KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The Kansas City Chiefs are almost on the clock.
The 2025 NFL Draft kicks off next Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“I do think we put ourselves in the position so that if we’re sitting there at 31, we certainly have a need for o-line, d-line, corner, receiver,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach told reporters via Zoom Thursday. “All options are open. Guess we’ll see how it kinda shakes out.”
The Chiefs enter this year’s draft with eight picks:
- Round 1: No. 31 overall
- Round 2: No. 63 overall
- Round 3: No. 66 overall (via Tennessee)
- Round 3: No. 95 overall
- Round 4: No. 133 overall
- Round 7: No. 226 overall
- Round 7: No. 251 overall (compensatory pick)
- Round 7: No. 257 overall (compensatory pick)
Historically, Veach hasn’t been shy about trading up for a difference maker.
“On one end, the more numbers you have and the number of tickets you have in this lottery, the better,” Veach said. “But on the other end, there’s that element of trusting what you see. If you’re going to do all this work, you might as well go get a guy you like.”
He says his staff currently has 202 players on their board. Typically, that includes 15-20 players with first-round grades. This year, that number is in the 12-13 range.
Veach has traded up a dozen times in his career, compared to trading down just twice — though don’t rule out the latter in 2025.
“I know that I’ve shown to be more aggressive, but I’m certainly open to it,” Veach said of the possibility to trade down. “If it makes sense for us and we can acquire additional picks, yeah, I’d be all for it.”
The Chiefs have a number of roster needs entering next week. Veach expects the team to bolster its ground attack for the upcoming season with young talent.
“There’s a ton of running backs,” he said of this year’s draft class. “I think there’ll be a good chance that one of these picks ends up being one of those players just because there’s so many of them and they’re all really good.
“The discrepancies between the running back you have in the fourth or fifth (round) is really close, or fourth and third is really close. I think there’s a good likelihood that one of those players ends up on our roster and hopefully they’re a dynamic returner as well.”
In two of the last three seasons, the Chiefs have drafted a wide receiver who went on to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl during his rookie campaign.
