Ranking Brett Veach’s player trades as Kansas City Chiefs GM
By Jacob Milham
12. The Marcus Peters trade
Chiefs receive: 2018 fourth-round pick, 2019 second-round pick
Rams receive: CB Marcus Peters, a 2018 sixth-round pick
Wow, four years later and Veach trading away cornerback Marcus Peters still stings. Maybe that is telling of where this trade should rank.
The Chiefs shocked the NFL world in 2018 by trading away the uber-talented Peters to the Los Angeles Rams. Rumors and chatter swirled for a while following the 2017 NFL season, where Peters ruffled many feathers in Kansas City for several different reasons. Still, Peters was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 and earned a first-team All-Pro selection in 2016. Kansas City moving on from Peters seemed impossible and foolish, but Veach made the move anyways.
Peters was a true star, seen as one of the new defensive faces of the NFL. His energy and talent jumped off the screen and grabbed fans’ attention as few players can. Yet at the end of the day, Peters was not going to survive long in Kansas City. The Chiefs still had an abysmal pass defense with him on the field and even performed at a similar level without him. A payday was coming and the Chiefs did not want to foot the bill. Simple as that.
The Los Angeles Rams sent an okay package of picks for Peters, who had two years of control remaining on his rookie deal. Los Angeles was gearing up for their annual all-in roster approach, and trading for a young star rounded out the roster. To be fair, the approach did net the Rams a Super Bowl appearance in 2018, Peters’ first and only such appearance.
The picks sent by the Rams turned into two safeties for the Chiefs. The 2018 fourth-round pick was safety Armani Watts, and the 2019 second-round pick was Juan Thornhill. Thornhill is still in Kansas City and should form a solid tandem with Justin Reid in 2022. Watts appeared in 53 games for the Chiefs over four seasons, although primarily as a core special teams player.
Looking at the trade, this does not seem good for Veach’s track record. Sure, the ripple effect of trading Peters likely has a positive impact, but Peters is worth more than Thornhill and Watts put together. On paper, this is not a good trade. With some context, it is still not a good trade, but with logical reasoning.