Arrowheadlines: Brett Veach has no regrets over Kadarius Toney trade

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Chiefs GM Says He'd Do Kadarius Toney Trade Again 'In a Heartbeat'| SI

Given the outcome of the trade, would Kansas City general manager Brett Veach be willing to do it again? Veach adamantly told reporters Thursday afternoon via Adam Teicher of ESPN that the answer was yes.

"I don't think we're sitting here going for a third straight Super Bowl [championship] had we not made that trade,'' Veach said. "So, from that standpoint, we'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.''

Despite owning just three career regular-season touchdowns, Toney came up big for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII with a 65-yard punt return and a five-yard touchdown catch—both in the fourth quarter of Kansas City's 38–35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cheat Sheet to Every NFL Team's Backup QBs for 2024 Season After Roster Cuts | Bleacher Report

3. Carson Wentz, Kansas City Chiefs

2. Sam Howell, Seattle Seahawks

1. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers

Wentz is on his fifth team in five years. General managers no longer see him as a long-term starter, but he still has a big arm and the mobility to spark the passing game. With more than twice as many touchdown passes (153) than interceptions (67), he could lead an offense for a full season.

Last season, Howell started for all 17 games for the Washington Commanders and looked the part of a starter with 17 touchdown passes and nine interceptions through Week 10.

Over-Under Predictions For Every Team Entering the 2024 NFL Season | The 33rd Team

Kansas City Chiefs 11.5 (over -115, under -105)

Record prediction: Over

Even if the Kansas City Chiefs use the regular season to figure out what will work in the playoffs, it's nearly impossible to go under here. The offense has been reworked to where we could see the return of a more vertical passing game for Patrick Mahomes. That would be enough to get the Chiefs over.

I'd even feel comfortable bumping the line up for an alternate win total of 12.5, which gets the over to +170. The Chiefs have a bottom-third schedule and could easily get to 13 wins while not taking the regular season super seriously.

Introducing the NFL's All-Overpaid Team Before Week 1 of 2024 Season | Bleacher Report

Worst Investment: Justin Reid, Kansas City Chiefs (total contract value: three years, $31.5 million)

Justin Reid is a serviceable defender in Kansas City. He can set up shop at different depths and alignments, make plays against the run and pass, and he has shown the ability to cut his teeth on special teams.

However, there's nothing currently in the 27-year-old's game that can be qualified as "elite."

While Chiefs GM Brett Veach is one of the NFL's brightest and intuitive decision-makers when it comes to allocating funds, paying Reid roughly $10.5 million per year (13th-highest AAV among NFL safeties) seems a bit of stretch for what he offers on a week-to-week basis.

NFL playoff predictions: Picking eight division winners, six wild-card teams for 2024 season | NFL.com

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs

UNANIMOUS PICK

The Chiefs' dominance within the AFC West (and across the league) is expected to continue this season, with all of our analysts picking Kansas City to win its ninth consecutive division title. In fact, Patrick Mahomes and Co. were the only unanimous selection this year. It's not all Kansas City among the four West squads, though, as the Chargers appeared as a wild-card team on eight ballots, with two analysts picking L.A. to earn the AFC's sixth seed in Year 1 of the Jim Harbaugh era.

2025 NFL Mock Draft: Giants trade up for QB, five signal callers go in Round 1 | CBS Sports

Round 1 - Pick 32

Danny Stutsman LB

Oklahoma • Sr • 6'4" / 241 lbs

Stutsman is a really good athlete who plays with little wasted movement. He flashes a downhill burst, and is a wrap-up tackler. He's also comfortable in space and can be disruptive in coverage. The Chiefs don't have a ton of needs but Nick Bolton is in the final year of his contract.

Around the NFL

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott on contract: 'It says a lot if it is or isn't' done | NFL.com

This season marks the final year of a four-year, $160 million contract Prescott signed in 2021, which stood as a significant rate at the time, but has since been eclipsed by roughly a dozen newer contracts for quarterbacks.

Given the fact Prescott led the league in touchdown passes (36) last season, finished third in passing yards (4,516) and tossed just nine interceptions, it would make sense to work on a new deal with him, but that doesn't quite match where the Cowboys stand in their timeline.

Like coach Mike McCarthy, Prescott is entering his final year. Each will have to earn their future with their performance this season, putting an incredible amount of pressure on the club's leading figures.

49ers, Brandon Aiyuk strike deal on four-year extension | NBC Sports

In a deadline-driven industry, the deadline finally arrived for the 49ers. And they moved to their bottom-line position. And receiver Brandon Aiyuk took the deal.

PFT has confirmed that the 49ers and Aiyuk have agreed to terms on a four-year, $120 million extension. Adding in his pre-existing 2024 salary of $14.1 million, that puts him under contract for five years, at $134.1 million.

Per a source with knowledge of the terms, it's a "real" $30 million per year, on the value of the extension. We'll eventually have the full numbers and the true and practical guarantees, plus all other relevant details.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs Roster: GM says Hollywood Brown trending in the right direction

So Brown's injury timeline was a topic of conversation on Thursday when Veach met with local reporters on a Zoom call.

"I don't like talking about medical [things]," he cautioned his listeners, "because if I say something and [a player is] ahead of that timeline — or behind that timeline — then I don't want to put any more pressure on the kid."

With that caveat out of the way, Veach gave a fairly positive report on Brown's progress.

"I could probably confidently say it was similar to Tyreek; it falls in line with the timeline that [he] went through. But I know [Hollywood's] here every day — and he's to the point now where he can laugh without pain; that's a good thing. So he's certainly trending in the right direction — and there was a reason why we didn't put him on the IR [to begin the] season."

That decision made it clear the team is confident Brown will need to miss fewer than the four games he'd have to sit out if he were placed on the Reserve/Injured list.

But Veach had another trick up his sleeve: signing former Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Shuster, who had become a free agent when the New England Patriots cut him loose on August 9.

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