GENERAL MANAGER BRETT VEACH
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good to see everyone. Exciting to be back here in Indianapolis for the combine. As always, I want to start off by thanking (President of National Football Scouting) Jeff Foster and his amazing crew at NFS (National Football Scouting). Every year it seems like they run this event more and more efficiently and again, we can’t thank them enough for their help. Certainly, (I) want to thank my college staff and pro staff for all the work they’ve done all year and additionally, the coaches. We’ve been fortunate over the last four-or-five years that we haven’t seen the coaches until we got to the combine so (I) certainly, want to thank them for the extra work and helping us prepare our 2026 game plan. With that, we’re excited to get a chance to meet and study these players even more and get with some agents on our players and again, help kick off this 2026 season. Time’s yours.”
Q: Where are you at with Trent McDuffie and contract discussions?
VEACH: “We’ve had a lot of dialogue with Trent (McDuffie) last spring (and) last summer. He’s first out of the gate tomorrow so, (we’re) looking forward to get with him. Obviously, Trent’s a great player and see what we can do there, but we’d certainly love to have Trent back for the long term.”
Q: How does having the ninth pick in the draft change your approach this year?
VEACH: “It’s funny, every year when we were picking 31 and 32, I’d always say, ‘Man, if we were just at (pick) 24 or 25, we’d be exactly where we want to be.’ Now, we’re at nine and I’m like, ‘Man, if we were just at (pick) four (or) five, we’d be exactly where we want to be. I think every GM kind of has that mindset where unless you have the first pick, there’s a certain element that you can’t control, and you have to let the dominoes fall, if you will. We’re excited – we don’t want to picking nine every year but we’re excited to add some young talent to this roster and I think even more excitingly, those second and third rounds where we felt like (in) years past, day one would end and we would come in there and there would be five-or-six players but you knew at 32 in round two you wouldn’t get them either. It’s not just the first round; I think we have an opportunity to really capitalize here and add a lot of talent throughout the course of the draft weekend.”
Q: Where are you guys at with Travis Kelce and how do you plan for either decision?
VEACH: “I think we’ve kind of taken a different approach with Travis (Kelce) in the sense that we’ve prepared for either scenario. (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) had mentioned on Friday (that) he’s had great dialogue with Travis. On our end, myself, (Assistant General Manager) Chris Shea and Travis’ crew we’ve had some good dialogue there. I’m sure we’re going to see him here just like we will all the other players’ agents and we’ll continue that dialogue. Travis is the best, he’s an icon and hopefully he comes back and we’ll just let that process play out.”
Q: On what his conversations with Travis Kelce entail.
VEACH: “It’s a combination of all of those. It’s not your typical – hey, 27-year-old first time in free agency. Travis (Kelce) has done everything, he’s accomplished everything – he’s about to get married, he’s got a lot going on. So, I don’t think there’s an element of us not trying to – you need some sort of deadline (or) timeline but at the same time, it’s Travis Kelce so we’re just going to continue to have positive dialogue and see where this thing ends. I think we’re trying to position ourselves that either way, we have a plan moving forward.”
Q: Where do you view the biggest weakness heading into this season on offense and how can you protect Patrick Mahomes coming off a torn ACL?
VEACH: “Certainly, we want to get more explosive in the running game. We’ve invested in that interior with Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey, two of the best in the league and we thought Kingsley (Suamataia) made a big step. Those are three talented interior players. We’ve talked about it and (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) has done an amazing job with his staff cranking on that scheme eval, but I think being more explosive in the running game and really taking advantage of those interior three to impose your will on an opposing team’s defense. The running game takes a lot of pressure off of everybody so I think if we can be more explosive and more effective in the running game – obviously – we take a lot of pressure off Pat (Mahomes) especially coming back early in the season with an injury.”
Q: How realistic is it for you to resign Bryan Cook and Jaylen Watson?
VEACH: “Everything’s a puzzle. I think – with a lot of our players, I don’t think that there’s any one of our free agents that we look, and we say, ‘We don’t want these guys back.’ They’re really good players and (we) won a lot of games with them. It’s just a matter of trying to put the puzzle together and what else is going to be out there, their price points and fitting the whole thing together. What we do is we just remain in contact and keep that dialogue open but all those players that you had mention – or even didn’t mention – any of the (Leo) Chenal’s, the (Bryan) Cook’s (and) the (Jaylen) Watson’s. All these guys we’re monitoring and we’re trying to get as many back as we can. Obviously, it’s unrealistic to think you will, but we have to be able to go in different directions. There’s some times where you don’t think a guy’s going to come back here and all of a sudden, because you either didn’t execute something or someone else took a different deal, things open back up. I think you need to remain flexible and fluid during these situations but always have layers of backup plans when you enter this part of the season.”
Q: Are contracts that award availability, typically in bonuses, on the rise?
VEACH: “I think it’s on the rise to a degree, but typically the better you are and the higher profile you are, the less leverage you have sometimes. Then those players follow suit with other players, and everyone does the same thing. I think it’s always been the case where it varies when you get to the degree of each and every player. That’s a good question; I don’t know to what percent – is it on the rise. I know it’s something that all teams utilize and we do as well and a lot of it comes down to the caliber of player or the tier of player.”
Q: Are you doing it more in Kansas City?
VEACH: “We’re doing it when we can. That’s just one of those things we do, especially with the guys that have a little bit more injury history and there has to be a trade-off, too. If you’re going to give some guy a contract and there is a bit of that injury question. We always try to implement that. I think it varies by player and position.”
Q: On NIL in college athletics and how they evaluate prospects when they are getting paid in college.
VEACH: “You see it when you look at – when we go through these prospects, and we’re looking at the tags, and you see their birthdates and then you look at your roster, and a lot of those guys are just as young as these guys and then it trickles down. You also see it too – when the official decision date for these underclassmen came out, I believe we moved over 25 guys off our board that we had top 75 (or) top 100. It really impacts the draft and then you’re getting older prospects as you go on. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon and that’s something that we have to adapt to until there’s some wholesale changes on what they do on the college side. I think this is just going to be the way things work now and it’s for us to adapt and adjust to it and position yourself to get some of the younger players that have a little bit more growth. Typically, the second and third round would be those guys that maybe they didn’t play a lot but they’re young. Well, now these guys are just bouncing and getting paid by another school and getting paid and playing. It’s a little bit (of) that two, three (and) four round where you have the younger, developmental guys that haven’t scratched the surface yet – you’re getting a little bit more already finished product, so that’s challenging. I think it’s – again, what we have to adapt to, and that goes into how you position your board, when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive.”
Q: Do you see the same level of hunger from prospects?
VEACH: “Yeah. I mean, part of the process is to just find guys that love to play and love the process. If you’re drafting guys too, your goal is to ultimately pay them and have them still come back with the desire and hunger like the (Patrick) Mahomes’, the Creed’s (Humphrey) and the Trey’s (Smith) and so I don’t think I’ve seen a dip off in that. I do see just the talent pool shrinking.”
Q: Is there optimism to keep Jawaan Taylor despite his contract?
VEACH: “With Jawaan (Taylor) – Mike Danna was a little unique and different. Mike Danna was in the building this week. I had a chance to talk to Mike and you guys know Mike, he’s as good as it gets (and) just a tremendous player and person and I have a lot of respect for him. (I) wanted to have that opportunity – since I saw him this weekend – to let him go out there and see what his market is and we’ll remain in contact. I think with guys like Jawaan and Drue Tranquill – someone asked me about earlier – these guys started for us, and they’ve played a lot of football for us and again our cap situation I don’t know if we’re six or seven (million) over, but I think we have 60 million in convertible contracts, too. We have many different ways to attack this, and I think that’s the one thing we’ve been good at and we don’t do a lot of money pushed down to future years and I think we run a pretty tight ship there. This gives us flexibility to do different things. Again, that’s part of the process with all of those guys and we’ll see how the scenarios shake out.”
Q: What’s the secret to balancing the work ethic and quality of work in the Chiefs facility?
VEACH: “That’s a better question for (Head Coach) Andy (Reid), but the one thing that Andy takes a lot of pride and joy in I think is – we always talk about the coach and all of the accomplishments on the field, but Andy’s one of those guys that really finds value in the day-to-day interactions with his staff and with his coaches. He uses every moment as a teachable moment. Obviously, his kids are involved, his family’s close (and) they’re all a part of it but that work life balance – the work is done in the facility but also the life balance is done in the facility with the way he mentors everyone, the coaches, the players – his family is a part of it. Just a unique individual and you don’t run into people like that very often, that their work becomes them, but they give so much on and off the field.”
Q: Outside of medical, what could change your draft board?
VEACH: “Talking football. Every position group is different, right? I’m sure most GMs would tell you that and most coaching staffs will tell you that. There are certain positions – how they process information. Now look, this is only 20 minutes so we’re not going to throw a kid up there or destroy a kid, but it’s a start. Then, you have your informal time here, you have potentially formal time here, you have Zoom opportunities now and then you have in-house 30 visits and our coach can go visit them. I think sometimes when there’s a question, I don’t think anything’s determined here, I think it’s part of the process. We had a couple of guys yesterday, with just the football knowledge stuff we weren’t sure on, they nailed it and we were really impressed. (It’s) only 20 minutes so on the other side there, we’re going to make sure that is what it is. Our college scouts do a great job of painting the picture and having me, the coaching staff and everyone in that room prepped for – here’s the player and here’s the background situation, here’s where he’s from and here are the things – some these guys are smart, they just don’t articulate it well. It’s just seeing the whole puzzle piece come together. Like I said, I don’t think we take a bunch of names off but it’s just a pathway to keep digging and get as much information as possible.”
Q: How do you value using a first-round pick on a running back?
VEACH: “I mean, it’s a great question and I think there’s the old school – I mean you’re always going to (look at) o-line (and) d-line – those positional values are there (and) you see them in free agency. But at the same time, I mean arguably some of the best players in this draft are maybe at non-premium position when you look at the Ohio State linebacker (Arvell Reese), the Notre Dame running back (Jeremiyah Love), the safety at Ohio State (Caleb Downs) and those are really, really good players it’s hard to find faults with their tape, I rarely saw it. Again, some of those more premium positions (like) interior d-line (and) edge rushers, they’re hard to find. With those guys – the problem with those guys is they’re hard to find and then they don’t really become available in free agency. Some of those other positions, they’re good players, you’ll probably eventually get a chance to get some of those positions in free agency. That’s the thing you just have to go through and weigh out all the options. But at the end of the day, I think when a guy is going to come in here and be a great contributor on the field (and) off the field, stick to that old mantra and take the best player available, right?”
Q: How do you characterize this year and what you have to work through with the cap?