We have all key starters locked up, save a few (HB, for example) for at least another 2-3 years.
With the cap being what it is, we will likely not be signing *expensive* free agents in the next year or two. Notice I didn't say *big name*, because we've seen big names come and sign at a discount because of Mahomes, Reid, etc..
What the Chiefs will value moving ahead is a large number of draft picks each year.
This is the only way we can simultaneously infuse affordable talent onto the roster while continuing to pay our stars. The only way this approach works - while staying in contention for SB's - is if we hit on our draft picks. Thankfully for us, we have a 40 year old genius at the helm who has proven time and time again to find gems.
So as we watch Brett make moves in the future, they will likely abide by the following tenets.
Brett Veach's Core Tenets
1. Pay our stars what they deserve to keep them happy and bought in.
2. Do not trade away high-round, or mid-round, draft picks (rounds 1-5)
3. Continue to hit on talented draft picks and UDFA's (absolutely critical)
4. Do not overpay for our own upper-level talent; let them walk to other rosters to be overpaid
5. Acquire compensatory picks whenever possible (players, minority coaches & GMs)
6. Acquire late-round draft picks by trading mid-lower roster players
7. Use late-round draft picks to acquire mid-round draft picks for talented players
8. Very aggressively pursue low-risk, high-reward players to possibly infuse talent w/o using (much) draft capitol, and possibly net future comp picks. [Reply]
Brett Veach's Core Tenets 1. Pay our stars what they deserve to keep them happy and bought in.
Mahomes
Kelce
Hill
Jones
Clark
Mathieu
Butker
2. Do not trade away high-round, or mid-round, draft picks (rounds 1-5) unless absolutely necessary
Hardman (Hill's future was unknown, needed to guarantee speed for Mahomes' development)
3. Continue to hit on talented draft picks and UDFA's(absolutely critical)
CEH
Danna
Wharton
Townsend
Durant
Hardman
Thornhill
Saunders
Fenton
Nnadi
Pringle
4. Do not overpay for our own upper-level talent; let them walk to other rosters to be overpaid
Fuller
Ogbah
Wilson
5. Acquire compensatory picks whenever possible (players, minority coaches & GMs)
Fuller
Ogbah
Wisnewski
Wilson
Fulton
6. Acquire late-round draft picks by trading mid-lower roster players
Washington
7. Use late-round draft picks to acquire mid-round draft picks for talented players
Keyes (?)
8. Very aggressively pursue low-risk, high-reward players to possibly infuse talent w/o using (much) draft capitol, and possibly net future comp picks.
Ragland
Watkins
Ogbah
Bell
Charlton
Benjamin
Baker
Erving
Lee [Reply]
Originally Posted by Easy 6:
Good stuff Dante, very well thought out... he seems to be following your blueprint to a T
#4 is critical, when guys outprice themselves they gotta go... HATED losing Ogbah, he's like second or third in sacks right now IIRC
But overpaying someone like him has a cap crippling trickle down effect
Thanks! Not every team can get to a point where they can follow this blueprint. You have to have the franchise (passing) QB, and then you can begin to build using this model. Absent the franchise (passing) QB, best case you end up as the Titans, the Ravens, or the 2018 Chiefs.
Once the QB is locked up, the next hardest thing is drafting well (#3). If you can't do this, you end up as the Packers for the last 10 years.
If you miss on your drafted players because they aren't talented, or you don't have enough volume of picks, your depth suffers and you begin to (#4) overpay your FA's to stay and/or take large gambles and (#2) trade for players that ruin your draft capitol. In this scenario, you end up as the 2019 Rams or the Chicago Bears.
Veach has played it brilliantly on all fronts, and if he continues to do so, we are going to be set up for a decade or two, the way the Patriots were. [Reply]
Kind of crazy to think about the expendable players that Veach got rid of and the value he got for it. This might be the most underrated value to Veach’s genius.
Parker Ehringer traded for Charvarious Ward
Alex Smith traded for Kendall Fuller
Marcus Peters traded for 2nd rd pick (Juan Thornhill)
Eric Murray traded for Emmanuel Ogbah
Carlos Hyde traded for Martinas Rankin—we were gonna cut Hyde anyway
DeAndre Washing traded for TBD 6th rd pick
Veach has been a goddamn savant with these trades [Reply]
39% of his draft picks were SEC players. He's drafted at least two every year.
17% were ACC
17% were Big Ten
6% were Big Twelve
The rest were from smaller/lesser conferences. Veach is far more likely to draft SEC players. There should be at least two in every mock draft if you want to be realistic.
It would be interesting to see undrafted free agent signings by conference. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Riflemen:
39% of his draft picks were SEC players. He's drafted at least two every year.
17% were ACC
17% were Big Ten
6% were Big Twelve
The rest were from smaller/lesser conferences. Veach is far more likely to draft SEC players. There should be at least two in every mock draft if you want to be realistic.
It would be interesting to see undrafted free agent signings by conference.
I'd love to see that breakdown league-wide. I'd be willing to bet those percentages aren't that far off the league average, which says more about college football players than it does about the Chiefs' draft strategy. [Reply]