How Chiefs general manager Brett Veach massively screwed up this offseason
Surprising news broke on Wednesday morning — the Kansas City Chiefs are working to trade six-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill to either the New York Jets or the Miami Dolphins. Update: Tyreek Hill has been traded to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks, including the No. 29 overall pick in the 2022 NFL […]
Surprising news broke on Wednesday morning — the Kansas City Chiefs are working to trade six-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill to either the New York Jets or the Miami Dolphins.
Update: Tyreek Hill has been traded to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks, including the No. 29 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The assumption is that Hill wants more money in a contract extension than Kansas City is willing to pay. If this is the case, then I completely understand why Chiefs general manager Brett Veach would be willing to trade the dynamic wide receiver.
What I don't understand, however, is the timing.
Hill is under contract through the end of the 2022 season. After that, the Chiefs could place the franchise tag on Hill for the 2023 season. So they basically have two years of control left on Hill. Why not trade him after the 2022 season? They could tag him before free agency next year and then trade him, much like the Green Bay Packers did with wide receiver Davante Adams.
That would give the core group of Hill, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce one more run at a Super Bowl together.
Something else that Veach did that doesn't make sense with this potential Hill trade is the decision to not re-sign safety Tyrann Mathieu. The thought there was that potential contract extensions for Hill and offensive lineman Orlando Brown meant the Chiefs couldn't afford Mathieu.
Now the Chiefs are likely going to end up playing the 2022 season without either Mathieu or Hill.
If the Chiefs were going to move on from Hill — and they had to have an idea that this could be a possibility — they didn't have to sign Justin Reid over Mathieu.
In fact, Kansas City could've re-signed the Honey Badger and then traded Hill AFTER the 2022 season.
The Hill/Mathieu situation has been handled about as badly as possible. And now it's too late to make it right.
Featured image via Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
