The hiring of Brett Veach feels eerily similar to the hiring of another young General Manager who once worked with Andy Reid.
When I heard the Kansas City Chiefs announce their new general manager would be Brett Veach, I wasn’t surprised.
From all that we’ve heard about the firing of John Dorsey, it seems he was fired because he tried to do his own thing. Clearly Andy Reid and Clark Hunt want to run this ship their way. This means whoever their new GM would be was never going to be a maverick. They needed someone they trusted, someone who they knew would do what they wanted. Brett Veach fit that description perfectly.
Veach started his NFL career just 10 years ago when he became an intern with the Philadelphia Eagles. A year later, he was named the personal assistant to Reid, who was still with the Eagles. Veach worked his way up to a scout with Philly and came with Reid to the Chiefs in 2013. Since then he has gone from a scout to co-Director of Player Personnel and now GM. At 39-years-old, Brett Veach is the youngest GM hire in the NFL since 2010.
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Now before you click away to see who that GM was, let me tell you. In 2010, the Eagles and Andy Reid hired then 35-year-old Howie Roseman as their General Manager. There are a lot of similarities between Roseman and Veach, which makes the latter’s hire even more sensible for Reid. Roseman started as an intern in 2000 and worked his way up the later to being Vice President of Player Personnel. Ten years after he was hired as an intern, he was hired to become the Eagles GM. The path to the position nearly mirrors the current situation the Chiefs are in.
It is widely understood that while Roseman had the job title of GM, he was mainly an advisor and contract negotiator for Reid. It’s inaccurate to say he was a puppet, but he clearly did not have the power normally associated with the GM position. Roseman was never given the full reins while GM under Reid. Unfortunately I believe this is the same path the Chiefs are going down with Veach. I find it hard to believe that Veach is a GM in the sense we normally associate with that position. It’s my belief that Reid will likely be making roster decisions, with Veach serving as advisor and contract negotiator. This didn’t work in Philly, as Reid was run out of town within three years of hiring Roseman.
Next: Reading between the lines of Veach's hiring
Whether this will work in K.C. is up for debate. I, for one, do not like the coach having that much power as it rarely works out well. What we know for sure is it didn’t work the last time Reid tried it. However, that’s only one example. I hope this time around works better than before.