Will Hunt & Veach try to make a splash at the draft? If so, what?
 

I was thinking about this the other day: Brett joked about how Clark didn't let him use future resources last year because he wanted a first when we were hosting the draft.

Probably mostly in jest, but also probably a bit of truth as well.

So, we are set to have a huge ass party, in KC, at the same spot we had a Super Bowl parade just 2 months prior. The world will be zoomed in on KC.

Do we stay the normal course with our process (probably yes), or does Hunt want to get freaky with it? You know Brett is aggressive as ****, so if Clark gives him the greenlight.... what would that look like?

What's a crazy, dick-flop on the table type of move, if we were to make one?

The argument FOR:
- Andy has a handful of years left, so let's make the most of it.
- We checked a lot of boxes last year with hits on many draft picks
- We don't have a high number of holes on the roster
- We do have some starter-holes at key position groups, like OT, WR, DE, and the studs all go well before we pick.
- A high-first round pick has a long runway before he needs to be paid, so cap implications are low.
- It would be fun to have another elite-ceiling player on the roster, be it a weapon for Mahomes, a game-wrecker on defense, or a lock-down OT.


The argument AGAINST:
- With our hit rate being high, we should get Veach as many at bats as possible.
- Don't **** with what's not broken - stay the course, draft location be damned.
- There's a ton of value at the end of the first.

I think the easy money says he's going to go get a WR who will boss it up with Mahomes.

I think there's a very real chance they do it for a tackle, though.

What the Chiefs do in the first round will tell you exactly what they think of their odds to sign Brown long-term.

If they feel hopeless about it, and honestly that wouldn't surprise me, then they really have no choice but to go out and be hyperaggressive and make sure they get the LT position properly insured for 2024, or even for 2023 if Brown is communicating he won't play on the tag again.

I'd love a big splash at WR, but there's nothing in the air that says they can come to a deal with Brown long term. They probably have to plan for that.

You can't go into the draft this year without knowing how the Brown situation is gonna play out.

They will one way or the other.
Tag period opened 2/21 and closes 3/7.

Yes, they are Super Bowl Champions and this is in OUR house!

Trade Clark, Trade CEH, Trade Hardman, cut Thronhill, let JuJu walk - get as MUCH draft capitol as you possibly can. Sneed if need be. Move up in the draft to get Kincaid. Trade for Lazard. Get McKinnon back and you already have Pacheco. The offense would be, MVS, Lazard, Moore, Toney, Kelce, Kincaid, McKinnon, Pacheco and Watson. Holy SHIT!

There are so many things wrong with this post that I don’t know where to start.

Why the **** would we spend draft pics on Allen Lazard who had a HoF QB throwing to him and only ever managed to be slightly above average? Who is going to give us a pick for CEH? Why would we move up in the draft to get Kincaid when we still have prime Kelce and have needs at OT/WR/DE/and even DL? Why are you including Toney when he won't play at least half the season due to injuries?

Trade Clark - Probably not a thing that will happen. I don't see a team wanting that.

Trade CEH - Entirely possible he has value to someone with a year left on a rookie deal and the 5th year option... but it wouldn't be much with a pretty talented rookie class of RBs.

Trade Hardman - He's a free agent.

Cut Thornhill - He's a free agent.

Sneed if need be - Need be what? Trade him? Terrible idea.

Trade for Lazard - He's a free agent. Even signing him is not much of an idea to me. He's not all that great.

Trade up for Kincaid - He's probably there at 31. One, why trade up? Two, what the **** is the point of not only burning a 1st on a TE but trading up for one when we have Kelce?

This is just bad man, all the way bad.

There'd be nothing more exciting than trading up for a WR.

If we trade up it will be to replace or avoid a big contract IMO. OBJ, JuJu, and Sneed have all earned big upcoming contracts, Clark is already being paid a contract above his production level, and I don't think MVS can live up to the $14m his owed if we keep him after next year.

Only Mahomes, Kelce, and Jones are untouchable.

I don't know if I see a dick-flopping move to be made that involves just moving up in the draft. I guess, I foresee the great differentiators at ER being gone.

I just don't see the Chiefs giving up #31, a 2024 1st, and a 3rd to get into the top 12 just for whatever. That's a crazy amount to pay unless you absolutely need a guy at QB, LT, or ER. Maybe you do that next year if you can't reach a deal with OBj long-term and a developmental guy doesn't work out.

The Chiefs' only trade pieces also would create enormous holes for this team and those are Chris Jones and Orlando Brown. It's not thrilling to take hold of the idea of losing Jones, regardless of the payout. I'm on board with moving Brown but that move has to put you in a position to pick in the top 15 too, and I feel like that pick needs to be a 1st and not a 2nd. Maybe you settle for Pittsburgh's pick at #17.

Altogether, I see the Chiefs extending Jones and at least playing OBj on the tag again. If they feel good about the D-Line situation, I could see them making a move up with Minnesota to 23 for a WR like Hyatt or JSN. I think that'd be the extent of a dick-flop. Give Mahomes another electric weapon to work with in the passing game and it'll only cost a 3rd.

I really don't think Jones is untouchable. If Detroit called and offered me #6 and #18, I'd take it. Seems ridiculous, but it could set KC up really well at LT and WR for the next 5 years at those spots and there are solid DTs in FA this year to make up for some of the loss. I mean, that's alot for any one team to give up. There's other scenarios I'd think hard about too that involve a high 1st and 2nd.

I think you'd have to consider it for 6 and 48, too. That's high compensation.

If you're getting into that range, you're not quite high enough to land Carter or Anderson unless one of them inexplicably falls.

It IS high enough to land Paris Johnson, Jr, though.

And if you're landing Paris Johnson, shoot... isn't the smart move to tag and trade Orlando Brown for what you can get this year?

I'm not sure Paris is a slam dunk LT is he?

That's the thing... you're not getting a slam dunk at 6. Which you would kind of want to move jones.

You can probably get one of Myles Murphy/Tyree Wilson/Paris Johnson, Jr. there. Or pick between two of them.

That's not good enough by itself. You'd need more on top to spread the risk a little bit.

Myles Murphy scares me, he has some question marks that could make him a bust.

I like playing with these scenarios as well, but sometimes I wonder why we're so cap conscious as fans. I want the most talented team possible, not the best financial situation for the owner. Of course I want long term cap success for our Chiefs, but with the way bonuses are structured now it feels like you can pay anyone you want if you're creative.

My point is... we just won the SB, we have the #1 roster in the league, why move key pieces of that team at all? Shouldn't we fans be pounding the table harder to keep our current roster in tact? Paris is a top rated LT in this draft, and here we are questioning if he's a sure thing. We already know C Jones and/or OBJ are league leading quality. You'd for certain have to give me more than a 1-to-1 trade for a cheaper league hopeful in order for me to want to move on from one of them. The Tyreek trade at least gave us multiple shots at replacing him.

We already have 11-12 picks in this draft, that's enough ammo for Veach to Veach without moving top line talent from our current championship roster.

No draft pick is a slam dunk man. Look at you talking about trading for Chase Young as a case point.

Lance Zierlein doesn't like this OLine class that much at tackle if you go through and read his scouting reports and grades.

If I'm looking at how I personally value prospects and using his grades, only one really would carry 1st round value, one 2nd round value, and six with 3rd round value. That's not a ringing endorsement. Of course, that's not how they fit into the draft overall. Of his top 32 prospects, 4 are in it (Skoronski, B Jones, Johnson, and Bergeron). The next 32 have 3 more (Mauch, Wright, D Jones). The 3rd group only adds 1 more in Harrison. Eight prospects he'd see as 1st-3rd round prospects based on grades and 3 of them he sees more as guards. Eek. Not good from a solid grader of talent.

Here are his grades and position projections (ST = Swing Tackle/Reserve) I took some notes on:

Peter Skoronski, Northwestern - 6.73 - OG
Broderick Jones, Georgia - 6.44 - LT
Paris Johnson, Ohio State - 6.39 - LT
Matthew Bergeron, Syracuse - 6.39 - OG
Cody Mauch, North Dakota State - 6.36 - OG
Darnell Wright, Tennessee - 6.34 - RT
Dawand Jones, Ohio State - 6.32 - RT
Anton Harrison, Oklahoma - 6.27 - LT
Carter Warren, Pittsburgh - 6.16 - ST
Asim Richards, North Carolina - 6.15 - OG
Braeden Daniels, Utah - 6.14 - OG/ST
Tyler Steen, Alabama - 6.13 - ST
Richard Gouraige, Florida - 6.10 - OG
Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland - 6.00 - OG
Blake Freeland, BYU - 6.00 - OT
Warren McClendon Jr., Georgia - 6.00 - OG/ST
Connor Galvin, Baylor - 5.92 - OG/ST
Wanya Morris, Oklahoma - 5.91 - ST
Ryan Hayes, Michigan - 5.90 - OG/ST
John Ojukwu, Boise State - 5.89 - OG
Earl Bostick Jr., Kansas - 5.87 - ST
Dalton Wagner, Arkansas - 5.80 - RT
Mark Evans II, Arkansas Pine Bluff - 5.69
Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, Oregon - 5.67 - OG

Grading scale:
8.0 The perfect prospect
7.3-7.5 Perennial All-Pro
7.0-7.1 Pro Bowl talent
6.7-6.9 Year 1 starter
6.5-6.6 Boom-or-bust potential
6.40-6.49 Will become good starter within two years
6.30-6.39 Will eventually be plus starter
6.20-6.29 Will eventually be average starter
6.10-6.19 Good backup with the potential to develop into starter
6.0-6.09 Traits or talent to be above-average backup
5.80-5.99 Average backup or special-teamer
5.60-5.69 Candidate for bottom of roster or practice squad
5.50-5.59 Priority undrafted free agent

Depends on how you define splash-- I could see Veach trading up from 31 to somewhere like 20-25 if he sees a player fall that he really wants.

I don't think he will sacrifice their long term plan to trade up into the top ten just because the draft is here.

The team does not have a lot of holes (all teams have some in the salary cap era of the NFL), so spending some draft capital to move up 5-10 spots for someone he feels will make an impact seems reasonable to me.

I really don't think they're drafting an OT high this year. OBJ will probably be back.

We went from #29 to #21 (+8 spots) last year and I didn't consider that a splash, but also we had #30 so maybe that factored in.

I guess a "splash" in this scenario would be from #31 up to the 12-20 range.

Yeah, barring any major changes, I'm expecting OBJ, Frank, Chris and even JuJu back this upcoming year.

Sorta seems to have a "keep the gang together" vibe. Much different than last year when TM was chirping on twitter, Dirty Dan and Ben Neimann were spoiled milk, the mood was a little awkward/quiet with Tyreek....

Hell, I honestly think Wylie comes back, too, even if only to be a stop gap for a rookie we select.

This also feels different than the "Run it back" campaign after 2019. It almost felt like they didn't really think they needed to get better after that year.

If they don't bring back JuJu it would be cheaper to trade a pick or picks for a veteran WR

If no JuJu, then I’m even more open to the Hopkins trade (assuming it’s no higher than a 3rd at most).

OBj might end up back but RT is still the worst problem on the team. The could, though still choose to bring Wylie back (ugh) or address it in FA.

I think Trey Pipkins is a guy starting to turn the corner and would be a swift, under-the-radar swipe from a division rival that should be relatively cheap and he's young enough yet at 27.

Jawaan Taylor is also a guy that looks to be turning the corner, is only 26, and would be a poach from a strong AFC foe. I'm worried more about his contract demands than I am about Pipkins though.

It's not about the owner at all. It's about the cap. The idea is that we've shown that Mahomes plus best 52=Super Bowl. What's the best way to get and maintain the best 52 under the cap? And without pushing cost forward, where you can end up screwing yourself in the future? I don't know about you, but I'm kind of digging this contending every single year thing.

oh, **** no.

I just don't see how he gets traded without a new deal and the guy is 30. Doesn't really seem like a Veach move tbh

Completely agree. The caveat to my post is that if Veach is cool with it, I am.


Veach hates Free Agents over the age of 28 more than Pioli hated Chiefs staff over the age of 50.

I think he ends up playing rt at the next level is what I meant. I’m just not a big fan of his. Like the ou kid a lot better

There are going to be some OUTSTANDING WRs and TEs available after the first. I'm not suggesting a trade down, but I also don't see the need to, necessarily, move up.

OR just draft somebody. FFS, there will be some outstanding WRs at our pick.

I really don't think Veach will extend Chris Jones. He typically cuts players loose once they approach 30. HB was the perfect example of that. Now would be a perfect time to trade him and get significant value back. It's the first thing I thought of after the SB.
You can get a DE plus a DT with those picks. Re-sign OBJr, draft another OT in the second, a safety in the 3rd and then take a swing at WR and RB in the later rounds.

I'm all about drafting and developing guys.

But everytime you make a move like this, you spin the wheel or risk. We hit last year, but trading away the best defensive player in the history of your franchise right in the middle of his prime (and the lynchpin of your defense) is a pretty big wheel spin.

Don't see who will be there at 31 that steps in and has an immediate impact in Reids offense

Trading him just isn't about replacing him, not that you're saying that but it relates to this comment on "spinning the wheel of risk" and I want to elaborate.

I say this because I've seen the opinion frequently that if we trade Jones we won't be able to replace that impact. And to that I say, most likely not. At least not on the defensive line and at the defensive tackle spot specifically. It's akin to saying you can replace JJ Watt or you can replace Aaron Donald and so forth. You can't replace a guy that's probably going to wear a gold jacket.

John Randle was probably the greatest pass-rushing defensive tackle of the modern era. Only Alan Page has more sacks as a DT. Did the Vikings never have a good defensive tackle again? Well, Chris Hovan wasn't terrible, then a few years later they got some Kevin Williams guy and he was pretty okay I guess, considering he's right on the edge of being considered a HOF guy himself. Overall, they are one of the few teams in this league that repeatedly fields a strong defensive front.

There is life after HOFers. And trading a guy like Chris Jones could set this team up for better players at more positions. There will never be another Chris Jones, in all likelihood. But the Chiefs might get AP guys at couple of other positions and still get a really good DT.

Let's say the Lions did call and offer 6 and 18 for Jones. I think it's an overzealous assumption, but this is for the sake of pretend. Let's say you got DE Tyree Wilson at #6, OT Broderick Jones at #18, and umm DL Tuli Tuipulotu at #31 in those spots. Maybe not perfect science there but it's all pretends. You've got your LT of the future that can play RT this year, you have a stud DE prospect, and you've got a stud UT prospect. Maybe you end up with a different set of guys like Paris Johnson, Brian Bresee, and Derick Hall or something like that, but the point is the same.

That trade could have profound dividends on the overall roster and on the cap situation going forward. Something like that lets you spend money and keep other guys. Do you like the idea of keeping Thuney beyond this year? Do you like the idea of re-signing guys like Creed, Smith, and Bolton in the near future? This type of deal can set you up to do all of that and still field a really good football team.

Of course, it would take THAT type of deal to make the wheels go around so it's highly unlikely but if it's presented you almost have to strongly consider it.

Whatever. The bottom line is this team is going to have to do some kind of magic to accomplish what the OP is stating. You can't have it all! Some are going to have to go or restructure in order to move up or stay put to see where we stand come draft day. Please!

It's understandable. But we also have to look at guys like smith, Bolton, Thuney etc. Would I rather have Jones in his prime for a few more years or lose a G, a G and a run stopping MLB?

I mean, from a draft perspective, what's easier to replace here? Cost wise as well.

In a vacuum yeah, if they offered that you'd consider it. I don't think it's as cut and dry as "yeah do it".

We use the Hill example so much around here. It worked out great, saved money, got picks etc.

But you could argue it worked out so well because they have the greatest QB to ever play currently and he just papered over the holes in the drywall.

You just can't keep moving off of HOF level players and expect to just keep moving along. Sometimes it's just the moves you have to make, but unless Jones wants like Aaron Donald plus 10% money, I just don't see how you are better in the next 2/3 years without Chris Jones than you are with.

There's a big difference between Mathieu and Jones. Mathieu was obviously on the decline and it was a steep drop off. Jones just had a season of 15.5 sacks and hasn't shown an inkling of being on the decline. Sure, it could happen next year but I wouldn't bet on it.

WR and corners usually drop off at at 30. DT’s are not the same. CJ is 28 and should be still have top end production (or slight drop off) until at least 32. He’s too important to our defense production wise and in the locker room. He wants to be here.. you keep that guy

I think Veach will use those late picks to move around in the third and fourth. I bet we sit tight in rounds one and two. Just my opinion.