Kansas City Chiefs: Six roster misses by Brett Veach that are hurting the team

Trading another first-round pick for Orlando Brown Jr.

It wasn’t long ago the local and national media along with Chiefs fans were in awe of how quickly the Chiefs front office had flipped one offensive line for a shiny new one. This was capped off by another blockbuster trade by Brett Veach in which the Chiefs acquired Baltimore Ravens Left Tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

The Chiefs made a massive push with this trade, sending their first-round pick this offseason to the Ravens along with a handful of other picks for Brown and two picks next season. I’ll be honest, I was a huge fan of this trade when it happened.

If I’m still being honest, this is probably the item on this list I still have some optimism about. Though Brown has not played to an elite level, something that was probably over anticipated, he hasn’t exactly played poorly.

He’s demonstrated some deficiencies athletically, at least compared to Eric Fisher, but his grade of 70.9 indicates he’s well above average for the league. Still, there is one major caveat that is rather concerning.

As of now, there haven’t been any whispers of an extension for Brown. Given he’s in the final year of his rookie contract and the team gave up a boat-load of capital to acquire him, it was nearly a certainty the Chiefs would find a way to retain him. Since he hasn’t played at an elite level and the Chiefs have a number of other sticky contract situations, I’m no longer certain that’s the case.

If the Chiefs traded the kind of capital they did for a player and then failed to retain him after only a year, the only way this move can be overlooked is if they win the Super Bowl. While I’m still confident they can turn it around this season, that confidence is waning just a little.