The Kansas City Chiefs are on a tremendous run in the annual NFL Draft, with one celebrated class after another serving to establish a solid foundation of young talent. The result is a very competitive team enjoying sustained success in a league known for parity—an emerging dynasty aiming for a three-peat.
Sometimes, getting a pick correct is only part of the work, however, A team also has to coach up that talent and make sure they utilize their draft picks in the best way. On occasion, a good prospect gets away and another team largely enjoys the spoils.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is always looking for low-risk, high-reward investments in free agency and on the trade block. It doesn't always work out, but the attempts are important to make because the possible payoff is too great.
Let's take a look back at a handful of draft picks and young players on whom the Chiefs gave up a bit too soon.
Jared Allen
These days, Jared Allen is straddling the line between being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame or not. While he's yet to make the final cut, he's been a finalist for the last few years and his career numbers indicate he will make the list of inductees sooner than later.
It's just frustrating that he's not going in as a lifetime member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
It's rare that a team would ever relinquish control of a bright young pass rusher who is already leading the NFL in sacks before his rookie deal is done. But that's exactly what Allen did with 15.5 sacks in 2007—and in only 14 games. The Chiefs response? Trade him to the Minnesota Vikings for a decent draft haul—including running back Jamaal Charles and left tackle Branden Albert.
Despite the solid picks that K.C. got in return, this is a trade that should have never been allowed from the top down. Unfortunately, Clark Hunt was apparently in Carl Peterson's corner because the Chiefs general manager was squarely to blame for Allen's departure from the team.
Allen was a loose cannon of sorts and Peterson didn't trust him. To his credit, Allen did pick up two DUIs in 2006, and those two games missed in his sack-leading season were due to a two-game suspension he picked up from his legal troubles. Peterson didn't want to commit big money to Allen, so he traded him away—and Allen never again got into any trouble off the field. He did, however, manage to put up 85.5 sacks in his next six years in Minnesota.
The Chiefs could have easily grabbed Charles in the draft through their original draft picks, so arguing that they'd miss out on that talent is a lame argument. The truth is that the Chiefs had an untradeable asset and decided to do so anyway. That's the Carl Peterson era.
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