Of All the Bright Moves of Brett Veach

“Of all the bright moves of Brett Veach, this one takes the cake.” A problem with one of the Brett Veach acquisitions? No, not really… well, maybe… but I was just trying that sentence on for size. You see, Mr. Veach has made many right moves as well as some, not so bright moves. It’s nearly the 2-year anniversary of Brett Veach taking over as General Manager (in July of 2017), so, we’ll take a look at some of his signings, good bad or ugly, here today, including the many different kinds of moves he’s made in his short tenure, as head of player procurement, which I’ve organized under categories like: the Brett TEACH Moves (players who will need coaching up) or the Brett REACH Moves (players that were signed/drafted, ahead of their time) or… you get the idea.

The Brett TEACH Moves

-Players who will need coaching up

Tanoh Kpassagnon: If you can link the gift of trading up to get Patrick Mahomes to Brett Veach two years ago, then you should be able to do the same for the Chiefs second round pick in 2017 as well. Kpass could still work out to be a very good player. In Spag’s system, he’s the right size and was called a “physical freak” when the Chiefs drafted him so, who knows. However, he still must need some coaching up.

Ukeme Eligwe: same category as Kpass, from the same draft. A 5th round pick, gone before anyone knew he was here. A Dorsey pick “who had potential” and never realized it? Currently a Free Agent.

Kahlil McKenzie: a 6th round pick in last year’s draft. He was taken to play OG but mainly only played the DL in college. We’re still awaiting his ascendence to the starting lineup. Was placed on the active roster all year but never active on game day to keep him off the Practice Squad where he could be poached. Solid lineage. High hopes. We’ll see.

The Brett REACH Moves

-Players who were signed/drafted, ahead of their time

Breeland Speaks: when Brett Veach chose DL Breeland Speaks in the 2018 draft, he traded up to get him at the 46th pick in the 2nd round but he was projected as a third, fourth and even fifth round selection by differing draft analysis services. Speaks had 24 tackles and 1.5 sacks in his rookie season so we’re all hoping someone can awaken the sleeping giant within.

Anthony Hitchens: was signed by the Chiefs at the beginning of Free Agency in 2018 for $45M for 5 years and $25M+ guaranteed plus a $14M signing bonus. I think most fans were a little shell-shocked at the signing and had a bit of the “who’s dat?” going on when he was gifted with such a large deal. His first season with K.C. did not prove him worthy of such a contract but now, every Chiefs fan is hoping that Spag’s new system will have him cooking on the right burner this year. 

The Brett “NUDIST BEACH” Moves

-Moves that left the Chiefs like bare, naked, ladies

Marcus Peters: trading your best cornerback left the back end of the Chiefs defense bare… or naked… if you like. Veach had just traded Alex Smith for CB Kendall Fuller and there was enough time there for me to dream about the Chiefs having one of the best defensive backfields in the league… until he lowered the boom on that trade. I’m not saying it didn’t need to be done… but it left a lot of bare places, which the Chiefs GM is still trying to fill. One giant plus from that trade is… drafting Safety Juan Thornhill (the 2nd round pick used to take Thornhill was part of that trade). Ask me in a year because I’m betting that this trade will look like a genius move by then.

The Brett PEACH Moves

-Some of this GM’s juiciest moves acquiring players

Damien Williams: Williams was languishing on the Miami Dolphins bench for year when Brett Veach signed him to a back-up role in the offseason of 2018 to a 2 year, $5.1M contract. Quite a deal considering how he performed after Kareem Hunt was run out of town on a rail… and now that he’s the Chiefs el numero uno and starting running back in 2019. This signing was a testament to Brett Veach and his ability to keep starting level depth ready at any moment.

Mitchell Schwartz: anytime you can extend the contract of the best player at his position, you’ve done right by Chiefs fans everywhere.

Charvarius Ward: as our faithful resident blogger Priest-Maholmes stated recently, “Veach strikes the iron hot” and that’s exactly what he did by trading Parker “Going nowhere fast” Ehinger to the Dallas Cowboys for CB Ward. By the end of the season, the Chiefs real offensive coordinator, Andy Reid, could see that Ward was so good, that he intervened, to force the DC to start Charvarius. Ward is one of the starting corners for the time being and he may end up the #1 CB for the team as time goes by. I say Bravo, Brett, Bravo. Great eye.

Andrew Wylie: you might be a bit surprised to see Wylie show up on the Peaches-n-Cream list but he played for 3 other teams before coming to the Chiefs last year then he started 10 games for K.C. and was 4th among the team’s offensive linemen with 687 snaps. Now, he looks to be the leader when it comes to OL vying for the Left Guard position next to Eric Fisher.

Tyrann Mathieu: there was probably no offseason move that will make more of a difference in he coming season than the move to acquire Tyrann Mathieu. While the Chiefs were reportedly looking to get Safety Earl Thomas since the middle of last season, once Thomas didn’t get the offer he wanted from the Chiefs, they were quick to move on to Mathieu and say that Mathieu was the best Safety out of all the Safeties in Free Agency after all. The old saying is correct… the best ability is availability… and so we know that Tyrann Mathieu’s availability will far outshine what the Chiefs were getting out of Eric Berry for the past two seasons. A huge get… while the gettin’ was good.

Juan Thornhill: though I am reticent about projecting a player who hasn’t played a down of NFL ball yet, the selection of Juan Thornhill was an incredible pick. Thornhill was forecast to be taken by the 45th pick by DrafTek and the late 1st round-early 2nd round by Draft Scout. So, when Veach was able to get him at the 63rd position in the draft, it was one of those fates-meets-destiny-meets-fantasy-meets-needs moments. Now, the possibility of pairing Juan Thornhill with Tyrann Mathieu is going to make the Chiefs cornerbacks so much better, it won’t even look like the same defense when the season begin. I know that’s a lot to expect from a rookie at any position but pairing him with the seasoned vet like Mathieu is going to accelerate his development ten-fold. Then, it’s the trickle down effect: the Safeties make the DBs better and… better coverage makes the pass rush better and… if the pass rush is better, the options narrow for the offense they’re facing and… if the LBs can count on a narrowed set of offensive options… they get better. It’s the Wayfair commercial all over again:

The Brett Quiche Moves

-The hotter than hot moves of Brett Veach

Harrison Butker: It was on September 26, 2017, that place kicker Harrison Butker was signed by Brett Veach off the Carolina Panthers practice squad. Anytime you can sign a player off of another team’s PS who then becomes a starter for your team, it is a very good day. However, Butker has been a very, very good field goal kicker making 38 of 42 attempts in his first year and 62 of 69 over a two-year span. Plus, Butker just signed a new deal with the Chiefs making him the highest paid kicker in the NFL:

Frank Clark: when Brett Veach signed DL Frank Clark in exchange for the Chiefs 1st round pick this year (and a third round swap plus a conditional 2nd round pick in 2020) the Chiefs were essentially picking a player they could count on being a beast… right now… in exchange for players who perhaps, might, could, maybe, will perform in the future. This deal was also hotter than hot because of the system that Frank Clark is coming into as well as his leadership qualities. The idea that Steve Spagnuolo has Brett Veach’s ear is also an appealing aspect to this trade… to me.

Patrick Mahomes: there is no other player in the league who is as hot right now as Patrick Mahomes is and the main reason he is wearing red and gold is Brett Veach. It’s well chronicled that Veach kept pestering HC Andy Reid and then-GM John Dorsey to take a look at the incredible tape on one Patrick Mahomes II. While I’m thrilled that Andy and John listened to Brett Veach, the credit goes to the man who called Mahomes, “One of the best I’ve ever seen,” long before he became a star, the face of the franchise, the Chiefs hope for the future, and the National Football League’s MVP.

The Brett BREACH Moves

-Players who were jettisoned, at the right time, or not

Let’s begin with the amount of turnover that has taken place in the past two years. Nowhere is that more evident than at the Linebacker position:

Notice anything different about these lists? That’s right, they’re 100% different expect for the one LB that Veach had traded for one week before the 2017 season had begun. It’s said that a new general manager likes to hire his own guys into the front office asap but, Veach has taken that barber shop strategy to the roster as well.

When you consider that every single star on the defensive side of the roster has been cut, released or traded away, it denotes the extreme turnover that’s taken place for the Kansas City Chiefs in 24 months:

• Justin Houston
• Eric Berry
• Derrick Johnson
• Dee Ford
• Marcus Peters
• Ron Parker
• Allen Bailey
• Bennie Logan
• Rakeem Nuñez-Roches
• Steven Nelson

Also gone are:

• Zach Fulton
• Mitch Morse
• Parker Ehinger
• Eric Murray
• Albert Wilson
• Kareem Hunt
• Jehu Chesson
• Jarvis Jenkins
• Charcandrick West
• Alex Smith and
• Tyler Bray

One thing’s for sure, the Chiefs new General Manager is a mover and a shaker.

One last category before I close:

The Brett SCREECH Moves

-Players who came-and-went so fast they left skid marks

David Amerson: no comment (although I must say, that the answer to trading away Marcus Peters was supposed to be David Amerson… who was then replaced by Orlando Scandrick? What’s the matter with this picture?)

CJ Spiller: poor CJ… again, and again, and again…. Brett signed and cut CJ Spiller so many times last year that I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they kept an extra bedroom at One Arrowhead Way set up fo him.

So, did I miss a player or two who belong in one of these categories? Or, perhaps I should have added another category? Let me know.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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