Since taking over as the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs, Brett Veach has acquired numerous players that flamed out on other teams. Let’s review the long list.
One of the themes of Brett Veach’s tenure as the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs has been a willingness to take gambles on players who were high draft picks but didn’t work out on their original teams. Some of these acquisitions have worked out okay while others didn’t generate much value.
Let’s take a deep dive into the full history of Brett Veach’s first-round reclamation attempts.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
Taco Charlton
After being selected late in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, many fans of “America’s Team” thought they had found a running mate for pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence when they selected edge rusher Taco Charlton from Michigan. Let’s just say that they did not find the next Demarcus Ware. In two seasons in the “Big D”, Charlton only recorded 4 sacks. Early in 2019, he was waived by the Cowboys and claimed by the Dolphins. He played a lot better in Miami in 2019, where he racked up 5 sacks in 10 games. Charlton was then waived by the ‘Fins in April of 2020 due to increased competition at defensive end.
In early May of 2020, Veach took a swing on the former first-rounder when the Chiefs signed Taco Charlton to a one-year deal. This signing actually didn’t work out terribly for Kansas City because when Charlton played, he was somewhat productive. The issue for the Chiefs was that he never played a ton of games for them. Charlton recorded 2 sacks in 6-plus games for the Chiefs in 2020 (he appeared for one snap in Week 9 against the Panthers but left to an injury). He also recorded a very good Pro Football Focus ($) pass-rush grade of 74.0 with the Chiefs in 2020. After expecting to compete for a starting spot in 2021, the Chiefs waived Charlton last August.
Charlton appeared to be a player who would be a successful reclamation project for Veach in Kansas City but he never quite got it going again after a solid run in 2020.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Kelvin Benjamin
Kelvin Benjamin had a great start to his career after recording 1,000 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns in his rookie year in 2014. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in training camp prior to the 2015 season. He was able to bounce back with 941 yards in 2016, but in October of 2017, the Panthers traded him to the Bills where he struggled with injuries, consistency, and effort. After a 13+ month stint with the Bills, he was released.
Shortly after his release from Buffalo, Veach and the Chiefs signed Benjamin to a contract for the remainder of the 2018 season. To say his Chiefs career was forgettable would be an understatement. In three appearances, he only managed 2 catches on 4 targets for 26 yards and a drop. He was not re-signed and has not appeared in any type of NFL game since then.
At the time, this signing was a low-risk, high-reward one. It didn’t work out for the Chiefs didn’t lose much outside of a roster spot and ~$350,000 in cash.
Josh Gordon
To say that Josh Gordon has had a strange career would be another understatement. He was selected in the NFL’s Supplemental Draft in the second round by the Cleveland Browns. After a solid debut season, he exploded in 2013 going for over 1,600 yards and 9 touchdowns—good for a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro nod. But then he was suspended for the better part of the following four seasons before short stints with the Patriots and Seahawks in 2018 and 2019, where he won a Super Bowl with the former and was awarded a ring, despite being suspended.
Out of the blue, Veach and the Chiefs signed Josh Gordon to a one-year in late September of 2021. His signing was polarizing among Chiefs fans—some thought his signing would amount to nothing, while others believed thought he had a chance to be a productive player in Kansas City. The fact that he only caught 7 balls for 32 yards in 12 games in 2021 more or less proved the doubters right.
Gordon was re-signed for another season but he’s far from a lock to make the team. He’ll have to compete with the depth players like Justyn Ross, Justin Watson, Cornell Powell, and Corey Coleman in order to make the team. His signing, like every player on this list, was a low-risk, high-reward one and still hasn’t paid many dividends yet. However, there is still time for him to make an impact.
Corey Coleman
Another former Baylor Bears and Cleveland Browns wide receiver. After being selected 15th overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, Coleman never quite got it going in Cleveland. During training camp in 2018, Coleman (shown on Hard Knocks) demanded to be traded. He was eventually traded to the Bills for a 2020 7th-round pick. He never appeared in any action for the Bills or the Patriots (whom he also signed with during the 2018 season) but did record 5 catches and 71 yards for the Giants that season. He has not appeared in an NFL regular-season game since primarily due to injuries and a suspension.
In March of this year, Brett Veach and the Chiefs (again) took a strange flyer by signing another troubled wide receiver who has been several years removed from his last productive season of any kind when they signed Coleman to a one-year deal. As stated with Gordon, Coleman will have to compete with other down-the-depth chart receivers for a spot on the active roster in August/September.
LINEBACKERS
Reggie Ragland
Reggie Ragland is a player who had a non-traditional start to his career. Prior to the 2016 NFL Draft, Ragland was projected to be a first-round selection by many experts but fell to the second round, presumably due to an enlarged aorta that was not expected to impact his football career at the time. To make matters worse, he tore his ACL prior to his rookie season and was on injured reserve that entire season. Due to a change in Buffalo’s coaching staff—and not being a great fit in Leslie Frazier’s defensive scheme—the Bills traded him to the Chiefs in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Ragland is perhaps the most successful reclamation project in the Veach era for the Chiefs. He played over1,300 snaps across three seasons in Kansas City, totaling 148 total tackles and 2 interceptions. 2017 was his best season as he recorded a well above average PFF overall defensive grade ($) of 76.0. Ragland would go on to leave the Chiefs for Detroit after winning Super Bowl LIV.
Though Ragland’s stint in Kansas City wasn’t the longest or most successful compared to the overall roster, he had the longest tenure of any player considered a “reclamation project.”
Darron Lee
This is another example of a low-risk, high-reward move for Brett Veach that didn’t quite work out. After being a first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Lee was expected to be the captain of the New York Jets defense for a long time. Lee didn’t see much success in the Big Apple, and after three relatively disappointing seasons, the Jets traded him to the Chiefs for a 2020 sixth-round pick in May of 2019.
Despite paying next to nothing for Lee, this trade did not pay off for Brett Veach and Steve Spagnuolo. During the 2019 season, Lee only appeared in 9 games and earned a pitiful PFF defensive grade ($) of 36.3 that season. After winning Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs (not appearing in any postseason games that year), Lee signed with the Bills in November of 2020 and then the Raiders in the summer of 2021. He has not appeared in an NFL game since Week 16 of the 2019 season.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Deandre Baker
Deandre Baker was a late first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after the New York Giants traded up for him. After a solid rookie season, his NFL career was derailed after he and Quinton Dunbar were arrested in connection to a robbery in Florida. His charges would later be dropped but the damage was done since he was waived by the Giants in early September of 2020. He signed with the Chiefs in November of 2020 and appeared in two games that season before suffering a severe injury in Week 17 against the Chargers.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Baker’s NFL career has been disappointing, both in an on-field and off-the-field sense, for a former first-round pick. It’s also reasonable to say his tenure with the Chiefs has gone poorly. He was below average in coverage last year and struggled with tackling. He’ll have to fight for a spot on the active roster with Jaylen Watson and other reserves, such as DiCaprio Bootle and Luq Barcoo. This signing is not one that Veach will look back on with pride but there is still time for Baker to prove himself.
Mike Hughes
Mike Hughes was my favorite cornerback prospect prior to the 2018 NFL Draft so the fact that he flamed out in Minnesota after three seasons was a little unexpected. After the 2020 season, Hughes, along with a seventh-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a sixth-round selection.
Hughes was a solid depth option for the Chiefs last season. While he isn’t a true #1 or #2 corner, he is an ideal depth corner who contributes on special teams. Although Hughes’ tenure in Kansas City was short, it did not lack excitement. He recorded the game-sealing interception against Baker Mayfield in Week 1 of last year’s opener against the Cleveland Browns. He also recorded a fumble-recovery touchdown on the very first play of the Week 14 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Hughes won’t be missed a ton, especially because the Chiefs brought in several rookies to help replace him and other departed defensive backs. Yet since Veach paid very little to acquire him, the Chiefs got solid value for a player that possibly could have been a summer cut for his original team.
Damon Arnette
Does Damon Arnette belong in this article? Probably not but Brett Veach thought it would be a good idea to sign him and decided to bring him in despite the legal issues that got him kicked off the Raiders in the middle of last season.
After signing in the middle of the 2021-22 playoffs, Arnette was arrested nine days after signing a reserve/futures contract in Kansas City. He was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and two counts of possession of controlled substances.
This is Brett Veach’s biggest miss when it comes to trying to revive the careers of former high draft picks. It took only nine days for the controversial signing to blow up in the organization’s face.
Lonnie Johnson Jr.
After attending the University of Kentucky, Lonnie Johnson Jr. was selected by the Houston Texans with the 54th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Outside of returning a blocked punt for a touchdown in the 2019 Divisional Round against the Chiefs, Johnson’s career hasn’t gone well. His coverage ability has been inconsistent and he’s also struggled with tackling for much of the time in Houston.
Johnson was traded by Houston to the Chiefs in exchange for a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick. He will reunite with former Texans teammate Justin Reid in Kansas City. Even though he is listed as a cornerback, I do not believe that Johnson will be just a cornerback in Kansas City. I believe that it makes sense for the Chiefs to also try him out at safety. In Houston, he spent the majority of last season, and the high majority of 2020, at the position.
Because Johnson hasn’t played a snap in Kansas City, there is still potential for him to be Brett Veach’s second successful reclamation project. But he was traded for basically nothing and the odds are against him working out.
What do you think of the players mentioned in this article? Are there any players available that you’d like Brett Veach and the Chiefs to take a chance on? Feel free to let me know in the comment section or on Twitter (@StrozinskyLucas).