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How the Chiefs lucked into drafting All-Pro Chris Jones | ESPN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One of the most significant discussions in the Kansas City Chiefs‘ history occurred almost 10 years ago in their draft room — and Ryne Nutt can recount every detail.
“There was a big argument,” said Nutt, an area scout at the time and the Chiefs’ current vice president of player personnel.
The source of the debate was a defensive tackle out of Mississippi State named Chris Jones.
“[Some] people had reservations about Chris,”
Nutt said during the week of Super Bowl LIX.
Inside the large room that night, just before the start of the 2016 NFL draft, was team owner Clark Hunt, future Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid and John Dorsey, the grizzled, old-school general manager.
Surrounding the trio was a deep roster in the Chiefs’ front office, some of whom are now leading other franchises — Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts general manager), Ryan Poles (Chicago Bears general manager) and Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee Titans general manager). Brandt Tilis, the Carolina Panthers‘ vice president of football operations was there, too, along with Nutt and Brett Veach, who soon replaced Dorsey as the Chiefs’ general manager.
“All right, guys, look at the [draft] board,” Dorsey said that night. “Who do you like?”
The Chiefs held the 28th pick. The group’s conversation led it to agree that the club needed more depth along the defensive line. Two players were next to each other on the Chiefs’ draft board.
“It really came down to Chris and Robert Nkemdiche,” Nutt said. “I don’t want to go through who said what, but it was a pretty heavy consensus of [people wanting] Robert Nkemdiche.”
Later that night, based on the group’s debate, Dorsey executed a shrewd trade to move the Chiefs out of the first round to collect more picks. For Dorsey, the centerpiece of the deal with the San Francisco 49ers was the 37th pick. The next day, the Chiefs needed to make that pick a valuable one, one that would help the team continue to rise as a Super Bowl contender.
Looking back, the Chiefs made the correct decisions.
Chiefs NFL Draft scenarios: 5 paths, including trades, that could make sense | The Athletic
Scenario 2: Take the receiver you like
How it could turn out
First round, No. 9: Ohio State WR Carnell Tate
First round, No. 29: Clemson EDGE T.J. Parker
It doesn’t take long when cycling through potential mock drafts to get one in which the Chiefs would have all of this year’s receiver prospects available.
No one really knows what’s going to happen on draft night, and the Chiefs having the chance to take any wideout they want in a draft seems like something that might not happen again in the Mahomes era.
So here we’ll go with the top consensus guy in Ohio State’s Carnell Tate. The Chiefs have never been afraid to trust in their own scouting evaluations, though, so USC’s Makai Lemon or Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson certainly could be in play as well.
Take Tate first, and the Chiefs could circle to defense with their next pick. In this mock, Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker is available and would add a good-sized, high-motor edge rusher to the rotation.
Kenyon Sadiq Meets Travis Kelce as NFL Visits Fuel Draft Buzz | Sports Illustrated
During his visit with the Chiefs, Sadiq found himself face-to-face with one of the greatest tight ends to ever play in the NFL, Travis Kelce.
“It was awesome,” Sadiq told Amaranthus. “Just kind of a moment of realization… like, this is the NFL.”
Entering his 14th season in the NFL, Kelce had just finished signing his contract extension when the two crossed paths, creating an unexpected but meaningful moment for the rising prospect from Idaho. Most NFL players are out of the building for the offseason but the Chiefs coaches wanted to introduce Sadiq and Kelce, since he happened to be in the building.
“He’s a super down-to-earth person,” Sadiq said. “He’s not going to try to ego you by any means… I think that’s pretty rare, especially being the celebrity or caliber that he’s at. It was really cool.”
The interaction offered a glimpse into the standard Sadiq is chasing in the pros and potentially the role he could one day fill. Kansas City, armed with multiple first-round picks, looms as a fascinating potential landing spot for a tight end with Sadiq’s skill set.
Five Things We Learned from GM Brett Veach’s Pre-Draft Media Availability | The Mothership
3. Regarding the draft, Veach was asked to share an area in which he has grown over his time with the Chiefs.
As part of his answer, Veach emphasized the importance of patience in his role while also citing the need to recognize that every team has their own, differing evaluations on each player.
“You spend so much time on these guys, and you have such strong convictions on players, it’s one of those things that when you do the amount of work and you live in a film room, I think you get into this mindset where you think everybody sees the board just like you do,” Veach said. “I’m not saying our boards are always right, but you think that everyone thinks like you. Even now, when I’m our doing our mocks and I’m trying to project the first eight picks, I’m thinking, ‘Well, this is definitely going to happen,’ but then what happens is that it doesn’t happen because not everyone sees the board like you. I think it’s just about being patient and being fluid and having an understanding that there will be more guys that you like later on in the draft and not operating with that mindset that, again, everyone sees it just like you do.”
NFL Draft’s most interesting teams: Can the Chiefs retool with extra draft capital? | Yahoo Sports
Chiefs highest pick since 2017
The Chiefs haven’t had a pick higher than 21st overall since 2017, when they traded up to take Mahomes. This year is much different.
Kansas City has the ninth overall pick due to its poor record. The Chiefs added another first-round pick when they traded McDuffie to the Rams. Kansas City also has a high pick in the second round, 40th overall.
The Chiefs hope their own pick isn’t in the top 10 again anytime soon, and hope that cap issues don’t cause them to trade one of their best players again. It’s a rare position for Kansas City to be in, and they have to take advantage of it.
One obvious need for the Chiefs is the secondary. Watson got $51 million over three years from the Rams, Cook got $40.25 million over three years from the Bengals, and the Rams gave up four picks including a first-rounder and a four-year, $124 million contract for McDuffie. That’s indicative of how valuable those players are. The Chiefs did sign safety Alohi Gilman and cornerback Kader Kohou, but they will need more to solidify the defensive backfield.
They have the picks to add some immediate contributors, but it’s not like the secondary is the only area of concern.
Around the NFL
How have NFL teams investigated Bain’s driving history?
Character and off-field investigations are part and parcel to the evaluation process that precedes each year’s draft. Multiple teams told Yahoo Sports their research on the March 2024 crash began last year. Teams are also aware of a minor collision in October 2025 for which a citation was similarly dismissed as defective. That citation lists no injuries nor damage. And like in the 2024 incident, police assessed Bain was neither speeding nor driving under the influence. NFL evaluators factor this information in as they decide whether to view Bain as someone with a pattern of incidents that dictate caution, or someone who at 19 years old was a driver in a car crash that resulted in a tragic outcome. Four of the five teams that spoke to Yahoo Sports did not consider Bain a significant character risk; the fifth said it would exercise caution but did not view him to be as risky as players in recent NFL history who were involved in crashes while under the influence and/or driving well above the speed limit.
Given the legal implications of any crash, at least some teams escalated this investigation to their executive staffs, including involving the team director of security and general counsel, sources say. Multiple evaluators said the information they gathered led them to conclude Bain was not drinking or under the influence during the March 2024 crash, one evaluator saying they believe Bain does not drink or smoke. Multiple evaluators emphasized their belief that teams should rely on information police gathered at the scene, which did not conclude Bain was impaired. Miami PD did not administer a sobriety test at the scene.
“This was going to be fully vetted by every team,” one evaluator told Yahoo Sports. “You’re going to have to feel comfortable either taking him or passing on him for this, but you couldn’t just be like, ‘I’m not going to figure this one out.’”
Another evaluator expressed empathy: “For me personally, I just see it as an unfortunate situation. He wasn’t drunk driving.”
Jets cancel top-30 visit with NFL Draft prospect David Bailey | SNY
The Jets have decided to cancel their top-30 visit with Texas Tech pass rusher David Bailey ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, reports SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes.
Bailey, an NFL Draft prospect who led college football with 14.5 sacks last season with the Red Raiders, was supposed to meet with New York at the team’s facilities for player evaluations, including interviews and medical checks, but that will no longer take place.
The Jets did meet with a handful of young talent during their top-30 visits, which have a deadline of April 15. Some of those players include Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr., SD State CB Chris Johnson, NC State DE Cian Slone, Ohio State EDGE Arvell Reese and Bailey’s teammate S Cole Wisniewski.
Teams around the league use these visits to evaluate a player’s character, intelligence and injuries and view them as a helpful tool when making final decisions on potential draft picks.
Dexter Lawrence wants out of New York with dispute about more than money | NBC Sports
Not only have talks broken off between the Giants and Dexter Lawrence’s representation, but the defensive tackle wants out of New York.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports that Lawrence’s trade request is not about money. Lawrence wants to move on from the Giants as the dispute has escalated beyond the contract.
Lawrence, who has two years remaining on his deal, has sought a raise over his annual average of $22.5 million since the 2025 offseason. The Giants added $3 million in incentives to Lawrence’s deal a year ago, and he earned $18 million.
General Manager Joe Schoen addressed Lawrence’s situation during his pre-draft news conference earlier this week. Schoen characterized it as “good conversations” between the sides with hopes of working something out so that Lawrence will remain with the team.
Talks, though, have hit an impasse, and the Giants now are concentrating on the draft.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs GM Brett Veach: ‘Fans will be in for a treat’ on Day 1 of draft
With a week to go before the 2026 NFL Draft kicks off, Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach sat down at his desk and fielded questions from reporters in a Zoom press conference.
He prefaced his preview of the draft with a state of the team, coming off a 6-11 season that was the first losing season for the Chiefs under the leadership of head coach Andy Reid.
“The position we’re in… our expectation every year is to go out there and try to win our division and make the playoffs and have a chance to compete for a championship,” Veach said. “With that being said, there are a lot of areas to improve on our roster, on both sides of the football.”
“I think it does open up that ninth pick to go any one direction,” Veach declared. “Certainly, we’ll see how the first five or six picks go, but I think whether it’s the defensive backfield, offensive line, edge rusher, receiver… we need help in all those areas. I do think that we’ll be in a position there to get one of those players and then add throughout the course of the draft.
“I just think where we are with our roster, you really can’t eliminate any ‘one’ need because I think there are a lot of them.”
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