Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach met with a group of local reporters on Thursday morning, covering a variety of topics related to this week’s Chiefs news.
While it surprised many observers that Kansas City retained eight wide receivers when it reduced its roster to 53 players on Tuesday, those who suspected that it was because the team already knew wideout Rashee Rice was going to miss the season’s first six games were right.
“It wasn’t a surprise,” said Veach, per the Kansas City Star. “It was communicated to us, and we were certainly made aware a few days prior to cut-down day that this was a better than a 50% shot that this would get resolved before the kickstart of the season.”
Without Rice — who is clearly the team’s top wideout — there will be more pressure on other wide receivers to produce during the opening weeks of the season. Veach believes rookie wideout Jalen Royals has a similar skill set, but he’s presently battling tendonitis. Still, Veach thinks there’s another wideout who can pitch in — and as long as veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster is on the team, Veach isn’t worried.
“I think both of those guys have a similar skill set,” said Veach. “Obviously JuJu’s been here for a while, and JuJu — to his credit — I think he looked better with this camp than he did the last camp he was here. He’s really taking care of his body, so that’s a good thing because we’re getting JuJu fresh and at the beginning of the season.”
Veach also addressed the situation with 34-year-old defensive tackle Mike Pennel — a fan favorite who was released at final cutdown. There was immediate speculation that Pennel would be brought back after another player had been placed on the Reserve/Injured list — a common tactic among GMs working to get their rosters to 53 men — but Veach said there is more to the story than that.
“I think with every position group, we’re trying to get better, and we’re trying to add competition,” he said, per Chiefs Digest. “I think that was one position group we were trying to continually get deeper, get younger, get more athletic.”
Veach said that the team had entered into negotiations with the Cleveland Browns to acquire defensive tackle Jowon Briggs. But the Browns instead accepted the New York Jets’ offer for Briggs — and then the Chiefs traded with the Jets to re-acquire defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. That led to Pennel’s release.
“I think when it came to Derrick, [it was] probably [a] similar level of play [to] what we’ve seen [from Pennel] — but both those guys have, over the years, played and helped us out in games,” explained Veach. “But I do think you take in [the] consideration [of] just the length of the season.”
That ultimately tipped the scales away from Pennel — who is five years older than Nnadi.
“If you had to do a slight edge,” noted Veach. “[he] was just, you know, four or five years younger — and a guy that’s played a lot of reps. But look, I mean, we’re still active at that position.”
Veach is correct. The team has signed defensive tackles Marlon Tuipulotu and Coziah Izzard — both cut on Tuesday — to the practice squad, along with former Bears defensive tackle Zacch Pickens. The team is also reported to be on the verge of signing former Detroit Lions’ defensive tackle Brodric Martin. All of them are in addition to second-round rookie Omarr Norman-Lott, who continues to work through an ankle injury he sustained in the second exhibition game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Would the team consider bringing Pennel back for another stint with the team?
“I think we’d always be open to that for sure,” said Veach. “Mike’s a guy that, I mean, he’s a special human being — and we love Mike. He’s one of those guys that I feel every time we’ve gotten him back in short spurts, it’s been the best he has.
“I mean, even at his age, he’s a juice guy [and] he’s an energy guy. We love him, so [we’re] certainly keeping that door open as well. I think all options are open for us at that position.”
For now, however, Pennel is not in the team’s plans.
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