Josh Downs is set to play his first game for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, just days after the Indianapolis Colts sent him to Kansas City in a trade. The move became official on Tuesday and gives the Chiefs a new receiver at a point in the season when they needed one.
The deal sent Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Chiefs for 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks, a swap that showed Kansas City was willing to pay for immediate help. Downs, 25, responded with a GIF of Vince Carter from his retirement ceremony and wrote on X that he was grateful for his time in Indy and had nothing but love For the Shoe.
That reaction fit the path he had already taken. The Colts drafted Downs in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of North Carolina, and he spent his entire NFL career there before the trade. He also asked to be moved after the Colts dealt Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner in October, a stretch that made him the fourth player Indianapolis traded before Tuesday’s deadline.
For Kansas City, the timing matters because the receiving room has not been a smooth operation. Rashee Rice leads the Chiefs wide receivers with 292 receiving yards this season, and Downs arrives with production and versatility after catching 33 passes for 354 yards in nine games this year. In 54 career games with the Colts, he had 224 receptions for 2,447 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he has averaged 9.8 yards per punt return, which is why the Chiefs also waived Nikko Remigio after the acquisition.
That return ability may be the fastest way for Downs to get on the field beyond receiver snaps, especially since a new player joining midseason usually has to earn his touches in a short week. But the first answer is simple: Downs will be active Sunday, and Kansas City will use the rest of the week to decide how much of his game it can plug in right away.
