Could the 2025 NFL Draft finally be the year that the Kansas City Chiefs trade out of round one?
According to general manager Brett Veach on April 17, the Chiefs will “certainly have the phones open” if any quarterback-needy team feels the urge to jump back up into the first round. But at the same time, Veach noted that he never typically receives any calls about trading down on opening night.
“I don’t think it’s as common as people think,” Veach said, regarding receiving calls about trading out of round one. “When you complete a round and you kind of look at what’s on the board or what’s coming up, it’s probably a little bit easier to say — well, we should have just traded down. But I think that’s a good point, the question is could you have traded down.”
“There may have been one draft where we received multiple calls about trading down and didn’t do it but other than that one year in the last four or five years, I don’t remember getting a ton of calls on day one,” he explained. Continuing later: “It’s not like we’re not answering calls and we’re not making calls.”
At the end of the day, Veach seemed very open to the idea of trading out of night one. Reiterating throughout the presser that Kansas City feels they need to replenish their overall roster depth at multiple positions.
“Every year, someone says to me in the draft room — we’ll just trade back with a team that wants a quarterback,” Veach relayed. “And I’m like — that hasn’t happened yet! We’ve been hearing that every year and that hasn’t happened yet.”
Veach concluded that “maybe this will be the year” that the Chiefs trade out of the first.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach Highlights 4 Positions Ahead of NFL Draft
Although Veach appears at least somewhat interested in trading down, he also highlighted several position groups that he feels are strong in this 2025 class.
“I think there’s always room for improvement [on the roster],” Veach told reporters when asked about draft needs. “I think that just from a 1000-foot view, I mean, it’s probably safe to say I always give you probably too much information on these Zooms. But I mean — O-Line, D-Line and corner. I think the draft has some numbers [in those areas].”
The Chiefs GM went on to add that there are “a tick” fewer offensive linemen that may be available to KC at No. 31, but he seemed to love the premium talent at defensive tackle and defensive end. At cornerback, Veach also noted “sneaky depth” in the middle rounds — hinting Kansas City could wait on CBs.
“And certainly wouldn’t shy away from continuing to add to our wide receiver room as well,” the front office exec rounded out his response, highlighting OL, DL, CB and WR initially.
Later, Veach also spoke to the depth of the running back class, but he only did so after a specific question on that position group. The Chiefs have been connected to a long list of RBs throughout the pre-draft process, but it’s possible KC could wait on the position and focus on the trenches early on.
One definitive statement from Veach on round one — the Chiefs will not be drafting a quarterback. Shocker.
Chiefs Are Unlikely to Trade up in Round 1 — or Select Prospect With ‘First-Round Grade’
There was one other interesting draft note from Veach. This is not unusual for the Chiefs, as they typically pick at the tail end of round one, but the GM did reveal that his staff has only identified 12 or 13 prospects with “first-round grades.”
Keep in mind that Veach also stated that this number is typically only slightly higher on average, around 15 to 19 players. But this year, there are even fewer first-round talents, at least in KC’s opinion.
That means it’s unlikely that the Chiefs will get their hands on one of them, barring a trade up similar to the Trent McDuffie move. Veach did acknowledge that if a first-round grade dropped within trade range (“the 20s”), Kansas City might be aggressive.
Having said that, he did not seem to foresee a first-round trade up happening this year. Due to both a lack of elite talent and the Chiefs’ general depth need throughout the roster.
