When you’re the general manager of a team that has won two Super Bowls in a row — and three in the last five years — that’s usually a sign of doing an exceptional job in being the franchise’s lead executive.
That’s certainly how NFL agents view the job Brett Veach has done as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, recently voting him as the league’s best executive in an anonymous poll.
Today, we revisit Veach’s five best moves as the Chiefs’ general manager, which have helped the team bring five Lombardi Trophies to Kansas City.
What Have Been Brett Veach’s 5 Best Moves as Chiefs GM?
In The Athletic’s anonymous NFL agent survey, Veach received the most votes as the league’s best general manager, narrowly beating out Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman and Detroit’s Brad Holmes.
Specifically, agents credited Veach with being able to retool the roster, as he has most effectively used the NFL Draft to replace veteran players. But since taking over as general manager in 2017, what have been Veach’s five best moves?
1) Trading Up To Draft Patrick Mahomes
This technically took place before Veach was general manager, but he is considered to have played a major part in influencing then-GM John Dorsey’s decision to not only move up but also take Patrick Mahomes over Deshaun Watson.
Mahomes may not have been a late-draft gem like Tom Brady or Joe Montana, but it still doesn’t need to be stated what a tremendous value he was at No. 10 overall. He’s earned two MVP awards and, more importantly for Veach’s job, won three Super Bowls for Kansas City.
Any time you correctly identify, move for, and select an all-time great quarterback, it’s going to be your best move, and Mahomes certainly fits the bill in that regard.
2) Choosing Travis Kelce Over Tyreek Hill
We’re not going to specifically laud the Tyreek Hill trade, as it would have been borderline impossible to ever get proper value for such a talent. But with difficult salary cap decisions looming, Veach needed to make a choice.
Kansas City’s stars were up for extensions at more or less the same time, and after making the non-decision to prioritize Mahomes, Veach made the call of which superstar skill player to hang on to in the long term.
While Travis Kelce had just recently signed an extension that kept him in Kansas City through 2025, Hill had just one year remaining on his contract at the time. As a result, the decision to choose Kelce over Hill came down to both contract and trade value.
Both Hill and Kelce were hugely important to Kansas City. But as a younger player at a higher-value position with a seemingly more unique skill set, Hill netted Kansas City a hefty bundle of draft picks.
Although we’ll technically never know what a Kelce trade would have yielded, it probably wouldn’t have been as significant.
Hill has been fantastically productive in Miami (more than he ever was with the Chiefs), but Kansas City has won both Super Bowls played since the trade, with Kelce playing an enormous role in both postseasons.
We’ll never know for sure what would have happened had Kelce been kicked out and Hill retained, but with back-to-back rings, it’s hard to call Veach’s decision anything other than a slam dunk.
3) Drafting Creed Humphrey in Round 2
Like Mahomes, Creed Humphrey wasn’t exactly a hidden gem relative to position and draft slot. But even on draft day, he was viewed as a tremendous value for the Chiefs.
After receiving a first-round grade from many evaluators, Kansas City snagged Humphrey near the end of the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Humphrey was the third center selected in that draft but has since blossomed into arguably the best in the NFL. He recently signed the richest contract for any center in NFL history, and despite the distance by which he passed second place, few voices around the league are calling it an overpay.
That’s a testament to Humphrey’s tremendous level of play, and at just 25 years old, he could continue improving and producing for years to come.
4) Trading for Frank Clark
The Seahawks got a first-round pick, a second-rounder, and a third-round pick swap from the Chiefs in exchange for the veteran pass rusher, but they weren’t able to make much out of any of those selections. Meanwhile, Frank Clark blossomed in Kansas City, providing a foundational piece for two of their championship-winning squads.
Clark was absolutely vital to the 2019 Chiefs as Veach’s iteration of the team won its first ring. He recorded five postseason sacks after picking up three in five playoff games with Seattle.
Clark didn’t have as big of a performance in 2022, but he still secured 2.5 sacks in a huge AFC Championship Game win over the Bengals, bringing his career playoff total to 13.5, third most in NFL history.
5) Drafting L’Jarius Sneed in the Fourth Round
L’Jarius Sneed was traded to the Titans this offseason, but that shouldn’t diminish the role he’s played in the Chiefs’ dynasty, nor the move Veach made in bringing him to Kansas City.
As a prospect out of Louisiana Tech, Sneed slipped to the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, where Veach took him at No. 138 overall. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Sneed became a perennial starter for the Chiefs and was key in their back-to-back Super Bowl runs. Most notably, he forced a fumble by Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers just in front of the end zone late in last season’s AFC Championship Game, arguably the most important play of the entire year.
While he may be leaving Kansas City with a bit of bad blood between himself and the organization, his early career won’t soon be forgotten by the Chiefs Kingdom.