The Kansas City Chiefs are set to trade All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams as the headliner of a blockbuster deal, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. The teams agreed to a trade that sends four draft picks to Kansas City. The Chiefs will receive the No. 29 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, along with a fifth-round pick, a sixth-round pick and a 2027 third-rounder.

McDuffie was set to enter the final season of his contract after the Chiefs picked up his fifth-year option. Instead of committing to a long-term extension, general manager Brett Veach is sending him to the Rams, who are expected to sign him to a new deal. McDuffie would have earned $13.6 million with the Chiefs in 2026. 

When McDuffie signs his contract extension with the Rams, he’s expected to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, per NFL Media. The Colts‘ Sauce Gardner currently holds that title at $30.1 million per year.

McDuffie, the No. 21 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, excelled over his first four years in the NFL and was a key contributor to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl teams as a rookie and second-year standout. He made 55 starts in Kansas City and defended at least seven passes in each season. He also forced five fumbles in 2023 and recorded three interceptions over the last two years.

This is the ninth time in the last 10 years the Rams have traded their own first-round pick. The only time they used their pick over the past decade was in 2024 when they selected Jared Verse. The Chiefs now have picks No. 9 and No. 29 in the first round of April’s draft.

The trade cannot become official until the new league year starts at 4 p.m. ET on March 11.

Why McDuffie trade makes sense for Rams

With the trade, the Rams pick up a plug-and-play star in their secondary who could help in their pursuit of at least one more Super Bowl during the Matthew Stafford era. This year could be the final season of the reigning NFL MVP’s career, so the Rams are expected to go all-in to maximize their chances for a deep postseason run. SoFi Stadium will host Super Bowl 61 in what would be a de facto home game for the Rams if they reach it.

The secondary is the position group Los Angeles figures to prioritize most this offseason. The McDuffie acquisition is the first step toward reconstructing a pass defense that ranked No. 22 in yards allowed last year, and it fills one cornerback spot with the other starting job still in flux. Depth also remains a concern, as the Rams have four pending free agent cornerbacks on their roster.

Why McDuffie trade makes sense for Chiefs

The Chiefs are once again moving on from a standout in favor of draft capital. Four years ago, they made a similar move by sending Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for five picks. Two years ago, it was L’Jarius Sneed who got shipped out of town on an expiring deal.

This is the latest salary-shedding move for the Chiefs in an offseason that requires significant work to get under the cap. Kansas City entered 2026 more than $57 million over the cap and, before the trade, still needed to clear more than $14 million in effective cap space, per Over The Cap. The team has been performing financial gymnastics over the past month and notably restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract for the fourth consecutive season.

Trent McDuffie trade grades: Chiefs and Rams both earn high marks for massive blockbuster deal

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John Breech

How McDuffie trade impacts free agency plans for Chiefs, Rams

The Rams now have one less spot to fill in free agency. Cornerback will remain an area of emphasis, though, especially if any of their potential departures at the position come to fruition. Cobie Durant, Roger McCreary, Ahkello Witherspoon and Derion Kendrick will all become unrestricted free agents next week.

Kansas City could also enter next season with two new starting cornerbacks, as Jaylen Watson is scheduled to hit free agency. With McDuffie off the depth chart, this is suddenly one of the Chiefs’ most pressing positions of need. Financial inflexibility could limit their ability to replace those departures with top talent, though.

How McDuffie trade impacts draft plans for Chiefs, Rams

By NFL Draft analyst Josh Edwards

Cornerback had been a primary need for the Rams, but with another first-round pick at their disposal, courtesy of the Falcons, they can still address offensive tackle, wide receiver or another position of need.

For the Chiefs, they were already in unfamiliar territory with a pick inside the top 10, but now have a second pick on Thursday night to address areas of need. Kansas City historically addresses the cornerback position on Days 2 and 3, but does have options at No. 29 should it go that route: Tennessee’s Colton Hood, Clemson’s Aveion Terrell, South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse and others. Running back, offensive tackle and the defensive line are other potential positions of focus for Kansas City.

Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium is undergoing a significant transformation, with giant cranes and construction vehicles dominating the landscape as hundreds of workers race against time to prepare the venue for its grand reopening ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

The historic stadium is set to make history itself, becoming the first ground to host three World Cup opening matches when Mexico takes on South Africa on 11 June.

However, its doors are scheduled to reopen much sooner, on 28 March, for a friendly fixture between Mexico and Portugal.

Located south of the capital, the stadium will host five World Cup games, adding to its legacy from the 1970 and 1986 tournaments.

Opened in 1966, Azteca has seen several refurbishments, most recently in 2016 to accommodate NFL games. It closed its doors in May 2024 for its latest, much-needed facelift.

The extensive project includes new seating across all sections, additional video screens, enhanced lighting, updated locker rooms, a new entrance leading to a hybrid pitch, a new Wi-Fi system, two new large screens, and a state-of-the-art sound system featuring 250 speakers.

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Stadium director Felix Aguirre and owner Emilio Azcarraga Jean revealed that the new locker rooms and the pitch entrance proved to be the most challenging aspects, contributing to overall renovation delays.

Azcarraga expressed some scepticism regarding the contractors’ timelines last month, stating: “The contractors say that yes (it will be ready), I’m not a construction expert, they set dates, there’s a meeting every week, I told them I’m not a specialist, but I don’t see their dates going accordingly as the (planned) dates. There was a lot of difficulty at the beginning.”

Aerial images captured by The Associated Press on Tuesday show that all 82,000 new seats are now in place, alongside the new hybrid pitch.

However, crews are still actively working on hospitality areas and new luxury boxes.

A similar hybrid surface installed in 2018 led to an NFL game being relocated due to poor field conditions, prompting the installation of natural grass the following year.

The new pitch, however, boasts advanced ventilation and drainage systems designed to withstand Mexico City’s frequent heavy downpours. The stadium’s capacity is expected to reach 87,000 for the World Cup.

“The stadium has undergone a significant modernization process that will improve the experience for soccer fans in every way,” Aguirre affirmed. “Rest assured, Mexico City’s iconic and emblematic stadium will be fully ready.”

Despite this, one of the stadium’s car parks still contains a considerable amount of rubble, and old seats remain on the ground.

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Azcarraga acknowledged the phased nature of the work: “This first stage, which ends on March 28 with the reopening, is important, and then we’ll continue with the remaining work for the World Cup. And then there’s a lot more to do; the complexity of the project doesn’t allow you to do everything at once.”

Beyond the stadium, the Mexico City government is also enhancing local infrastructure.

An adjacent street will receive a new asphalt surface, an improved drainage system, and new pavements.

Work is also progressing at the light rail station opposite the Azteca, with upgrades to outdoor lighting and a pedestrian bridge.

On match days, the Xochimilco Light Rail, known as Tren Ligero, offers one of the quickest routes to the stadium.

The city has acquired 17 new trains for the World Cup, adding to its existing fleet of 20.

Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe has addressed the company’s relationship with Fernando Alonso amid a disastrous start to its partnership with Aston Martin. The new Honda power units are reportedly neither reliable nor as powerful as those of the four rival engine manufacturers: Ford, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Audi.

They got into early and persistent trouble during the preseason tests in Bahrain. Lance Stroll complained that Aston Martin’s 2026 car was “four seconds slower” than rivals, and Fernando Alonso reportedly lost his cool in the garage, throwing his gloves after getting out of the car.

Moreover, the Honda power units couldn’t last the longer runs and broke down several times on the track. The theories were that either the engines were indeed inferior or that Adrian Newey’s radical design of the AMR26 forced Honda into a precarious position.

Either way, for Alonso, this produced a terrible déjà vu of the McLaren-Honda partnership from 2015 to 2017. The Japanese manufacturer’s inferior engines had drawn the wrath of the two-time F1 champion, who produced the “GP2 engines” rant.

This time around, HRC’s Koji Watanabe assures that they have a terrific relationship with Alonso despite the poor performance of the 2026 engines. In an interview with Spanish publication AS, Watanabe said:

“He’s an absolute competitor with an endless motivation to win. He’s a fierce competitor, and we’re happy and proud to be competing with Fernando. We know the start of the season hasn’t been what we wanted for either of us. But we want to write a good next chapter with Fernando.”

Despite the many issues, Alonso had kept a positive attitude heading into the season, which begins with the Australian GP this weekend from March 6 to 8.

Fernando Alonso’s Australian GP could end within a few laps because of Honda’s lack of reliability

A concerning report came out earlier this week that claimed Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll would be in for a bad time at the Australian GP. Motorsport Italy claimed that because of the lack of reliability of Honda engines, Aston Martin was considering withdrawing from the season opener.

However, the idea was dropped because of the disastrous consequences that the decision would produce on and off the track. Instead, the team decided that it would be business as usual in the practice sessions and qualifying, but the race would entail a different plan.

The report stated that Aston Martin would let its drivers run some laps in the race before asking them to bring the cars back to the garage and retire them. If that were to happen, it means that Honda’s power units are in a very dire state.

It would be impossible for them to turn things around even by the end of the season. Considering Fernando Alonso, at 44, is in the twilight of his F1 career, that would mean tragedy.