Brett Veach - Pro Football Rumors

Brett Veach, Louis Riddick Favorites For Chiefs GM?

June 28th, 2017 at 11:55am CST by Dallas Robinson

Although the Chiefs are interviewing Titans director of player personnel Ryan Cowden today, he’s not currently the frontrunner for the Kansas City vacancy, Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com reports. Instead, Chiefs co-director of player personnel Brett Veach and ESPN commentator Louis Riddick are considered the “strongest candidates” for the job, per McCormick. Indeed, a “growing belief” exists around the league that Veach will end up being promoted, tweets Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.

Given that head coach Andy Reid is now “running the show” in Kansas City following the firing of ex-GM John Dorsey, familiarity with Reid seems to be playing an integral role in the club’s general manager search. Veach, of course, has worked with Reid with the Chiefs and also spent time with him in Philadelphia. Riddick, too, has a relationship with Reid based on the pair’s time with the Eagles.

The Chiefs are expected to interview Veach, whose name was tossed out during the Bills GM hunt, at some point this week. Riddick, meanwhile, is a candidate for the Kansas City despite his public denial. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Monday that the Chiefs have reached out to Riddick’s representation, but perhaps not Riddick himself.

As our Chiefs GM Search Tracker shows, Cowden, Veach, and Riddick are three of six candidates who have been linked to the Chiefs’ vacancy. Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer will interview this week, Chiefs co-director of player personnel Mike Borgonzi has been mentioned as a contender, and Vikings assistant general manager George Paton declined an interview.

Chiefs To Interview Brett Veach This Week

June 26th, 2017 at 9:33am CST by Zachary Links

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt is expected to interview co-director of player personnel Brett Veach this week, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Veach has been identified as an early frontrunner for the job.

Last week, Rapoport reported that Veach is the name to watch in the team’s GM search. Veach goes way back with Andy Reid, having served as his assistant with the Eagles. The exec has also gotten lots of face time with Hunt in recent years and has been highly regarded by the organization. Veach has come up as a GM candidate before, having been linked to the Bills’ vacancy earlier this year.

Veach’s fellow co-director of playr personnel, Mike Borgonzi, has also been mentioned as a leading in-house candidate. There’s no word yet on when or if he will get an interview, but logic dictates that he will also be interviewed by Hunt & Co. in the coming days.

Latest On Chiefs’ GM Search

June 24th, 2017 at 11:20am CST by Ben Levine

Former Chiefs general manager John Dorsey‘s firing this past week was surprising for a number of reasons, including the timing. Terez A. Paylor of KansasCity.com writes how the late-June move was “unprecedented” and could lead to several complications for the organization.

As Paylor explains, the NFL is generally on “vacation” during this time of year, with most “player evaluators” fired after the draft to prevent them from passing along information to future employers. The writer also notes that Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt had previously said that he’d like to hammer out extensions for both Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid during this late-June timeframe. Following the firing, Paylor wonders if negotiation discussions may have broken down. Of course, on the flip side, a letter from Hunt earlier this week didn’t give any indications that contract negotiations had to do with the firing.

Either way, it will be particularly difficult for the organization to hire a replacement at this point of the offseason. If the Chiefs are eyeing someone from an outside organization, they’d have to get permission from the opposing team to interview that individual. As Paylor writes, few teams will be willing to grant that permission at this point of the year, as it’ll be presumably difficult to fill that spot in their own organization.

“Teams don’t want to lose a guy at this time of year because they’d be so hard to replace,” Senior Bowl director Phil Savage (and former NFL GM) said. “Most of these moves are made right after the season or after the draft, so you have all of May to get organized.

“I bet half of the teams are in NFL are out of country this week. To get a phone call saying ‘Hey, we want to interview your right-hand man,’ some teams would be reluctant.”

Paylor notes that the team could alternatively promote from within, with the writer suggesting co-directors of player personnel, Brett Veach or Mike Borgonzi, as potential candidates. Regardless of the team’s game plan, it will surely take some time before the Chiefs officially announce a replacement.

AFC West Rumors: Chiefs, Dorsey, Veach

June 23rd, 2017 at 9:47am CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the AFC West following the Chiefs‘ surprising GM shakeup:

Chiefs co-director of player personnel Brett Veach is the name to watch in the team’s GM search, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Veach was widely identified as a candidate for the opening on Thursday, but it sounds like he has an early lead over the rest.
Several sources in the know say that John Dorsey didn’t know the Chiefs were going to fire him this week, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Chiefs reportedly weren’t pleased with how Dorsey handled contract negotiations with stars like Justin Houston and Eric Berry, but Dorsey still did not believe that his job was in jeopardy.
The Raiders‘ commitment of $40MM guaranteed at signing for Derek Carr is nothing to sneeze at, but the team got a level of flexibility that you don’t see with some of the other quarterback contracts out there, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. Before the third year of the deal, the Raiders could theoretically walk away from Derek Carr and take on just $7.5MM in dead money. Because he’ll effectively be going year-to-year, the deal has some similarities to Colin Kaepernick‘s 49ers contract and that’s not necessarily great for the player. Carr did get some financial security with his new deal, but Fitzgerald feels that quarterbacks need a new champion to really push the market. That could come in a matter of weeks when/if Matthew Stafford inks a new deal with Detroit.

Chiefs To Start GM Search Immediately

June 22nd, 2017 at 6:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After firing general manager John Dorsey earlier today, the Chiefs intend to begin their search for a new GM immediately, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Kansas City will consider both internal and external candidates for the position, per Yates, and has a “loose goal” of finding a general manager by the start of training camp, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

The Chiefs’ most natural internal contender for the job may have been Chris Ballard, who’d worked under Dorsey for four years. But Ballard has already landed a new job this offseason, as he was named the Colts’ general manager in January. Other incumbent candidates for the Kansas City position may include co-directors of player personnel Mike Borgonzi and Brett Veach, the latter of whom was linked to the Bills’ GM vacancy. Indeed, both Borgonzi and Veach are expected to garner GM interviews, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

Any number of external candidates could vie for the Chiefs’ general manager gig, and PFR’s 2017 GM Search Tracker — which documented every executive named in relation to the 49ers, Colts, and Bills general manager searches — could work as a list of possible contenders. Based on those hiring processes, possible interviewees could include Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner (Seahawks), George Paton (Vikings), Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst (Packers), Chris Polian (Jaguars), Eric DeCosta (Ravens), and Nick Caserio (Patriots).

Bills To Interview Panthers Exec Brandon Beane

May 1st, 2017 at 2:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bills’ general manager search is underway. Buffalo has asked permission to speak with Panthers assistant GM Brandon Beane about their GM vacancy, a league source tells ESPN.com’s Wendi Nix (Twitter link).

Soon after the Bills fired Doug Whaley, Beane’s name emerged as a potential candidate for the gig. The exec has a shared history with new Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and while the Panthers will try to keep him, they cannot prevent him from accepting a GM position elsewhere if it includes final say over the 53-man roster. It remains to be seen whether McDermott, who reportedly had control over the Bills’ draft last week, would be willing to cede that control.

The name of Chiefs executive Brett Veach is also circulating in personnel circles as a candidate for the Bills’ GM job, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports hears (on Twitter).

Bills Fire GM Doug Whaley, Entire Scouting Staff

April 30th, 2017 at 10:07am CST by Rory Parks

Less than 24 hours after the 2017 draft wrapped up, the Bills announced that they have fired GM Doug Whaley. The move does not come as a major surprise, as we heard earlier this week that major changes could be coming to the Buffalo front office, and it was clear that Whaley was losing clout to new head coach Sean McDermott. Indeed, the Bills hadn’t allowed Whaley to speak to reporters since the Senior Bowl in January, and that did not change during the draft. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, McDermott “had taken over this team in every way. [Whaley] had been phased out, well before today. Now it’s just official.”

Whaley, who became the team’s GM prior to the 2013 season, did not have much success in that position, as the Bills’ best record during his tenure was 9-7, and they did not qualify for the playoffs in any of his four seasons at the helm. He also made several notable missteps, like the aggressive draft trade for Sammy Watkins and the ill-advised extension for Marcell Dareus, and he failed to identify a franchise quarterback. Nonetheless, Whaley was given the rare opportunity to hire his third different head coach after Rex Ryan was let go towards the end of the 2016 campaign (Whaley also had a hand in hiring Ryan’s predecessor, Doug Marrone). Team owner Terry Pegula also insisted several times over the course of the past several months that Whaley’s position was secure, which Mike Rodak of ESPN.com called an “awkward charade” that the Bills would have been better off avoiding.

Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, though, feels differently. He believes, since the Bills clearly felt comfortable with McDermott running the show, it made sense for them to keep the spotlight off their rookie head coach during the draft and to bring in a new GM now to help clean up Whaley’s (and Ryan’s) messes and handle post-draft matters (Twitter links).

As Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports tweets, multiple members of the Panthers’ front office could become candidates for the Bills’ GM position due to their connections with McDermott, including Carolina’s assistant GM, Brandon Beane. Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer expects McDermott to push for Beane, and while the Panthers will try to keep him, they cannot block him from accepting a GM job elsewhere (Twitter link).

Another potential candidate to replace Whaley is Chiefs’ co-director of player personnel Brett Veach, as suggested by former NFL exec Joe Banner (via Twitter). Veach worked with McDermott when both men were in Philadelphia and is highly-regarded in Kansas City.

Pegula issued the following statement on Whaley’s dismissal:

“After a thorough review of our football operations over the past several months, Kim [Pegula] and I informed Doug this morning that we will be moving in a new direction. We have enjoyed working with Doug. He is a good person and we want to thank him for his work and commitment to our football team. This was my decision. It was not an easy decision but I believe it’s the right one for the future of the Buffalo Bills. Our search for a new general manager will begin immediately.”

In addition to Whaley, the Bills also dismissed their entire scouting staff, as Rodak reports.