A few days ago, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posted a piece opening the door to speculation that Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters might be available to teams via trade. Jason La Canfora, who tends to be a coin flip on these things these days, fanned the flames by reporting on Monday that he “hears chatter that Peters may not be long for KC.”
I tend to think Peters isn’t available, that the Chiefs would only listen to potential offers as a courtesy, but the good folks over at SB Nation’s Arrowhead Pride took a look at the rumors from both sides: why a trade doesn’t make sense, and why one might. This is of interest to the San Francisco 49ers because a No. 1 cornerback is the team’s biggest need going into 2018.
It’s worth noting that the Chiefs recently signed cornerback David Amerson to a one-year “prove-it” deal, while the 49ers were reportedly interested in his services. The 49ers were also reportedly visiting with free agent corner Vontae Davis on Tuesday.
First, why the folks at Arrowhead Pride think trading Peters makes no sense: he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league and is just 25 years old. His best years are still ahead of him. He’s a two-time All-Pro and has 19 interceptions, most of anybody since he entered the league by a total of five. He’s an important part of that defense.
But more interesting to me is what they can come up with for trading him.
The first, indisputable argument is that Marcus Peters loses his cool way too often on the football field. Officially, Peters has four career unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, in addition to one taunting call. If you watch the Chiefs every week either at Arrowhead Stadium or on television, we all know it could be much worse than that.
We’ve seen Peters scream obscenities at fans in the stands, referees and opponents alike.
This season, we saw the worst of Peters’ actions as a professional when he threw a referee’s flag into the stands after a defensive holding call he did not agree with. The referees only gave Peters an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but he jogged off the field, only to return (now infamously) without his socks.
A number one cornerback is either the second- or third-most important player on the football field, behind a franchise quarterback and on about the same level as a franchise left tackle. They’re expensive, but valuable, and as they note, the Chiefs don’t have a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Of course, if the Chiefs are concerned enough about those incidents, it’s hard to lobby behind a team like the 49ers trading a first-round pick for Peters, though his play on the field is certainly worth that asking price.
There’s also the fact that Peters takes part in the National Anthem protests, and while I like to think this wouldn’t stop the 49ers from pursuing a player, nobody really knows. Just like nobody knows how that really tracks with the Chiefs behind the scenes.
Either way: I don’t think Peters is getting traded, but it’s always interesting to see how fans of the team see situations like this.