At least one General Manager is expecting some significant movement during the first round of the draft next week.
Chiefs G.M. Brett Veach told reporters in his pre-draft video conference on Thursday that he’s anticipating several deals happening on Thursday night.
“I think it should be an entertaining night. There will probably be a lot of trades,” Veach said. “And I think that’s what a draft like this — when you don’t have two or three franchise quarterbacks — I think it does lend itself to [opening] up to a lot of fun and a lot of excitement. So, I think from a fan’s perspective, they should have a lot of fun next Thursday.”
Why so many deals?
“[T]he grades are going to be so close from some of these tackles, D-ends, and other positions — receivers — that a lot of those guys that are mocked high may go a little lower and a lot of these guys that are getting mocked lower may go a little higher because I think they’re so close this year,” Veach said. “It’s not this huge gap and big fall off.”
With two first-round picks in tow at No. 9 and No. 29 overall, the Chiefs could be one of those teams to move around the draft board. Kansas City currently has nine selections — two in the first round, one in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and one in the sixth.
“The more picks you have, the more fluid you can be,” Veach said. “When you enter a draft and you only have a few picks, you’re kind of sandwiched in, and the ability to trade up is limited. … This is unique because we still have a volume of picks but we’re at [No.] 9 and [No.] 29. So I think there’s ability to maybe move back at 9 and maybe up at 29. Or maybe move up at [9], and back at 29. So I think, like the ’22 draft, it’s exciting because you come in there with flexibility. But I also think there’s even more flexibility.”
The Chiefs used their two first-round picks in 2022 to select Trent McDuffie at No. 21 overall and George Karlaftis at No. 30. We’ll see what kind of haul the team can get this year next week.
