Chiefs' Brett Veach Recently Listed as Best GM in Football

In a list stacking up the top executives in the NFL, Veach takes home the trophy thanks to back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

Feb 14, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach speaks as owner Clark Hunt and wife Tavia Hunt and play-by-play announcer Mitch Holthus listen during the celebration of the Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVIII. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs are the closest thing football has seen to the New England Patriots dynasty, which was cemented back in February with another Super Bowl title. That makes it two in a row and three overall for Patrick Mahomes, in addition to head coach Andy Reid.

General manager Brett Veach, the man pulling the strings behind the curtain, is receiving his due this offseason as well. Since taking over for John Dorsey back in the summer of 2017, Veach has done nothing but put Kansas City in positions to achieve success.

As a result, he garners more and more respect as the years go on. In a recent list ranking the top 32 general managers in football for NBC Sports, Patrick Daugherty gives Veach (and Reid) the top overall spot.

"It’s not as easy as just having the quarterback," Daugherty wrote. "As the Patriots’ 'one year too early instead of one year too late' mantra taught us, you have to make painful decisions to stay on top in the NFL. For the Chiefs that has meant things like foregoing a No. 1 receiver two years in a row. That enabled them to build and spend at other premium positions like cornerback … until they could no longer even afford the corner. L’Jarius Sneed was an integral part of February’s latest Lombardi lifter. He was gone two months later. The roster fire is never really out when you’re paying Patrick Mahomes $45 million per season. It just spreads somewhere else.

"So far, Andy Reid and Brett Veach are doing quite literally the best possible job of adapting on a yearly basis. They waited out Chris Jones’ holdout before eventually coming to a mutually beneficial long-term agreement and finally found some money to spend at wideout. They are keeping superstars Mahomes and Travis Kelce happy. Most importantly, they are winning more games than anyone else. If they can continue to pair Mahomes’ magic with front office savvy, this dynasty will become even more difficult to dislodge than the Brady/Belichick machine of yore."

As Daugherty hinted at, the 'Patriot Way' of the 2000s and 2010s was centered around savvy pickups in the draft and free agency. Once those additions outperformed their salaries or their contracts expired, New England would let them test their worth on the open market. Non-core performers were allowed to depart, only for them to be replaced either directly or via a combination of other in-house players.

The method helped Tom Brady and Bill Belichick win six championships together. It's a difficult balance to strike, although the Chiefs are doing a solid job of walking the tightrope with Mahomes. This offseason is a perfect example of that, as Daugherty mentioned. Jones, deemed a core title piece, was re-signed but Sneed, great in his own right but not on Jones's level, got traded for draft capital and salary cap relief.

Veach seems to get smarter and stronger over time, as evidenced by his critical 2022 offseason. In a transformative move, he shipped wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. That mini-reset shifted how the Chiefs operated both financially and on offense, as well as giving the team a chance to build through the draft. It ended up fueling consecutive Super Bowl wins.

This spring, Veach and his staff addressed the wideout position while maintaining a stout defensive depth chart. This may be the most complete team of the Mahomes era, putting the Chiefs in a prime position to chase a three-peat. It's never been done before, but Kansas City is optimistic and confident regarding its chances.

If that elusive feat is accomplished, Daugherty won't be the only one ranking Veach first compared to his peers.

Read More: PFF Says Chiefs Don't Have a Top-32 WR in NFL