If I were Brett Veach, Part 1; Fun with the Chiefs salary cap

We start our yearly series looking at how I would handle the Chiefs' offseason if I were the GM, with a look at some potential cap savings.

Well, that was fun.

After spending the last several weeks celebrating multiple facets of the Chiefs emerging victorious in Super Bowl LVII (from Andy Reid’s legacy to the offensive line dominating to the linebackers standing out to Mahomes being close to flawless to Brett Veach’s handiwork in getting the team there… like I said, a lot), we’ve had more than our share of fun here recently.

Seth Keysor @RealMNchiefsfan

No mistakes. I wrote about how Patrick Mahomes left virtually no meat on the bone in the Super Bowl, taking every yard PHI's defense gave him and then creating when there was none to take. He's a shapeshifter, playing QB however it's necessary to win.

mnchiefsfan.substack.comPatrick Mahomes Super Bowl film review: No mistakesMahomes was as close to flawless as it gets in guiding the Chiefs to their 2nd Super Bowl in 4 years, making plays when necessary while avoiding costly mistakes.

That said, the NFL waits for no one, and it’s time to start turning our attention to the offseason.

And let’s face it, talking about the offseason is always fun, especially after a Super Bowl win (isn’t it a marvelous thing to know that, Chiefs fans?).

With that in mind, it’s time to start our annual tradition in which I place myself in the shoes of the Chiefs’ general manager and make a plan for the offseason. It’s something I do every year, and I have a great deal of fun with it. Last year, it was a FIVE PART series that ranged from salary cap moves to in-house free agents to guys to bring in to the draft. I cannot wait to dive into it. But first, a quick road map for the offseason plans here at the Chief in the North Newsletter.

The arrival of the offseason of course brings an opportunity to do more in-depth film reviews on current (and potential) players, so we’ll be doing that here, along with the “If I were Brett Veach” series. That’s something that will be interspersed throughout the entirety of the offseason. But, of course, we have to keep up with the NFL calendar There’s a LOT to ground to cover before teams can start negotiating with players on March 13, and I’m also sure that the Chiefs will bring in some names that will require reviews of their own (like last year’s piece on Justin Reid, for example).

And then, of course, there’s the draft. This year I’ll bring back my “know your draft crush” series and try to write about as many prospects as possible prior to the draft, probably focusing on a position group depending on the moves the Chiefs make in the meantime. Last year it was wide receivers, the year before it was offensive tackles. And I had a ball with both. Once the draft is over and we reach the “dead” time of the season, we’ll crank up some more film reviews and discussions about what the team may look like in 2023/24.

That said, it’s time to kick off “if I were Brett Veach,” starting with salary cap-related moves I would make to get the Chiefs where they need to be heading into free agency. While on paper they’re up against the cap, in practice they have plenty of breathing room to work with.