The NFL Combine annually attracts the best young players in football looking to showcase their skills. The front office staff members carefully evaluate every aspect of the player to report back data to help influence April’s draft decisions.
Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach has shown his confidence to assess and correct his team’s issues quickly, but it also requires a level of patience. He walks into another combine with questions about possibly replacing free-agent veterans and upgrading key positions, but until free agency is complete it’s hard to tell where the focus will be in the draft.
Could Veach make another bold decision and trade for a proven veteran as he has in the past? Will he look to trade up or down in the draft? Veach spoke about his mindset heading into the upcoming offseason.
“I think it’s all opportunity dependent,” Veach said. “I think we’ve shown over the years that if there’s a player or a talent that we really like and we think that there’s no alternative match, we’ll look to do that. I really like this draft. I think it’s a deep draft and now we come in with a one, a two, and two threes, so we’ll have some versatility. But there’s certainly value in the depth of the draft and accumulating as much talent as we can.”
The Chiefs haven’t been vocal about trading out of the first round again, but anything is possible considering what Veach pulled off in 2021. He reflected on the trade that brought Orlando Brown Jr. to Kansas City and how that opportunity arose for the two teams.
“Last year we were in a unique situation where we had a 14-2 season, we made the Super Bowl and by the time we got there we were kind of depleted. We had a little bit of an older offensive line. One tackle retired; one tackle was injured – a season-ender. Looking at the way the draft flows, and picking 31st, you don’t have many options. We came out of the gate and we signed Joe Thuney, and we were monitoring some other tackles and their markets. I thought we did a good job being aggressive on one end, but also being patient and letting a trade come to us. We’re certainly pleased with the way it worked out. And we were able to add more additional young linemen throughout the course of that offseason.
“For sure, it’s certainly market-directed in what’s available and what’s realistic. Like I said, we had some other opportunities to do things and we didn’t think it was in our interest in commit that type of draft resources or money, depending on what was out there at the time. It was reported that we got involved a little with Trent Williams, that didn’t work out. There were some other players before Orlando, but we didn’t feel like they were the right moves, so we just stayed patient. So, when the Baltimore situation presented itself, we went through all those factors again. It’s just case-by-case. You just kind of go through the exercise and just make the best decision for the organization.”
The blockbuster trade that brought Orlando Brown Jr. to the Chiefs cost Veach the No. 31 pick, but it paid off by acquiring a Pro Bowl left tackle. His strategy addressed an immediate and clear need, but things might not be so simple this time around. He’s already identified the defensive line as an area that needs work, but departures in the secondary could also pose a challenge to Veach this offseason. At the end of the day, accumulating talent by any means necessary looks to be the goal as the 2022 NFL offseason gets underway.
