{"id":874385,"date":"2026-04-25T15:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/874385\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T15:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:42:18","slug":"brett-veach-explains-chiefs-decision-to-trade-up-for-mansoor-delane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/874385\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Veach Explains Chiefs\u2019 Decision to Trade Up for Mansoor Delane"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Mansoor\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> made an aggressive move early in the 2026 NFL Draft, and general manager Brett Veach addressed<\/a> the decision shortly after the first round concluded. Speaking to reporters, Veach confirmed the team targeted LSU defensive back Mansoor Delane<\/a> all along, even as speculation suggested Kansas City could prioritize the offensive line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we did a good job. I think a lot of people thought we might go offensive line there,\u201d Veach said. \u201cBut this was our guy the whole time. Again, assuming (David) Bailey and (Arvell) Reese were off the board, again, great players, but we had Delane right up there. It\u2019s hard to find good corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kansas City ultimately traded picks No. 9, 74, and 148 to the Cleveland Browns<\/a> to move up to No. 6 and secure Delane, signaling how highly the organization valued the prospect.<\/p>\n

Chiefs Trade Up for Mansoor Delane in NFL Draft Decision<\/p>\n

Veach said the Chiefs acted decisively because they were concerned that the New Orleans Saints<\/a> could select Delane first. He specifically pointed to Saints general manager Mickey Loomis as a factor in the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s one guy that\u2019s more aggressive than me, it\u2019s (Saints general manager) Mickey (Loomis),\u201d Veach said in his night one press conference<\/a>. \u201cHe and I\u2019ve had that experience where we\u2019re eyeing the same guy and when you try to call them when they\u2019re on the pick, it just doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veach added that New Orleans\u2019 roster situation increased the urgency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you looked at their roster, two years ago, they lost Paulson Adebo to the Giants<\/a>, and then just this past spring they lost Alontae Taylor. I mean, so they\u2019re down two corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that, the Chiefs chose not to risk losing their top target.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like he was the most complete corner. I\u2019m sure he was the consensus No. 1 corner,\u201d Veach said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re picking at No. 9, and you\u2019re right there, and you can get the No. 1 corner in the draft, you go get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett Veach Reveals Why the Chiefs Keep Mansoor Delane Interest Quiet Before Draft<\/p>\n

Veach also revealed the Chiefs deliberately avoided bringing Delane into their facility before the draft to prevent any leaks about their intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost our No. 1 and No. 2 corners (Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson) and so, you know, we just decided and we had Mansoor Delane as a Top 5 guy on our board,\u201d Veach said. \u201cAnd we just made a decision that if we got in striking distance, let\u2019s just go up there and not leave it to chance. We felt it would come down to us and New Orleans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategy worked, as Kansas City secured Delane without tipping off other teams ahead of the draft.<\/p>\n

Andy Reid Shares Reaction to Mansoor Delane Selection<\/p>\n

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also spoke about Delane following the pick, emphasizing both his talent and character while noting the rookie will still need to earn a starting role.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a heck of a player, heck of a kid,\u201d Reid said. \u201cI think when you have a chance to talk to him, if you already haven\u2019t, he\u2019s a good kid. Tremendous amount of energy, great ball skills, great feet, good size and good speed on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reid\u2019s comments highlighted the team\u2019s confidence in Delane\u2019s long-term potential within the defensive system.<\/p>\n

Chiefs Add Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas to Continue to Strengthen Defense<\/p>\n

Kansas City continued to build its defense after selecting Delane. The team added defensive lineman Peter Woods, whom Reid compared to one of the NFL\u2019s most dominant interior players.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can say Aaron Donald-type quick \u2013 well, he\u2019s not Aaron Donald, yet \u2013 that\u2019s a good challenge for him but he has that ability inside,\u201d Reid said. \u201cYou\u2019re seeing in the league now, guys that maybe aren\u2019t the biggest guys, but they\u2019re extremely quick and have great body control and can rush the passer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veach pointed to the team\u2019s evolving defensive front following the addition of Woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get Omarr (Norman-Lott) coming back now and now you have Peter Woods and now Chris Jones and now we have (Khyiris) Tonga,\u201d Veach said. \u201cIt looks a lot different than it did last year already, and we still have some more picks to go and hopefully we can keep adding.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Day 2, the Chiefs continued that approach by selecting Oklahoma edge rusher R Mason Thomas with the No. 40 overall pick, reinforcing their focus on improving the defense throughout the draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane The Kansas City Chiefs made an aggressive move early in the 2026 NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-874385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116466112604631039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}