In the NFL draft, nothing can be said to be certain except for fans booing the commissioner, a team drafting a kicker way too high, and Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach making trades.
Seeing a trade from Veach in this month’s draft is quite likely for Chiefs fans. In each of the past two drafts with Kansas City, Veach has traded draft capital to either move up in the draft or to acquire a player. He was quite selective in the 2018 NFL draft, using the team’s eight picks to move around and make a total of six selections. The Chiefs traded up a total of three times in order to select Breeland Speaks, Derrick Nnadi and Kahlil McKenzie. They also acquired pick No. 100 in the Speaks trade, which was used on Dorian O’Daniel. In the 2019 NFL draft, the Chiefs traded their first-round pick for DE Frank Clark. They also moved up to select Mecole Hardman at pick No. 56 in the second round.
In order to determine the value of draft picks, NFL teams use a trade value chart. Most of them are based on the chart below, which was devised by Jimmy Johnson when he was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the 90s. To get a better idea of what each pick in the draft is worth, here is a look at the 2020 NFL draft order with their accompanied trade values:
Here are the individual values of the Chiefs’ draft picks this year, per the chart:
Round 1, No. 32: 590
Round 2, No. 63: 276
Round 3, No. 96: 116
Round 4, No. 138: 37
Round 5, No. 177: 19.4
Total value: 1,038.4
The Chiefs have a first-round pick, for the first time since 2017, which significantly increases the total value of their picks.
It’s entirely possible the Chiefs use that first-round pick to make a move up during the upcoming draft. If the Chiefs combine all of their draft capital they can move up as high as pick No. 16 in the first round. That’d leave them with a single pick and little flexibility, though.
Their first-round pick is also a prime spot for moving back into the second round. Keep in mind that salary cap space also comes into play here. As Kansas City adds more draft picks, they’ll add more salary cap commitments too. With their current draft slots, the Chiefs are projected to need just over $5.1 million according to Over The Cap.
Use the chart above and play around with some potential trades for Kansas City. Be sure to let us know the haul that you end up with on Twitter and Facebook.