In K.C. It’s All Veaches and Cream – Okay, okay, I must admit that the Anthony Hitchens contract hasn’t worked out so far… and… the original deal with Sammy Watkins didn’t work out great but, aside from those deals, the Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach has been the best GM in the league. Yes, he’s the youngest GM in history to win a Super Bowl… however, if you would have told before the preseason that the Chiefs would have locked up: Mahomes, Chris Jones, Sammy Watkins, Mike Pennel, Anthony Sherman, Bashaud Breeland, and Demarcus Robinson, among others… I would have told you, “You’re dreaming the impossible dream.”
Oh how wrong could I be!
Brett Veach and his staff, annually sit down with Andy Reid and his staff, and outline their goals for the offseason… as soon as the season is over. Last year we heard about their goal to completely revamp the Safety position. How did that work out? Well, they brought in Tyrann Mathieu — a true difference maker, coach on the field, and ranked as the #1 Safety in the NFL last year by CBS Sports — and then drafted Juan Thornhill — a possible RoY for the Chiefs prior to his injury. So, I’d say they fulfilled that offseason objective. Just before the draft this year, long before Mahomes and Chris Jones we re-signed, Veach said:
“And in free agency, we’re going to look to maintain the players that we have on our team, and it worked out — being able to reduce Sammy Watkins’ deal… and bring Demarcus Robinson back… and Anthony Sherman back… and Mike Pennel back. We were certainly hopeful that would be an outcome. I’m not going to sit here and lie — [saying] that all these guys we were certain [would] come back — but that was our goal.”
Then, in the past nine days, Brett Veach somehow orchestrated a lifetime deal for QB Patrick Mahomes and then got DT Chris Jones to sign on the dotted line for another long term deal, and he did it with less space than a quark has room for a futon inside. Veach has become the Chiefs great Houdini… you see, he’s a magician with the salary cap, and magicians will tell you they’re gonna trick you, and then they do it right in front of you. That pretty much describes Veach.
Now, every defensive back should be thanking Veach for re-signing Chris Jones as Jones pressure up the middle helped produce 16 INTs in 2019 which ranked them tied for 5th in the league. Since this is the second season for so many players, on the defensive side of the ball, we can expect more of that kind of behavior in 2020.
Even with… DE Frank Clark only playing in 14 games last year and spending the first half of the season with an aching back, and Chris Jones only playing 13 games, and Alex Okafor only playing in 10 games… the Chiefs front ranked 11th in the league in the all important Sacks department. With a full menagerie of DL plus the added force of newby LB, Willie Gay Jr., the Sack men of K.C. should have an even better season, smacking, tracking and sacking the QB.
So, who do we have to blame… err… credit… for that? Why, Brett Veach of course, and let’s not forget his other deals.
One of my favorite trades was to steal CB Charvarius Ward in exchange for OL Parker Ehinger. Dallas made the trade believing Ehinger would pan out for them. He didn’t, while Ward projects to be the Chiefs best CB in 2020.
I also really liked the trade of S Eric Murray to the Browns for DE Emmanuel Ogbah. Ogbah had a good half season for K.C. last year before getting hurt and although he signed elsewhere this offseason, I still think getting anything for Murray was brilliant.
Veach also has attempted to solve the team’s deficiency at LB by, signing Hitchens as a free agent then, trading for Reggie Ragland and Darron Lee. The deal for Ragland, who was originally a 2nd round pick, was for a fourth rounder. Lee, who was originally a 1st round pick was traded for a 6th rounder. Neither player worked out in the long run but I like those deals in any event. Nothing risked, nothing gained… and although we only got a little out of Ragland, the idea was right on the money.
Although it was his most expensive deal, the trade for Frank Clark has worked out better than any trade in Chiefs history. The Chiefs had to give up a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick to get Clark, but he helped to deliver a Super Bowl for K.C., their first in 50 years… so all-in-all, that trade has to be considered a great success.
The trade for Safety Jordan Lucas for a 7th round pick was a nominal trade. He’s now with the Bears.
You gotta wheel-and-deal if you hope to get a steal. That pretty much encapsulates the Brett Veach era. Now, if we can get Veach to convince the Arizona Cardinals to trade Patrick Peterson to the Chiefs….
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Chiefs 2020 Training Camp Information
Location: Kansas City Chiefs Practice Facility in Kansas City, Missouri
Dates: Players will report to training camp on Tuesday, July 28 [per NFLPA].
Covid Limits: No joint practices [often done to replace preseason games].
Preseason Games: Reduced preseason games: from 4 to 2 [subject to change].
Future Preseason Games: Reduced the number of preseason games to three, starting in 2021 [part of the new collective bargaining agreement].
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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