The Kansas City Chiefs are linked with several players in rumors shortly before the NFL’s trade deadline. It makes sense that they would be buyers given the clear needs at a couple of positions on the roster and their positiion as the league’s reigning dynasty, having played in five of the last six Super Bowls.
According to team owner Clark Hunt, the Chiefs should also be expected to stay busy before the deadline because of the general manager’s aggressiveness.
Hunt recently spoke on the record about a number of subjects, but when asked about the trade deadline, he referenced Brett Veach’s posture around this time of year as a reason for fans to watch the transaction wire.
Clark Hunt adds fuel to the fire that the Chiefs are going to make a trade splash before the deadline.
“Brett Veach has historically been pretty aggressive at the trade deadline. He feels like we have a need. He’s not shy about going out and addressing it, and I think that’ll be true again this year,” said Hunt.
That aggression isn’t quite as well-documented as Hunt’s remarks might lead Chiefs fans to believe. In recent seasons, yes, Veach has chased players he deemed helpful to the team’s cause. Last year, deals for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and pass rusher Joshua Uche were his attempts to answer the Chiefs’ questions, to varying effect.
In 2022, the Chiefs traded away cornerback Rashad Fenton to the Atlanta Falcons for spare parts while bringing in wideout Kadarius Toney in the biggest pre-deadline splash to date for Veach. In 2021, pass rusher Melvin Ingram was the big mid-season prize.
Before that season, however, Veach stood pat at the league’s trade deadline. He took over the position from John Dorsey before the 2017 season, which means four deadlines came and went without a meaningful move from Veach.
As for what Veach might do this fall, defensive tackle has been the most-discussed position by analysts and fans, and Hunt’s comments added credibility to those lines of thought.
“Obviously, an important part of it is where you stand from an injury standpoint, and we’ve been pretty fortunate up to this point. We were sad to lose [Omarr] Norman-Lott last week, and that definitely hurt us along the defensive line,” said Hunt.
The Chiefs have Chris Jones, Jerry Tillery, and Derrick Nnadi as their other defensive tackles on the roster. A few practice squad candidates are also available, including Marlon Tuipulotu, Zacch Pickens, and Brodric Martin. Given that coaches referenced a potential need for ends to slide inside in the interim, it’s clear the Chiefs need at least one more reliable performer inside.
Trade ideas have pointed to plenty of options from basement-dwelling teams, so the Chiefs should be able to find something to their liking. And given what Hunt said, Chiefs Kingdom should expect to see yet another deadline deal from Veach before too long.
