Thomas likely snuffs out his chances though.
Of course, there’s still the possibility that the Chiefs keep Jones over staff favorite Malik Herring, but the latter has more regular season experience inside this system. It would make sense if defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo trusted him more than Jones as his last man for the first half of the season. Especially with a newcomer in Thomas joining the rotation.
Along with Jones, this deal could also theoretically hurt the roster chances of a depth defensive tackle like Matt Dickerson, Neil Farrell Jr. or UDFA rookie Fabien Lovett Sr.
To explain, certain beat reporters — like Chiefs Digest media member Matt Derrick — predicted that the Chiefs would hang onto an extra defensive tackle considering the lack of depth at D-end. With a versatile player like Dickerson or Farrell being the most likely choice rather than Jones.
Having said that, Thomas’ inclusion might delete that luxury as well.
Cameron Thomas Has Shown Potential as a Pass Rusher & Tackler
It’ll be interesting to see what the Chiefs coaching staff can get out of Thomas. Per Pro Football Focus, he’s been a strong tackler and adequate rotational pass rusher throughout his young career.
Thomas has been credited with 26 solo tackles, 12 assists and 20 key defensive “stops” compared to just two missed tackles since 2022. Those statistics yielded above average tackling grades of 80.1 (rookie year) and 67.4 (year two).
As a pass rusher, Thomas has produced 35 QB pressures according to PFF. That comes out to a little over 1.09 pressures per game — which can certainly be improved upon but isn’t horrible considering his rotational role.
The youngster has also shown discipline, playing a relatively clean game with just one penalty flag each season. On special teams, he’s mostly appeared on the field goal block unit as a rusher, but Thomas has logged snaps with four other ST units too. Punt return, kick return and kick return coverage, and punt return coverage — in that order.
His special teams grades have been below average overall, at 61.0 as a rookie and 53.5 in year two.
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