Originally Posted by GordonGekko:
The 'how bout those CHIEFS' guy said in recent video that Chiefs org insiders state that right now the plan to fix LT is bring in an LT vet and have them compete against an upcoming draft pick. That to me says the Chiefs are going to move up in the draft to select a viable LT option, they have the draft capital to do so.
I don't know who his 'Chiefs insiders' are but with about 300k subscribers I would think it would be someone somewhat close to the ground on this, could be total crapola.
Even the best Tackle in this draft will only be marginally better than Kingsley as a rookie. There is no Joe Alt in this draft. Move up wherever you want but still expect plenty of struggles. Joe Alt was far from perfect and he's one of the best prospects to come through in a decade. This move up for the guy just isnt that realistic. We don't have the ammo without sinking two drafts to get into the "sure fires" that still are about a 50% hit rate. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
That's reactive roster building. "Playing scared" so to speak.
It's an awful, awful plan.
"Well it might be hard to find a better solution at LT so lets just bring back a similar OL but make it a LOT more expensive..."
That cannot be the plan.
Because frankly, Smith in a vacuum wasn't worth the salary he'll command. He just wasn't that good this year. A top 15 guard, almost certainly. He MIGHT be one of the 20-25 best pass-blocking OGs in football.
And we couldn't run the ball for shit with him, so I'm not sure he moves the needle as much as we insist he does in the running game.
Set aside any cap considerations for a moment and just look at the player and the cost -- it's simply a bad decision. You don't pay top of the market money for a 2nd tier position and a guy who's -- generously -- top 10 there but with clear holes in his game (that happen to align really poorly with what we want to do).
The Chiefs shouldn't bring him back.
And the area where this team has gotten itself in the most trouble is with its own guys. Mostly they've been veterans they refuse to cut bait on (Sorensen, Watkins, Clark) but this would be similar. They cannot let inertia win here. If Trey Smith were a free agent from the Vikings looking for this contract, there's simply no way we'd give it to him.
And there's ZERO chance anyone here would support doing so or "see the logic in it".
This is a really bad decision.
I don't trust the reporting for that reason. That or it is little more than a PR play to lessen the sting if/when he leaves.
I hope you’re right. Cuz IMO, paying Smith is a bad decision.
And for the record, I love Veach. But it’s fair to point out the draft misses he’s made as we approach the draft. But remove the 22 draft and look at the picks we’ve made. Just seems a lot of wasted picks, and misses on players that would have helped. And yeah it’s hindsight, and I get it. I honestly wonder how much is on Andy Heck not being able to develop guys he’s given as far as OL goes. Just seems a lot of wasted picks on OL if not one of them can supplant Trey this upcoming season. [Reply]
Please don’t do this Veach. We've already wasted a TON of money on a fucking center and a RT who you thought could play LT but can't. We need an LT. Cant really do that when you throw the bag at Smith. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
When you're picking in the top 20 it's easy to say you're going to find a way to fix LT in the draft
At 31, I just don't see it. Massive gamble, lot of teams aren't going to take their call seriously.
So IF they do retain Smith, all I can say is it probably says they still like Kingsley at LT.
To your point -- yeah, it's REALLY hard to fix LT drafting at the back of every round.
But you know what isn't hard to fix? RG. And C. We already overpaid (IMO) to address the easiest position on the OL to address. Meanwhile the Eagles lost a guy who's considered possibly the best C of all time, replaced him with a 2nd rounder and won a SB when said replacement wasn't a notable drop-off for them.
They won't be so lucky when Lane Johnson retires.
And even if you like Kingsley at LT -- y'know what, RT is a nice little home as well and there's a decent chance that it's open for business in 2026 even if you lock in the LT with a veteran long-term.
Bringing back Smith makes so little sense to me that I just refuse to believe this is legit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
That's reactive roster building. "Playing scared" so to speak.
It's an awful, awful plan.
"Well it might be hard to find a better solution at LT so lets just bring back a similar OL but make it a LOT more expensive..."
That cannot be the plan.
Because frankly, Smith in a vacuum wasn't worth the salary he'll command. He just wasn't that good this year. A top 15 guard, almost certainly. He MIGHT be one of the 20-25 best pass-blocking OGs in football.
And we couldn't run the ball for shit with him, so I'm not sure he moves the needle as much as we insist he does in the running game.
Set aside any cap considerations for a moment and just look at the player and the cost -- it's simply a bad decision. You don't pay top of the market money for a 2nd tier position and a guy who's -- generously -- top 10 there but with clear holes in his game (that happen to align really poorly with what we want to do).
The Chiefs shouldn't bring him back.
And the area where this team has gotten itself in the most trouble is with its own guys. Mostly they've been veterans they refuse to cut bait on (Sorensen, Watkins, Clark) but this would be similar. They cannot let inertia win here. If Trey Smith were a free agent from the Vikings looking for this contract, there's simply no way we'd give it to him.
And there's ZERO chance anyone here would support doing so or "see the logic in it".
This is a really bad decision.
I don't trust the reporting for that reason. That or it is little more than a PR play to lessen the sting if/when he leaves.
I think there are outside factors here that we don’t consider.
I think the emotions of the SB are in play here. “We can’t let this happen again and we need to keep what good OL we have.”
That’s dangerous thinking but if you put yourself in place of Veach you would understand it. Doesn’t mean I agree with it, but I get the logic.
I think Mahomes is part of this too, which is why I think a vet LT is gonna be starting in September. Can’t really blame the guy tbh. Wanya and Kingsley were the young drafted players. Can you blame Mahomes for not wanting to do that shit again, especially after proving he could win SB’s with Orlando Brown Jr and Donovan Smith?
I still think Trey is leaving and Kingsley will take over at RG. Maybe this is just posturing. Who knows.
Those two are mutually exclusive in a cap environment.
You're very possibly facing the same sort of problem next season if you bring Smith back. That or you're going to end up greatly damaging your ability to build around the OL if you re-sign Smith AND sign someone like Robinson.
The 'emotions of the SB' simply CANNOT be in play here. Veach has done this for, what, 8 years now? He's won 3 championships. He can't let any setback be an excuse to be irrational.
And bringing Smith back would be completely irrational.
I'm going to hope that it's a smokescreen that helps facilitate a tag and trade to get us a pick on the 2nd day somewhere. Pretending that you want to retain him is nothing but a good thing both publicly and in terms of setting up potential trade dialogue.
But ACTUALLY wanting to bring him back would be lunacy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
"We need to keep the good OL we have"
"We can't let this happen again"
Those two are mutually exclusive in a cap environment.
You're very possibly facing the same sort of problem next season if you bring Smith back. That or you're going to end up greatly damaging your ability to build around the OL if you re-sign Smith AND sign someone like Robinson.
The 'emotions of the SB' simply CANNOT be in play here. Veach has done this for, what, 8 years now? He's won 3 championships. He can't let any setback be an excuse to be irrational.
And bringing Smith back would be completely irrational.
I'm going to hope that it's a smokescreen that helps facilitate a tag and trade to get us a pick on the 2nd day somewhere. Pretending that you want to retain him is nothing but a good thing both publicly and in terms of setting up potential trade dialogue.
But ACTUALLY wanting to bring him back would be lunacy.
We made OL a priority after the Tampa SB and axed a solid vet guard for a 6th round rookie.
I really don’t think Veach is dumb enough to confuse improving a position group and spending money [Reply]
Veach knows what Trey is and isn't worth. They have a deal that makes sense, and won't handicap them in free agency. Veach knows LT is the LARGEST problem to solve. And as said in other threads, KC's cap situation in 2026 looks to be very favorable.
Maybe Smith is a guy that's willing to take a longer deal, with a cap friendly hit in 2025 to stay home. You just never know. Not every player likes to uproot and leave for a sub .500 team...even if the dollars are better. [Reply]
Yup this is happening. And I would take overpaying Trey Smith instead of Nick fucking Bolton any day without blinking.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach says this is a deep running back class, but adds: "In general, I think it's more of a defensive draft." Mentioned the defensive line and linebacker groups as deep.