Read what Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said on Thursday about the upcoming NFL Draft.
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good to see everybody again, it’s been a while. (I am) certainly excited for next Thursday (the 2023 NFL Draft). I know the entire organization is looking forward to seeing the show that Kansas City puts on, I’m sure it’ll be a great show. (There’s) been a lot of buzz around the city (and) a lot of excitement around the building. Before we get started, I certainly want to thank my staff for all (of) their hard work. Since that Super Bowl parade, it’s been Combine meetings, Combine, free agency (and) back to combine meetings and they’ve really been putting in the extra work up there, along with the coaching staff so (I) can’t thank them enough. And again, (I) look forward to next week and with that, we’ll open it up for questions.”
Q: Can you go into the major free agents that you signed and what you like about them? What made you think that they would be a good fit here?
VEACH: “Yeah, certainly all good players. Starting off first with Jawaan Taylor, (he’s) a guy that we liked from his days in college at Florida. (He’s) a really, really athletic player. As we all know, he played right tackle at Florida, predominantly – he had some snaps at left tackle (but) played right tackle in the NFL. But he’s a guy athletically – I mean he’s long, quick feet, a really, really efficient pass protector and I think it wasn’t a secret that once free agency started, a tackle was at the top of that list and I think we have great flexibility with him. He certainly wants the opportunity to play left, but if we were to draft a left tackle, I mean, we know what Jawaan’s tape looks like at right tackle, so (we were) excited to get him. With Charles (Omenihu), having our roster set up where we’re losing some guys at the time, you know, we’ll see if some of those guys are still out there, but like Frank (Clark), Carlos (Dunlap) and Khalen (Saunders), we were a little depleted on the defensive line, so I think Charles was a guy that really made a lot of sense for us. He can play a lot of base end on early run downs but I think the thing that really appealed to us was his inside pass rush ability. He’s long, he’s athletic and again, we just feel like pairing him with Chris Jones inside on third down is something that will be really beneficial for us. Then you get to Mike Edwards. Mike Edwards was a guy that we actually have a lot of familiarity with. A couple of years ago, when (former Linebackers Coach and current LSU Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach) Matt House was here, we brought him from Kentucky – he was a DC (Defensive Coordinator) at Kentucky (and) he coached Mike Edwards and since then – Matt’s now down at LSU (Louisiana State University). Once we started this free agency process, we talked to Matt and (we were) recalling his days at Kentucky (and) just the scheme fit here and even though (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags doesn’t run exactly what Matt did in Kentucky, there’s a lot of carry over. From an X and O’s standpoint that just fit the bill with (Browns S) Juan (Thornhill) leaving here (and) we wanted a third safety. It made a lot of sense. And then the last one, sometimes it’s just really good value with Drue Tranquill. I don’t know if we went into free agency saying linebacker was a super high priority – I think we probably focused on the O- and D-line, predominantly. But then as free agency goes, there’s always some guys that for some reason they’re just out there and they’re really good players and we just picked up communication because Drue Tranquill actually has the same agent as (Patriots WR) JuJu (Smith-Schuster). So when we we’re trying to work through that JuJu situation (and) once we congratulated JuJu’s crew and his team of agents, we we’re made aware that Drue Tranquill was still out there and having had a lot of experience playing against him (we) knew how good he was. (He’s) a guy that can play all three (linebacker) positions. He can play Mike, he can wear the green dot and back up (Nick) Bolton, he can play some Will and he can play some on the line of scrimmage. (He’s) a great blitzer (and) great in pass coverage. I think all four of those guys made sense for us and I think they’ll be really key additions.”
Q: What about Richie James?
VEACH: “Richie James, too. Again, he’s a guy that played with (Giants Offensive Coordinator) Mike Kafka last year in that (Giants Head Coach Brian) Daboll offense in New York (with the Giants). (He’s) a versatile player, you can move him around a lot, (he’s) a Middle Tennessee State guy that we liked. Actually, I think a few years ago, there was a trading deadline period when he was with the (San Francisco 49ers) Niners, I think we actually tried to trade for him. One of those waiver wire cut day deals, but I’ve always liked the player. I think he’s a very versatile guy and he also does punt returns too, so he can take some pressure off of KT (Kadarius Toney) or Skyy (Moore) or whoever is back there. Just having another guy is something that we think is a plus.”
Q: How tough would it be to trade out of the first round with the Draft being in Kansas City?
VEACH: “I don’t think it would be hard at all. I know it was a lot of joking about (Chairman & CEO) Clark (Hunt) saying, ‘You can’t trade a pick’ and listen, maybe there was some truth to it (laughter). But I think that applied more in the offseason or last summer – you know, we’re here now. So I think a trade down is a part of the Draft and it gives people more of a reason to come back on Friday and see us do even more work. I think we’re at the party now, so it’s all up in the air and I think anything’s a possibility.”
Q: When it comes to the Draft, where do you see the value in this draft class?
VEACH: “I think it’s a good defensive back class. I think it’s a lot of corners. I think it’s – every year you go to the Combine and you have a group of guys in (Round) 1 and a group of guys in (Round) 2 and then usually they kind of work themselves up either higher on a tier or lower on a tier. And it seems like all those guys in that second wave of corners went to the Combine and ran a 4.3. The numbers were crazy. These are all big, athletic, fast corners. I think it’s a really good draft in the defensive back field (and) I think there’s depth late in the linebacker position (and the) tight end class is good. It’s on how you see the (draft) board and every team will see it differently. I think it may be viewed to some teams as really deep because if you need a DB, I think you’ll think it’s a really good class and if you’re pretty good at that position then you might say that it’s a thin class. But like every year, I mean, there will be chances and opportunities to get guys in certain different rounds that make a lot of sense and (you can) get really good value on so we just have to be on point with our board like we have been in the past.”
Q: What do you make of this wide receiver situation as it stands and this year’s class?
VEACH: “I think it’s like a lot of these positions. I think that you always are looking to get more talent and get deeper. There’s a lot of players that we like. Certainly MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling), Skyy, Toney, (we) brought Justin Watson back (and signed) Richie James. So, we have really good players, and we can certainly go out there and line up and win games but I’d say the same about the offensive line, the defensive line and the receiver position. We’re always looking to get deeper and more athletic and more talented. I mean, we’re happy with the guys that we have but like every team in this Draft, we can find ways to make our team better.”
Q: How did Zay Flowers working out with Patrick Mahomes in Texas come about?
VEACH: “I think it has more to do with the power of Pat Mahomes. It’s funny because these guys are working out all over the country and I think it’s no secret Pat’s down there on a college campus and he’s working out with pro players from other teams, he’s working out with college players (and) I think some high school players are there. So these good players and the agents, they know where the good players are and they connect and they have a workout. I don’t think it was a secret. It wasn’t like it was a private indoor facility that was closed off to the public. I think there’s a documentary about Patrick going on right now so there’s a lot of cameras there but no, it’s just a really good job by the agent and the player just getting in contact with those guys and getting in the throwing lines. I think it was really smart by the kid (Zay Flowers) and the agent. But Pat has a lot of fun with that. I think it’s really cool that he’s welcoming to all these guys. Whether it be other players from other pro teams, college (and) even high school guys. It’s pretty cool that those guys get to say that they threw with Pat Mahomes.”
Q: What’s Mahomes’ advice about Flowers? Draft him?
VEACH: “He has fun with all those guys (laughter). I mean, I don’t know how much you can get from a 20-minute throwing session. (He) looked quick – you know. (He) was in shape but no, he likes it. And I think it was couple of quarterbacks. The Niners had a quarterback down there too. I think with players like that – you see him work out at the Pro Day (and) at the Combine (and) I think it speaks more about the kid just wanting to be around great players so that’s certainly a positive.”
Q: How do you see the right tackle position playing out? Can you speak about Lucas Niang, Prince Tega Wanogho and Darian Kinnard?
VEACH: “Yeah, I think that’s how we see it, Pete (Sweeney). You know we have a lot of hopes for Lucas (Niang) and he was a guy that actually won that starting right tackle position and then he got hurt. It’s been a little bit of an uphill battle. He had a pretty bad injury there, but he has worked phenomenally to get in shape and (Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance) Rick (Burkholder) and his staff have done a great job of continuing to get him in the right positions to go out there and be productive and Prince (Tega Wanogho) is a guy that has always kind of steadily grown every year he’s been here. And I think (Darian) Kinnard, you know, I’m excited for him, and I think he’ll have a chance to play some tackle. We certainly think he has flex, and he may end up ultimately being a better guard. He’s played right tackle in the past, and he was a guy that struggled a little early on, but I think toward the end of training camp there and throughout the season – you guys probably don’t get to see it as much during the season – but he’s, I think, grown rapidly over the last few months. I know (Offensive Line) Coach (Andy) Heck is really excited for where he is and again I think he’s a guy that has flexibility so he’ll probably get reps at both guard and tackle there, but between those three guys we have three solid guys that can go in there and compete and I’m sure we’ll look to continue to add depth all across that offensive line.”
Q: You haven’t had a “miss” in the Draft, really. Does that allow you to be less conservative?
VEACH: “That’s a good question, I think we’ll have a list of guys that you know we’ll feel like we want to be aggressive on and if it works out number wise, I think we’ll sit there at (pick) 31 and we’ll have a few guys and if they’re there and we think it’s a range reasonable where we’re not giving up a ton – I can’t see us trading up too high in the draft or anything like that but if there’s a guy that we really like and we’re in that range and we’ll sit here in the next few days and determine what range we feel is comfortable for us. We’ll sit there and potentially make that move and we’ll be content with staying there. I’m sure there’ll be a good player there at 31 and certainly be open to trading back if all of those guys that we had in mind are gone so I think we’ll kind of see how it goes and these things change so quickly and so fluidly. But I don’t think we’d be opposed to being aggressive if we felt the player warranted (it).”
Q: Regarding the NFLPA report. Do you ever have an agent report that a player is taking things such as the facility into consideration during a deal? How often does that happen or is it more just a numbers game?
VEACH: “It’s probably all dollars. I honestly can’t sit here and say an agent has ever said, ‘Could go either way but, you know, you guys need a new indoor’ (laughter). I don’t think that ever happens. I think what attracts players and agents here is coach and quarterback and I think GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and I think the great fans that we have. I think that agents may not see the indoor complex and may not know how to tier or stack that but they see GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and the experience there, so I think when you have that stadium, the quarterback and the coach, I think we do ok with those kind of competitive battles.”
Q: Do you anticipate exercising your option on Clyde Edwards-Helaire?
VEACH: “I mean we have some time here. We’ll see. I just think we’ll go through the Draft and handle our business and make smart decisions like we always do. I don’t think we’ve reached a decision on anything yet but safe to say that once we get through the Draft, we’ll look at our board and look at our offseason business that we have to attend to, some different players and contract stuff and we’ll handle all that after the Draft.”
Q: With everything you’ve done with Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and now adding Defensive Line Coach Joe Cullen into the mix, what traits do you like to see from defensive linemen? How much is versatility a factor?
VEACH: “Yeah, versatility is high on the list. Really all across the board on both sides of the football at every position. Receivers that can play inside and outside and tight ends that can be difference makers in the pass game but also block and as you mentioned with Steve, the intelligence factor though. Every coach wants smart players, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a coach that puts that premium at the highest level. He wants guys – he wants to do a lot of different things – very much like (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) on the offensive side. I mean he wants to do a lot of different things. He wants to give a lot of different looks, he wants to disguise a lot of different coverages and he wants his guys to be all on the same page and all in tune and be ready to fly and be here and play fast but I mean obviously there would be certain traits with running his scheme. Playing four-down, being long, athletic and what have you but certainly just the intelligence factor and the standard that we set there – makes it tricky a little bit in the Draft because like Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis are great examples. I mean those guys are great players, but those guys could be coaches down the line, they’re so smart and so dedicated but no, Steve likes guys that are tough and are still smart and certainly want to come to work every day.”
Q: Did you feel that you were going to really be stacked numbers at defensive back last year? Was that a strategic maneuver and what did you learn from that that you could apply going forward?
VEACH: “Yeah, I think it was kind of a mindset. I think we value that position and I know there was some joking that we didn’t value that position and we’ll just find them late and I think it really speaks more to us. Listen – it’s a good problem to have – but we pick late and sometimes those corners aren’t there. Either the Draft doesn’t have the numbers or the guys that fall later in Rounds 1 or 2 just maybe for some reason don’t fit our medical or character but I think it just kind of doubled down on the mindset that we have that it is important and you do have to throw numbers at this and lets really go to work on these fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh rounds and there are other players at other positions that for some reason or the other it just didn’t work out at corner, if we have opportunities like we did last year with McDuffie we’re going to do it because we value that position. If we’re unable to get a corner, we know how hard those guys are to find, how expensive they are in free agency so yeah, I think that was part of the process. Let’s throw numbers at this and let’s work with the coaches and let’s take a look at corners and lets really condense those numbers down and have really dialogue here and not be afraid to take multiple guys.”
Q: How much does that apply to other positions in terms of getting to the later rounds and look at what you drafted in the earlier rounds? Are you willing to have that mindset all across the board?
VEACH: “Oh yeah. I think the premium positions, O-line, D-line, corners, I think all those guys. But also, too, I think it works in tandem with the Draft and how deep these positions are throughout the board and last year it was the running back position – there were a ton – so we just felt like there were more opportunities to get guys that we had valued in Rounds 5 and 6 and the seventh round just because the numbers suggested so I think it’s working with the premium positions and it’s also working with the numbers. So, you’re going to prioritize throwing numbers at O-line, D-line, corner but when you also notice that position group like I said, running back last year is super deep, there’s probably going to be guys that you have fifth-round talent, maybe even low four, that are there in seven so it think (it’s) kind of a matter of working through all the information that the board kind of explains to you.”
Q: On reworking Mahomes contract in the future as a result of new franchise quarterback contracts.
VEACH: “We have a special relationship with him and his agent. We’re in constant communication, as you mentioned, Pete (Sweeney). It’s one of those things, and I think Coach (Reid) hinted on this, his last press conference, as soon as one guy gets done it’s kind of the blue print and the model and two years later, it’s jumped and exceeded but I think that this organization and the relationship that with have with Pat, we’ll always be working to make sure that we’re doing right by everybody. There will be a couple more contracts that still have to be done (Bengals QB Joe) Burrow and (Chargers QB Justin) Herbert and once they do, I think we’ll kind of look at everything and assess were you are and what you can do and take it from there.”
Q: How much did you follow the NFL Draft back when you were a kid? How did you follow it?
VEACH: “It was a lot of fun and that was something that I think everyone kid looked forward to in Draft day and doing the mock drafts. I think I told you guys before we still look at mock drafts, I mean who doesn’t look at mock drafts? One of the best parts about the whole process here is logging online and checking out different mocks and who has who going where. We have a lot of fun with it and it sparks a lot of debate. Kind of those, ‘Who’s going to go first and how many of a certain position will go in a certain round and what have you.’ But yeah, it was a lot of fun. My friends always remind me of it, to this day I like when we’re on the clock and I get a text from a hometown friend telling what to do (laughter) so that’s always good.”
Q: What’s your sense on how the NFL Draft has evolved over time?
VEACH: “Well it’s one of those things where it’s like, you know, Vahe (Gregorian), I don’t know if I ever thought about it but you kind of throw that question out there it’s just absolutely amazing from where this has gone to now traveling all over (and) across the country and allowing cities to put on a great performance. I think it’s cool because not every city can have a Super Bowl just because of how big that is but they can have a part of this NFL experience with different things and this Draft is really cool. I think it’s going to be really great for the kids and there’s going to be a lot of kids that come out there and get to do a lot of cool things with the NFL Experience. They’re going to have the 40-yard dashes and all the (Super Bowl) rings and there will certainly be a kid out there in the crowd (next week) that will either be a player or a front office member one day and I think they will probably use this experience that the NFL has provided to really spark that interest.”
Q: Would you have gone to this NFL Draft?
VEACH: “Yes, absolutely. I would have been there all three days and I would have been trying to network to see if I can get tickets, for sure.”
Q: Would you be the guy booing if the Chiefs picked someone you didn’t like?
VEACH: “Probably, yeah (laughter).”
Q: What round do you begin to question other team’s decisions with players you would not pick per talent?
VEACH: “Usually it gets, every now and then there’s maybe and look, maybe teams that say that about us right, but I would say every year it definitely starts in the third round. I would say for the most part, the first 50 guys are probably consensus guys. I think once you get past 50, there is a smaller deviation but then once you get to the third round it’s all bets off and there’s guys that we have in the seventh round that go top of three and vice versa. For sure the third round, and then every year there’s always probably a couple guys that we probably have in three or four, go in two, early two or something like that. That happens. I don’t think it’s a rarity and like I said, I am sure there are guys that we probably drafted in the second or third rounds that teams had lower so I would just say from a volume standpoint, I think you really start to see it starting with the third round. You’ll get some curveballs here or there in Rounds 1 or 2, but the numbers aren’t super high…and plus really quick with that, I think, it may have been more likely back in the day, but now with social media and all the mocks, there’s no secrets anymore. Some guys that you think that, ‘This guy’s going to be a seal here in three,’ it’s like by the whole time the process ends, it’s consensus across social media that this guy is going in one. I think, and maybe it doesn’t necessarily mean a guy jumps from three to one, but the guy is not a sleeper, or what have you or a small school guy. There’s just so much coverage in every aspect of this. I mean the Pro Days get live networks coming down there doing live feed so there’s not a lot of secrets, so it’s been less over the years.”
Q: What intangibles and characteristics are you looking for in a player if you plan on trading up in the NFL Draft?
VEACH: “Well I think it’s the intangibles and the characteristics, I think all that is done as we are setting the board. In regards on the aggressive scale how aggressive we are, it’s just how we feel about that player. The player and the values, that’s a part of the make-up, the versatility, the character, the work ethic. That all incapsulates what we feel about this player and where he is and then once he’s locked in on that board, if he’s in that range and we’re in the zone where we think we can’t get him or he won’t make it to us, that determines kind of our aggressiveness or our level of aggressiveness.”
Q: What are your expectations for Kadarius Toney for this upcoming season?
VEACH: “Yeah, I mean he’s down there with Pat. He’s one of these guys that were down there (in Texas) throwing. Talent wise, it’s up there. He’s really good. He can do anything. He’s predominately been a guy that is a slot receiver, returner, runner, gadget guy if you will but I don’t know if there is a limit on his game because he has a vertical game. I think we seen a little in the regular season Jacksonville game that his time in college, I don’t know if they were a team that vertically pushed the ball down the field and his time early on in New York (Giants), I don’t know if they were a team that really vertically pushed the ball down the field. I mean, it’s a fair question to say has he ever played with a quarterback that likes to push the ball down the field? Now we got him in here in the middle of the season and so there’s only so much you can do with him. I don’t think he’s limited to a specific role and just like it is with all these players just staying healthy and getting through camp. He’s extremely smart though so it’s not going to be anything (with) grasping ideas or concepts. I mean this kid is really smart and we were surprised with how quickly he picked up. I mean some guys it takes a year or two but listen we condensed it because we were in the middle of the season, there is only so much you can do and get him on board with. He picked up that stuff up really easy. I mean listen, we have a lot of high hopes for him. I mean he was a first-round pick for a reason. There’s a reason why we traded for him and we felt like he was first-round talent and I think if he stays healthy and continues to spend that chemistry with the coaching staff and with Pat, which I think he is doing a great job at, I think the sky is the limit for him.”
Q: What do “Top 30” visits do for you and your staff in terms of potentially swinging a guy closer up the board or down the board? Can you go through why that last step is needed?
VEACH: “Yeah, Nate (Taylor), I think the first part you hit on, most of these guys we’re bringing in weren’t invited to the Combine. The great part about the Combine is you get to interview the guys, you get to work them out, but they go through pretty extensive medical (evaluations). The guys that don’t get invited, you don’t really have anything, you don’t have any updated imaging on them or MRIs, x-rays, what have you. So, all these guys that we think are draftable prospects, I think, ‘First, let’s bring them in.’ But then there’s also a handful of guys that we like and maybe we just didn’t get a great first impression on when we met with them at the Combine, so we like to spend that time to just cross our T’s and dot our I’s. And there’s been times where we bring guys in and we weren’t comfortable with them (during the) pre-Combine process, weren’t comfortable with them at the Combine, but we liked the tape so much, let’s make sure one more time. And usually it just kind of solidifies that thought, but there’s times – I think Jaylen Watson last year, he was a guy that I think that we met at the Combine and we weren’t sure that this would be a great fit (for both sides), but we liked him and we wanted to bring him back in. And we had the Combine medical on him already, but he was a guy that we brought back into the facility last year and both my staff and the coaches kind of did a 180 on him. Like this kid just – you just take him out of the Combine environment, he had a chance to kind of just relax and he’s been through a lot in his career trajectory. But that was a great example there where I don’t think we were comfortable drafting him in any round after the Combine and we brought him in here and it was just a completely different story. We fell in love with the kid and we were super excited to draft him and he’s done a great job for us. So, it’s one of those things, just let’s be sure on the guys that you like. And it can go in both ways – it can potentially take a guy off the board but could also put a guy back on the board.”
Q: Do you think we’ll see general managers handling the quarterback position differently when they’re finalizing their rosters for the season after what happened to San Francisco in the NFC Championship game?
VEACH: “Potentially. I think that they’re always going to work and I think this was brought up at the owners’ meeting and (49ers Head) Coach (Kyle) Shanahan talked about it, potentially down the line of having the ability to elevate a practice squad player. So I think one of the things that’s being discussed is (that) if teams that carry two quarterbacks, they’re going to have a practice squad guy that is dressed (on) game day and if there is an emergency where both quarterbacks can’t come in, then you could elevate a third quarterback. I think that there’ll be a lot of league discussions about that. I certainly don’t think that’s a position the League wants teams to be in. I think teams are going to formulate their roster, though. I don’t think that – and I think Kyle said this at the owners’ meetings, is that, I think, that if you have a really good fourth running back or fifth tight end, you’re not going to keep another quarterback just on the thought if a once-in-a-shot-on-the-moon here (happens) like what happened with the 49ers. I think Kyle was right in saying that teams aren’t going to formulate (their rosters for this). They’re going to put their roster together to give them the best advantage week in and week out. And I don’t think the thought of losing two quarterbacks in the same game is something that probably coaches or GMs are going to (think about). They’re probably going to go against the percentages of that happening, so I think teams will continue to do what’s best. Now listen, if you have a good young prospect that you want – like for example, you have a veteran but you have good young prospect, we were like that last year. We thought (it) could be Chad Henne’s last year, we weren’t sure, but we think Shane (Buechele) has a lot of developmental upside so you keep those guys. But teams that just have a clear-cut line of (quarterbacks) one and two, I don’t think teams are just going to start keeping third quarterbacks and cutting a really potentially (valuable player) like a Nazeeh Johnson last year or a (Jack) Cochrane last year. I think teams are going to keep those guys that can be players. But I do think, though, that it’s at the league level now. And I’m sure that this will be something that’s on their radar and it could get worked out with a something as simple as a practice squad player being able to suit up and be ready if needed.”
Q: Has there been any talk with Jerick McKinnon about him coming back? What is the plan for the running back room?
VEACH: “Yeah, I think there have been some talks with Jerick (McKinnon). He’s certainly a guy that we love and greatly admire. I think this falls a similar trajectory as last year where I think Jerick just likes to take his time and make sure that he’s ready to go both physically and mentally. I think the timeline last year was right after the Draft where we were able to get with him. And so, I think once we get past next weekend, I think we’ll double up with a lot of these guys that might still have a chance to be on this roster.”
Q: With having later picks that last couple of years, when do you start laying the groundwork of talking with teams about the potential of trading up or down?
VEACH: “Yeah, typically what we do is – like for example, this year we’re at (pick) 31 – we’ll find a range of where we think we’d be comfortable moving up. We’ll kind of highlight a few guys that we think if they fall to a certain point that they’d be worth it. And then we’ll figure out – last year, take for example, we moved from, I think it was, (pick) 30 to (picks) 21 or 22, I don’t know if it was a three and five (that) we gave up. So I think we started looking at those values. The charts are never completely accurate because some teams may be willing to take a little bit less, so I think what we do is, we’ll probably give or take one or two on each side. We’ll get to a range, so call it (pick) three or 20. And then from maybe teams (with picks) 18 to 30, we’ll just call and say – prior to the Draft – ‘What would you be thinking on Draft day if you were not comfortable?’ – I shouldn’t say ‘not comfortable’ but – ‘What would you be thinking on Draft day if you wanted to move out of that pick?’ We like to have those conversations ahead of time so that teams aren’t on the clock and then they’re trying to tell you want they want. And then you’re trying to say, ‘Well you’re using the Cowboy board. We’re using the Cardinals board. And you’re using the Detroit board.’ So like these teams all have different boards. And so we reach out and, like I said, we’ll touch base with the first 10 teams, 12 teams in front of us. Our guys will call their guys. We’ll have communication on who’s using what board and so that when we get to that pick we already had discussions with teams 18, 19, and 20 that if we get there, they’re using this board and this is what they would want and this is what we can expect if we wanted that so it’s not like trying to figure out, again, what board and exactly the numerical count they’re using because then – things happen quickly here so you have to be prepared so we do a lot of this on the backend. And usually that’s most of the time we spend Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s before the Draft just making sure that teams know that we’re interested in either trading up or trading back. And we know the teams that are interested in trading down and we know exactly what they want and what board they’re using.”
Q: Do you ever have to give assurances of who you’re going to take with that pick?
VEACH: “No because I think if a team wants a player, they’re going to take him regardless (laughter). We just want to know if they’re interested in moving back, what they want ahead of time so, again, we’re not having this debate on whose chart’s right and why we’re using this chart. Let’s just get that out of the way early and know what we’re dealing with.”
Q: Can you tell us about what your shirt means?
VEACH: “Oh yeah, so I was joking with (Executive Vice President of Communications) Ted (Crews), my son does some doodle arting – I guess it’s called doodle art, I guess that’s a big thing with young kids now. So, they do that in school. And I kind of joked with him one day – this was a black and white print – and I joked with him one day, I said, ‘That’d be really cool.’ And mom (wife Alison) kind of said, ‘You know dad should wear that next time he does press,’ so needless to say they had a t-shirt waiting for me before I left today. So (I) figured I had to rock it today for a little support, good luck.”