Five toughest decisions facing Brett Veach for KC Chiefs

Offensive line cuts/moves

Turns out you can have too much of a good thing.

When the Chiefs entered the offseason with a Veach-like determination to reset the offensive front, it was impossible to tell exactly how the dominoes were going to fall. Fortunately, they at least knew that they had Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Lucas Niang returning after opting out from the previous season.

Coming out of the gate, it was clear the Chiefs were going to chase the biggest dogs in free agency overall: both left tackle Trent Williams and left guard Joe Thuney. From there, they’d read the market for several weeks, while knowing  they had the draft to shore up whatever holes remained.

While the team struck out with Williams, who decided to return to the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs landed Thuney to give them a new anchor and veteran leader after the release of Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. From there, Kyle Long was wooed out of retirement, giving them another potential high-ceiling veteran addition. Austin Blythe was also signed to a cheap one-year deal to give them a new option at center.

Fast forward to the draft, and not only did the team re-sign Mike Remmers to a one-year deal but they also made a blockbuster trade for Orlando Brown Jr. Just like that, they had potential new starters left to right with every new incoming player, depending on competition.

The cherry on top of it all then became two draft picks that look like day one starters: Creed Humphrey as a second round investment at center and Trey Smith at sixth round steal at right guard.

Given that the Chiefs still had the likes of Andrew Wylie and Nick Allegretti, both of whom started several games last year, to go with developmental players like Prince Tega Wanogho, Yasir Durant, and Darryl Williams, there’s going to be some cuts that hurt. (We’ve not even mentioned swing tackle Wyatt Miller.)

In short, Veach has some tough decisions to make by the end of August, and the Chiefs are going to have to release guys who have starting potential in the NFL unless they can find teams to offer them something in the trade market. Lots of teams with o-line needs are going to be huddling around the transaction wire around roster cuts to gladly claim whoever the Chiefs end up releasing.