How will Chiefs address left tackle? Here’s what GM Brett Veach said at NFL Combine
Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach sat on an elevated chair at the Indiana Convention Center, ready to address the offseason’s biggest looming question.
Following a disastrous offensive line performance in a Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles two weeks ago, how will the team look to fill its vacancy at left tackle?
“That is tricky,” Veach said during an interview with a handful of local reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “The left tackle one is tricky.”
Veach would love for this to be simpler. He’d be happy if three All-Pro left tackles were hitting free agency or if this NFL Draft class was brimming with a deep class at that position.
Neither of those is reality, though. Which means the Chiefs are likely going to have to get creative while trying to find a 2025 solution to protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ blind side.
“Your go-to default is always draft,” Veach said, when asked about the most realistic way to fill the left tackle spot. “I just ... I wish the numbers were better.”
The truth: This isn’t a great draft for left tackles — and even if it was, the Chiefs face a disadvantage compared to most other NFL teams.
Last year, for instance, Veach said the Chiefs had seven left tackles in the draft who earned first-round grades. Each was taken in the top 19 picks — well before the Chiefs’ selection at 32.
The 2025 class, based on top draft analysts, projects only to have about half as many viable players at left tackle with similar upside. The high demand and low supply of that position make it likely that the Chiefs won’t be able to get the guy they’d like with their 31st pick.
It all means a permanent solution for the Chiefs remains challenging to find. Overwhelmingly, NFL teams fill their left-tackle spot with early first-round draft picks.
Veach said he even recently joked with coach Andy Reid about the fix to KC’s left-tackle predicament.
“I said, ‘The best way to get a left tackle is not an option for us, and that’s just sucking for a year and picking in the top 10,’” Veach said with a smile. “’Then we’ll get one.’”
Veach admits the Chiefs could still get creative, if a player they like in the first round falls to a reachable spot. KC has an extra early third-round pick after trading cornerback L’Jarius Sneed last season; that could be used to help get the Chiefs a few spots higher than their current pick in the first round.
But it also presents a problem for Veach if he doesn’t pick off a starting left tackle in free agency: the thought that the Chiefs might be forced to take a left tackle in the first round.
“The one thing that scares me is — and there’s not a lot of options in free agency — but sitting there at 31 and having a first-round corner on the board and a first-round defensive end on the board and a third-round lineman at tackle,” Veach said. “Do you take the lineman you have?”
Veach and his staff have often thrived when sticking true to their board and evaluations. This strategy has helped them land draft home runs, such as cornerback Trent McDuffie and receiver Xavier Worthy.
To avoid reaching in the draft, though, Veach would have to secure a left tackle in free agency.
And there aren’t a lot of options there, either. While Ronnie Stanley and Cam Robinson are the biggest-name options, KC would likely be searching in the tier below them while trying to find a stopgap solution.
Perhaps most likely? Veach and KC elect to throw numbers at the position this offseason.
The Chiefs will have significant money coming off the books after this season, and the 2026 draft will likely have more talent available at left tackle than this year. So could the Chiefs sign a free agent or two at the position this offseason, draft a developmental player with one of their early-round picks in 2025, then hope something works out in 2025 before looking to more permanent options in 2026 and beyond?
Here’s what’s most clear: KC has to do something after how last season turned out.
The Chiefs moved Thuney to left tackle for their final six competitive games. And though the move secured a weak spot — and helped the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance — it came apart at the worst time when Mahomes was sacked a career-high six times in a 40-22 Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
Reid confirmed Tuesday in Indianapolis that Thuney would return to playing left guard for the Chiefs next season.
Veach, meanwhile, said he was looking forward to interviewing a long list of left tackles this week at the NFL Combine. From there, the Chiefs will at least have more knowledge while looking to fill their clear roster hole for 2025.
“We’re gonna exhaust as much time and whatever resources we have,” Veach said of improving the left tackle position. “I just want to make sure that you’re investing the resources on a good player.”
