The Kansas City Chiefs traded offensive tackle Wanya Morris to the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday. Kansas City gets a 2027 sixth-round pick. Atlanta also sends a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Chiefs. A small-money trade with big-money implications for Atlanta.
Morris, 25, started 16 games over three seasons in Kansas City. Eleven of those came at left tackle in 2024. He fell out of the Chiefs’ rotation last year and made it clear earlier this week that he wanted out. The Chiefs accommodated him quickly.
Why the Falcons Needed This
Atlanta has a tackle problem. Longtime starter Kaleb McGary retired this offseason out of nowhere. Swing tackle Storm Norton landed on the reserve PUP list for 2026. The Falcons were thin and getting thinner, and they had no obvious veteran option waiting in free agency at this point in the calendar.
Morris gives them an instant body. He’s young, he has starting experience, and he played left tackle in 2024 for one of the best offensive lines in football. He’s not Trent Williams. But he’s a real NFL player at a position the Falcons couldn’t afford to leave empty.
What the Chiefs Get Out of This
Kansas City gets a one-pick upgrade and a roster spot. That’s it. Morris had no path to a starting job and he was making it clear he wanted to play. The Chiefs aren’t going to keep an unhappy reserve at a position where they already have depth.
Brett Veach and Andy Reid have been incredibly patient managing the offensive line through the post-Joe Thuney era. Trading Morris fits the pattern. They got a small return, opened up a roster spot for younger players, and avoided a chemistry issue. Smart and quick.
The Bigger Atlanta Picture
Falcons GM Terry Fontenot has been making moves all offseason to stabilize the roster around Michael Penix Jr. The kid is entering Year 2 as the starter and the franchise has to protect that investment. Morris helps. He’s not the long-term answer at tackle. He is the bridge to one.
Atlanta’s offensive line has to be a strength for Penix to take the leap. The Falcons have good skill-position weapons in Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson. The offensive line is the variable. Morris stabilizes one spot. The next move is finding a veteran on the other side.
Trade Grade
This is a win-win deal. The Chiefs got the return they could get for an unhappy backup. The Falcons got a starting-caliber tackle for next to nothing. Both sides walk away satisfied. Those trades happen less often than you’d think in the NFL, especially on the offensive line.
If Morris ends up starting Week 1 in Atlanta, this trade looks like one of the best small moves of the entire offseason. If he ends up as a swing tackle behind a veteran, it’s still a quality depth pickup that didn’t cost real draft capital.
The Verdict
The Falcons fixed a real problem. The Chiefs cleared a roster spot. Wanya Morris gets the opportunity he wanted. Everybody wins, including the late-round picks getting shuffled. The Falcons should be looking at the Penix offense next year with more confidence than they had last week. That’s exactly what this kind of trade is supposed to do.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
