KC Chiefs: Is Brett Veach still shopping for big-time wide receiver?

At this point, the majority of Chiefs Kingdom has been lulled to sleep. The K.C. Chiefs are largely acting and sounding like a team that is happy with the state of their roster. While some concerns can be raised—especially at, say, edge rusher, cornerback, and wide receiver—the Chiefs at least have several intriguing players at each position set to compete and, hopefully, stand out once the preseason competition starts.

Over the last few weeks and months, there’s been very little smoke in terms of further player acquisition come out of Arrowhead Stadium. Player visits have been at a minimum. The rumor has been silent. While other teams have grabbed an occasional player, the Chiefs have been slow to even roll out long-term extensions for stars already on the roster like Tyrann Mathieu.

That’s why the conversation at a position like wide receiver has turned completely internal. While the chatter of early summer is always more of a quiet murmur given the lack of overall activity, the conversation is completely focused on the candidates already in house. The lack of obvious targets in free agency and the lack of any substantive news or rumors has left us to ask about the current candidates.

Are the K.C. Chiefs completely over the idea of bringing in another WR?

That means that we’re crossing our fingers that Antonio Callaway can channel his obvious athleticism and talent in a positive way for the Chiefs. It means we’re also hoping that the Chiefs can get more than they should typically expect from a late-round rookie like Cornell Powell. It means we’re yearning for a leap forward from Demarcus Robinson and praying that Mecole Hardman can make the leap in his third season.

We’re even poking and prodding, asking questions of and analyzing the likes of Chris Finke and Daurice Fountain, Gehrig Dieter and Marcus Kemp, Maurice Ffrench and Joe Fortson.

If that doesn’t sound like a very exciting conversation to have… well, it’s not. It’s just not and if you think it is, you’re likely deluding yourself because you trust the powers-that-be (and you should) who run the Chiefs organization.

But here’s what was true only a few months ago: the Chiefs absolutely believed they needed another well-rounded target on offense to replace the departing Sammy Watkins. What has changed between then and now? Certainly not the presence of Noah Gray and Blake Bell, right?

A few months ago, they approached the agent for JuJu Smith-Schuster with a greater offer than what he was getting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also reportedly inquired about T.Y. Hilton of the Indianapolis Colts. Both veterans decided to stay with their respective teams. Even with a player like Josh Reynolds, a receiver willing to change teams, they lost out. Instead, Reynolds decided to go with the Tennessee Titans (a team that would go on to later add Julio Jones as well).

What the Chiefs have left are a dozen guys who can all do some of what Watkins could do when he was healthy. Some of them can handle the press coverage at the line and create separation. Others have the agility and route-running to get open in traffic. Others have the size to get physical and grab the contested catch. No one has the blend of all of that (and more) in order to make defenders pay attention enough to pull some coverage away from Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.

Therein lies the issue.

It’s not as if Watkins was a perfect player himself. The best availability is durability, which is why Watkins himself only earned a one-year deal for $5 million in free agency. If the Chiefs really wanted to bring back Watkins, that’s an easy hurdle to cross. But their efforts to replace him didn’t pay off. And now we’re all pretending as if the Chiefs are suddenly over it.

The desire to add such a performer to the receiving corps wasn’t a flight of fancy, some crush that went away back in the spring. It just means that the Chiefs decided that the timing wasn’t right to find another option. They went after players they felt comfortable with and when that didn’t work, they shifted their approach. The offense will now likely be a bit less dependent on the X-receiver position in Reid’s offensive schemes. They might run a bit more two-TE sets or get more creative with their halfbacks.

Or what they could do is continue to look for a player who might eventually surface in free agency or on the trade block ask NFL rosters are shaped by the preseason. While the Chiefs have been lying dormant when it comes to such an acquisition, it doesn’t mean they were done shopping.