In Veach we trust; Examining the Chiefs GM's best moves to another Super Bowl
In Veach we trust; Examining the Chiefs GM's best moves to another Super Bowl
Just like last year, Veach deserves his flowers for a bunch of low-key moves that helped Kansas City win it all... again.
Brett Veach caught significantly more heat in 2023 than he did in 2022, particularly with one position group. But at the end of it all, the destination turned out to be the same, even if the path there looked very different. And that destination, of course, was the top of the NFL mountain, with a second consecutive Lombari Trophy being hoisted for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Winning it all in the NFL is incredibly hard. Of course, it helps to have a demigod at quarterback, the greatest tight end to ever play the game, and one of the greatest closers at pass rusher in NFL history… along with a Hall of Fame head coach. That creates something of a head start for any general manager.
But there are a lot of great quarterbacks never won back-to-back Super Bowls. There are plenty of incredible head coaches that rarely made it to the top of the mountain. And of course, numerous talented teams have fallen well short of the goal. Winning it all involves more than just having a few stars (even great one) or great coaching. It involves plenty of luck… and plenty of shrewd roster moves.
With that in mind, similar to what we did last year (I could get used to writing these post-Super-Bowl-win pieces, people), I want to talk about the best moves made by Veach that helped propel Kansas City across the finish line. A few (like drafting superbly several years in a row) will be repeats, but Veach made enough terrific moves (some that were heralded at the time, some more under the radar) that he deserves recognition for helping build the first back-to-back Super Bowl winner in two decades.
Let’s talk some Veach, who deserves his flowers for an overall superb job navigating the difficulties involved of winning it all twice in a row.