Chiefs mid-season roster moves pay big dividends for Brett Veach

Brett Veach’s steady maintenance of an already-high-powered roster helped make the difference for the Kansas City Chiefs en route to a championship.

Remember back when Tremon Smith had a cup of coffee as a running back?

Or when we couldn’t decide if Mark Fields or Herb Miller should start at cornerback?

Or when you last saw Breeland Speaks with a helmet on?

These were just a few of many topics of discussion as the most anticipated season in franchise history commenced. And even though the “final” 53-man roster was written in ink and the regular season began, some of general manager Brett Veach’s best work was still yet to come.

Rewind the tape on this marvelous championship season, and take it all the way back to the end of the preseason. Even with Super Bowl aspirations, the Chiefs had valid concerns at corner, especially with a season-ending injury to Keith Reaser, who was expected to provide some depth. No one really knew what the heck was going on with Tremon Smith, and the longer the confusion went on, the more it became evident that the team really didn’t know, either.

Let’s look back at Veach’s notable moves since the preseason.

Morris Claiborne arrived on Aug 8 after spending the summer as a free agent. Knowing that Claiborne would have to sit out the first four games while under suspension, the Chiefs still had a plan for the eighth-year veteran to play on the boundary. Things just never clicked for Claiborne. He appeared in eight games, started just one, forced zero turnovers and had zero passes defensed while playing about 40% of snaps in the games in which he appeared. There wasn’t one notable blown coverage in which we can see why he fell out of favor with the team, but by December, it was clear that he was not part of the big picture. We last saw him in uniform in Week 13 against the Raiders. After that he was inactive every game. Claiborne’s time with Kansas City is done.

When backup quarterback Chad Henne went down with a broken ankle during a preseason game, the Chiefs were left without any experienced backup behind Mahomes. With only Chase Litton and Kyle Shurmur on the roster, Veach called up Matt Moore on Aug 26th and brought Moore into the fold. The 35-year-old Moore, who did not play football in 2018, followed and learned as much as he could without playing a single snap in a Chiefs uniform (not even a preseason game) until that fateful moment in Denver when Mahomes went down in the 2nd quarter with a dislocated kneecap.

Moore kept the ship steady, leading the Chiefs to a resounding 30-6 victory over the Broncos, went toe-to-toe on primetime with Aaron Rodgers in a 31-24 loss, then beat the Vikings 26-23 before giving way back to Mahomes in Week 10. In his three appearances, Moore completed 64.8% of his passes for 659 yards, 4 touchdowns, and most importantly, zero interceptions. We don’t know what would have happened if another quarterback had taken over (remember the “KC needs to trade for Eli Manning” talk?), but Chiefs Kingdom owes a big one to Matt Moore for his part in the 2019 season.

The story of LeSean McCoy as a Chief is a lot like the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks. At first it was upbeat and thrilling. And then all of a sudden, it changed a lot. It featured a really important ball that ended up getting lost. And by the time the final credits rolled, the overarching conflict was solved, but viewers were left with unanswered questions about “what on earth just happened at the end there?”

A surprise cut by the Bills, McCoy reunited with Andy Reid on Sept 1 after the Chiefs traded away Carlos Hyde to the Texans. The general consensus on the signing was vibrant, giggly excitement. And while McCoy chipped in 101 carries for 465 yards and 4 scores on the year, his ball security began to overtake any benefit to his presence on the roster. He lost fumbles in one-score defeats at home to both Indianapolis and Green Bay.

While starter Damien Williams missed time with two separate injuries in 2019, McCoy filled in with mixed results. By the time Williams returned, the former Eagle appeared to go into head coach Andy Reid’s doghouse. Three times during the latter half of the regular season, McCoy was a healthy scratch, and though we were told then that it was to help him rest his body, it now appears that it was more out of necessity. Lack of contribution on special teams may have had a hand in it, but the fact is, the last time we saw LeSean McCoy was in Week 15 vs. Denver. He did not make an appearance in the playoffs.

Stefen Wisniewski was sitting at home, admiring his 18-month-old Super Bowl ring when he got the call on October 9th. A last-day cut from the Philadelphia Eagles before the season began, the 30-year-old offensive lineman took the trip to Kansas City and couldn’t turn down the chance to play in front of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. From the moment he set foot in the locker room, he had something no one else had: the ring. When it was all said and done, “Wiz” became the starting left guard for a Super Bowl champion once more, this time for the Chiefs.

Mike Pennel signed with the Chiefs on Oct 19 as the team tried to fill a hole made by the loss of defensive tackle Xavier Williams. In the interim, the team had signed Terrell McClain, but decided to go with Pennel instead just ten days later. There was perhaps no more noticeable change on the defense than the way the run defense improved after the addition of cult hero Pennel. An early-down run stuffer, the 6’4″ 330-lb. man-mountain served as a perfect A-gapper as he was utterly immovable. Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders will almost certainly hold down the position in 2020, but Pennel became an instant fan favorite, and made a strong case to earn another contract with the Chiefs.

Demone Harris opened the season on Tampa Bay’s roster, but was released on October 5th. After a quick stay on Baltimore’s practice squad, the Chiefs signed Harris on November 21st to replace defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who had suffered a season-ending injury at Tennessee. Harris made his first appearance in Week 14 at New England, and earned his keep with solid reserve play. In limited snaps, Harris showed good ability to set the edge against the run. At just 24 years of age, he could become part of the long-term puzzle for the Chiefs in a rotational role.

Terrell Suggs spent 16 seasons with the Ravens before signing a 2-year, $10 million deal with Arizona last spring. The Cardinals had hopes of peppering in Suggs’ veteran leadership to develop a quick turnaround in 2019, but it was not meant to be. Mercifully, the Cardinals granted Suggs his release on December 13th, to allow him to pursue a ring with another team. Coincidentally, the Chiefs had just lost another defensive end, Alex Okafor, to a season-ending injury, and Suggs was the right fit.

There was also the issue of waiver claim. The Chiefs were near the bottom of the list as a playoff contender, and even though a few other teams put in a claim on Suggs, he was awarded to the Chiefs. After some speculation about whether the 37-year-old would report to the team (he was rumored to have said that he would sign with Baltimore or else not report to anyone), the former Arizona State Sun Devil had a chat with Andy Reid and made the decision to pack his bags and head to Kansas City to try to chase one more Super Bowl ring.

Suggs would fill a vital role on the edge along with Harris and Tanoh Kpassagnon to solidify the Chiefs’ defensive front during the playoff push, but perhaps the most important thing he brought to the table was his steady voice of leadership. It’s anyone’s guess what Suggs will do in 2020, but no one will ever second-guess Brett Veach for making the waiver claim to bring him in.

Between free agency and the draft, Veach ran a gauntlet in 2019 with a lot of moves that, for the most part, panned out. He now faces the task of keeping a Super Bowl Champion intact in 2020 and beyond.