1 Trade That Would Instantly Elevate Chiefs

Forgive Kelce if he didn’t get the memo on developing news out of Tuscaloosa, but then he hit listeners with this: “Ah, I'll go Illinois sneaking through. Make it interesting.”

He might’ve hit on two of four. Duke and Arizona could very well decide the national title on April 6, but just over two weeks later, Brett Veach could decide the Super Bowl title with how he navigates through the NFL draft.

Worst-case scenario at 9

Analyst Price Carter offered a worst-case Chiefs scenario on Thursday morning, something that would have Ian Eagle exclaiming, “What a sequence!”

What happens if the Chiefs are on the clock at No. 9 and the top three edge rushers are off the board (David Bailey to the Jets at 2, Arvell Reese to the Cardinals at 3, Rueben Bain to the Commanders at 7)? And what will Veach do if Carnell Tate goes to the Browns at 6 and the Saints stand pat at 8 and take Caleb Downs?

It’s a scenario that can happen just as easily as Cameron Boozer posting up against Koa Peat in a Duke-Arizona national championship. And if that draft scenario happens to the Chiefs, and they're not high on someone like Kenyon Sadiq, no they shouldn’t draft a right tackle, wide receiver or cornerback that high.

Trading down could turn Lemon into lemonade

If that happens, they should immediately do something Veach has rarely done in past drafts – trade down.

Kansas City has nine picks, including two in the first round. Why not add even more capital on Days 2 and 3? Rounds 2-5 represent where many people, including Veach, see the true value in the 2026 draft. The Chiefs would be wise to give themselves more swings at the plate.

Adding swings to the plate

Veach’s best draft to date, 2022, gave him 10 of those swings. Six of those swings were extra-base hits – multi-year starters in Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis, Bryan Cook, Leo Chenal, Jaylen Watson and Isiah Pacheco. McDuffie was a grand slam.

But that level of success, a class that not only proved pivotal in fueling three Super Bowl berths and wound up this month as the most lucrative group of drafted players in league history, doesn’t happen with a small group of selections.

And a high volume of selections doesn’t happen without a trade back – something Veach has done only four times in 18 career draft-weekend trades. And only one of those trade-back deals happened on Night 1. It was last year when Veach swapped end-of-round selections with Howie Roseman, moving back to 32 and selecting Josh Simmons.

Ja'Marr Chase is the only wide receiver drafted recently in the top 10 to earn an All-Pro selection. Chase and Malik Nabers are the only wideouts to even earn Pro Bowl honors from that group. And the Chiefs' roster already has five legitimate candidates to replace right tackle Jawaan Taylor.

If the pick the Chiefs want at No. 9 goes in the first eight selections, trading that selection to move back and create more opportunities would be one of the best moves Veach has made.