{"id":750856,"date":"2026-04-24T22:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/750856\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T22:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:57:13","slug":"why-did-chiefs-trade-up-for-mansoor-delane-inside-k-c-s-deception-and-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/750856\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did Chiefs trade up for Mansoor Delane? Inside K.C.\u2019s deception \u2014\u00a0and explanation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic\u00a0has\u00a0live coverage\u00a0<\/a>of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said he bumped into defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in the hallway a few weeks ago. He needed to let him know they were going to bring in \u201cour corner\u201d \u2014 referring to LSU\u2019s Mansoor Delane.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t bring him in,\u201d Veach recalled Spagnuolo saying to him. \u201cLet\u2019s just Zoom him. Let\u2019s keep it quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering about the Chiefs\u2019 true feelings about Delane \u2014 the player they traded up to select with the sixth pick Thursday in the first round of the NFL Draft \u2014 perhaps it\u2019s best to start here.<\/p>\n

Spagnuolo loved him so much that he didn\u2019t even want to give a scent to the NFL that the Chiefs could be interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say at least three, four weeks ago,\u201d Veach said Thursday, \u201cwe honed in on (Delane), and he was our guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chiefs might\u2019ve kept this a secret for the last calendar month. But when it came time to pick Thursday, they put all their cards face up on the table while letting everyone know just how much they valued his skill set.<\/p>\n

Because in the end, Delane\u2019s selection \u2014 the Chiefs\u2019 first top-10 pick since quarterback Patrick Mahomes in 2017 \u2014 came at a high cost. To move up to get Delane at No. 6, Veach traded pick Nos. 9, 74 and 148, with trade value estimators believing the Chiefs surrendered roughly the equivalent of a third-round pick<\/a> to leap those three spots.<\/p>\n

So why do it? Why not remain patient and see who fell to No. 9? Why not just hope that Delane would be available at No. 9 \u2014 or another good player fell to that spot either way?<\/p>\n

Veach answered that question in a few ways Thursday night but started with an overall philosophy that has spanned his 10-year tenure in K.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said this: You do all this work, and you put all this time into this,\u201d Veach said. \u201cBut if you want a guy, you\u2019ve got to go find a way to get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veach acknowledges now that Delane was a top-5 player on the Chiefs\u2019 overall board. He said he started conversations with Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry at the NFL\u2019s annual meeting in Phoenix three weeks ago about the possibility of trading up.<\/p>\n

And then you have to know this about how the Chiefs operate under Veach: They trust their coaches \u2014 and always collaborate. Last year, for instance, Veach brought Spagnuolo into a side office off the team\u2019s war room on Day 2 of the draft, writing some names<\/a> on a markerboard while discussing which players the defensive coordinator preferred.<\/p>\n

Three of those names that went up in marker \u2014 Omarr Norman-Lott, Nohl Williams and Ashton Gillotte \u2014 ended up being taken by the Chiefs on that day of the draft.<\/p>\n

So Veach was certainly listening when Spagnuolo left each interview this year, increasingly impressed by Delane\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was our guy the whole time \u2014 assuming (David) Bailey and (Arvell) Reese were off the board,\u201d Veach said. \u201cGreat players, but we had Delane right up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veach said all along, he told Spagnuolo he thought they\u2019d have a chance to get Delane beyond the top five picks.<\/p>\n

Then again, some internal studies by the Chiefs also revealed the difficulty they might have getting that player with their ninth pick.<\/p>\n

Veach said the team\u2019s director of football research, Marc Richards, ran endless predictive models, trying to anticipate what the teams ahead of the Chiefs might do with their picks.<\/p>\n

And one result kept popping up with the charts and graphs Veach looked at: The New Orleans Saints, with pick No. 8, were the most likely team to select Delane.<\/p>\n

It made sense. The Saints, like the Chiefs, had recently lost two starting cornerbacks. Veach said talks with Washington at No. 7 reiterated that the Commanders weren\u2019t interested in trading the pick, and he didn\u2019t figure the Saints would be up for it at 8, given their similar positions of need to the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

There was even a bit more gamesmanship from there. Veach knew that if there was any GM who figured to be just as aggressive as him in the draft, it would be New Orleans\u2019 Mickey Loomis.<\/p>\n

For Delane, Veach figured, it would come down to the Saints and the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just made the decision, if we got within striking distance, let\u2019s go up there and not leave it to chance,\u201d Veach said.<\/p>\n

New Orleans, for what it\u2019s worth, took wide receiver Jordyn Tyson with the eighth pick. It seems likely that Delane\u2019s and Tyson\u2019s trajectories will be followed closely by Chiefs fans for years to come.<\/p>\n

There was one other factor that can\u2019t be ignored. The last time the Chiefs traded up for a first-round cornerback, they hit a grand slam while moving up in 2022 for Trent McDuffie. The compensation then was a third- and a fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

This time, it was a third- and a fifth- to go up for Delane.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like we needed to go up and snag (Delane),\u201d Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. \u201cVery similar to what we did with McDuffie when you really look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the player, Reid said the coaches were wowed by Delane\u2019s retention during a video call with the team two days ago. Among the most impressed? Spagnuolo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Christmas for him,\u201d Reid said of Spagnuolo\u2019s response to selecting Delane.<\/p>\n

Veach, meanwhile, described Delane as super-fluid and athletic. He said the cornerback played both patient and aware with great ball skills, while also showing a willingness and ability to tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like he was the most complete corner,\u201d Veach said.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs had to believe so to make the move they did.<\/p>\n

In addition to the draft compensation needed to trade up, K.C. also signed up for a larger rookie contract. The sixth pick\u2019s guaranteed salary will be four years and $42 million; the ninth selection, meanwhile, would\u2019ve had a four-year, $32 million contract.<\/p>\n

It will all be fine if the Chiefs are right. And if Delane becomes the team\u2019s next McDuffie-like star. And if the team\u2019s history of collaboration between front office and coaches pays off with a fresh wave of secondary talent.<\/p>\n

The cost wasn\u2019t cheap. And the potential risks are difficult to miss.<\/p>\n

Veach, however, stayed true to his principles with his pick.<\/p>\n

And this much is certain: The Chiefs, in Delane, will be getting a player\u00a0they\u00a0want in their facility.<\/p>\n

That is \u2026 at least now because the secret is out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not so sure,\u201d Veach said, \u201cSteve wouldn\u2019t have taken him over anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic\u00a0has\u00a0live coverage\u00a0of the 2026 NFL Draft. Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said he bumped into…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":750857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,3570,16660,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-750856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","10":"tag-lsu-tigers","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-ncaafootball","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116462161476571238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}