The hatred Kansas City Chiefs fans have for their AFC West rivals—the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers—has always been constant.

As time goes on, other teams emerge as out-of-division rivals. Recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots all come to mind.

But this offseason, in my mind, you can safely add the Los Angeles Rams to the list.

Cornerback Marcus Peters is a Ram, wide receiver Sammy Watkins is a Chief and the two already have a date (to be determined) next year in Mexico City.

And while the Chiefs are barely saying anything transparent about why they traded Peters for draft picks, the Rams are talking about Watkins like he’s the “one that got away.”

“Sammy was a big part of our offense last year — I mean we went from 32nd to first [in scoring],” LA Rams general manager Les Snead said Tuesday, via Rams.com. “[We] did pursue him — it didn’t work out.”

Watkins made 39 catches for 593 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns in 2017.

“There’s a reason why he had a market — he put good things on tape,” head coach Sean McVay added. “I don’t think that’s exclusive to, maybe, the production from a numbers standpoint. He did a lot more for our offense that’s going to be a big void.”

According to our own Seth Keysor, who reviewed the tape, Watkins has a knack for getting open—a lot.

And as the Rams try to fill that “big void,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid adds Watkin to an offense that already boasts the weapons of Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt and the ever-dynamic Tyreek Hill.

During the same offseason in which general manager Brett Veach called now-starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes one of the best players he’s ever seen, he referred to Watkins as an elite playmaker.

“You always know that when you use the franchise tag on (safety) Lamarcus (Joyner), there is the chance of losing Sammy,” McVay said.

Veach agreed and even seemed to be flabbergasted the Rams made Watkins available.

“I think what you realize is that we were right on Sammy when you see the market that he did have,” McVay said. “It wasn’t exclusive to just the Chiefs. There were a lot of other teams involved that [offered] a lot of high numbers.”

The Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers were reportedly all also interested in Watkins, even despite past injury concerns.

“I think when you just look at the body of work, you take into account, here’s a 24-year-old who was just able to stay healthy for the entire year — you see why the value was what it was,” McVay said.

Watkins signed a three-year deal worth $48 million, including $30 million fully guaranteed, with the Chiefs. He has already expressed interest to spend his career with the team.

“To [Watkins’] credit, he earned that contract,” McVay added, “and I think he’ll do a great job in that system playing under coach [Andy] Reid.”

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