KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A week ago, Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach predicted that the first round of this year's NFL draft would include plenty of trades. Veach was correct -- and he was behind the first one.
In a deal with the Cleveland Browns, the Chiefs moved up three spots, from the ninth pick to the sixth, to select LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane on Thursday night.
Kansas City sent the Nos. 9, 74 and 148 picks to Cleveland, which used the ninth selection to take Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano.
"I [got] the phone call and [the Chiefs] traded up; I was like, 'Damn, I wanted to go to the Chiefs,'" Delane said. "I just wasn't expecting it. I pick up the phone and I'm like, 'Woah, this is crazy.' That's when the emotions came to me. I was just so blessed to be on a team like this."
Three weeks ago, the Chiefs' top trio of decision-makers -- Veach, coach Andy Reid and longtime defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo -- believed the best prospect they could acquire for the roster was Delane, the top-rated cornerback in this year's draft class. Veach's issue, though, was figuring out how to move into position for him.
Earlier this month, Veach and Marc Richards, who leads the Chiefs' data analytics team, went through various predictive models to learn that the best option to acquire Delane was to jump ahead of the New Orleans Saints, who held the eighth pick.
"Every model that we ran kind of said, looking at the stack of players, we figured [edge rushers David] Bailey and [Arvell] Reese would go [off the board]," Veach said Thursday night. "The predictive model said that the Saints are going to be the biggest obstacle. I've been doing this for a few years now. Cleveland made it obvious early on that they were interested in trading, so we had some traction.
"I know [Saints general manager] Mickey [Loomis]. If there's one guy more aggressive than me, it's Mickey. I have that experience where we're kind of eyeing the same guy. We had Mansoor Delane as a top-five guy on our board. We felt it would come down to us and New Orleans."
In 11 games last season at LSU, Delane recorded two interceptions and 13 pass breakups while not surrendering a touchdown in coverage. He also didn't commit a single penalty. Delane became the first unanimous All-American at LSU since star quarterback Joe Burrow.
With the Chiefs, Delane will be tasked with replacing All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, who last month was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for a package of draft picks that included the No. 29 selection Thursday night. Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs' other starting cornerback last season, signed with the Rams last month in free agency.
"They weren't really on me too much in this process, but they said they just wanted to keep it quiet and make that sneak move," Delane, 22, told ESPN on the draft stage in Pittsburgh. "They made the best move in the draft. I'm excited."
An example of the Chiefs' caution occurred about three weeks ago. Veach wanted to host Delane at the Chiefs' training facility as one of the team's top-30 visits. Spagnuolo, however, had a better idea.
"Don't bring him in," Spanguolo said he warned Veach. "Just don't bring him in. Let's just Zoom [video interview] him and keep it quiet."
The Chiefs conducted a final interview with Delane on Tuesday, just to confirm he was still their top prospect for a trade.
"I thought we did a good job; I think a lot of people thought we might go offensive line there, but this was our guy the whole time," Veach said.
"He's super fluid, he's athletic, he plays [patiently], he's super aware and he's got great ball skills. He's tough and he'll tackle. We think he can play inside and outside. He was the most complete corner. When you're picking at nine and you're right there -- and you can get the No. 1 corner in the draft -- you just go get him."
With the 29th pick, Veach and Reid did exactly what they did in 2022, the last time the Chiefs had two first-round selections: They added a second defender. This time it was Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods.
"I thought it was important that we address the defense," Reid said. "That's an important side of the ball, as much as I love the offense. We had some vacancies there that we needed to take care of. That's the way we felt going in."
The Chiefs believe Woods, 21, is an ascending prospect, a player who has plenty of quickness and strength to be a significant, rotational contributor as a rookie. The Chiefs needed depth behind pass rusher Chris Jones and Omarr Norman-Lott, last year's second-round pick who in October suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee. Even last week, Veach acknowledged that the Chiefs needed to add two players at the interior position.
With Jones at age 32, Woods should find a willing mentor in the Chiefs' best defensive player.
"I'm blessed to be in a room with Chris Jones and be under Andy Reid, who has done it so many times," Woods said. "I think I have the talent, the mindset and the leadership skills and capabilities to come in and make an impact immediately. We're talking about a future Hall of Famer. I'm going to be a sponge from the moment I step into the door.
Thursday night was just the second in the franchise's history that the team selected multiple defenders in the opening round, according to ESPN Research. In 2022, the Chiefs traded up to pick McDuffie and also acquired defensive end George Karlaftis, the duo helping the franchise win two consecutive Super Bowls.
Veach said he is confident that Delane and Woods can follow a similar path.
"We expect these guys to be impact players right out of the gate," Veach said. "That was one of the things. We want to get younger and deeper, but we also don't want to redshirt guys. We identified two guys that we think can come in right away and help us."
