KC is making head scratching moves.
They cut Hunt, Houston and Berry. Lose starting Center Morse in free agency. Trade Dee Ford and sign Honey Badger.
I mean if one is only casually aware of the situation here and looking at “names”, sure it seems odd but there is definitely a method to the madness and this is like looking at a building that is halfway constructed and saying “gee I don’t think that’s gonna be any good at keeping the rain out”.
1) The defensive scheme is being completely redone and it necessitates a massive overhaul of personnel.
2) Hunt had to go, there’s nothing confusing about it. He may not even play next year, there’s no guarantee he’s coming off the commish’s no play list anytime soon. Plus we all know - RBs can be replaced. Hunt was excellent. He was a third rounder. Williams is pretty darn good and Hyde should be a fine tough yardage RB2. The Chiefs will be fine there if not quite as potent as when Hunt was playing prime time minutes. They also aren’t having to spend a lot of money at the position.
3) Houston, Ford and Berry are bigger names than their contracts are worth to KC (or Ford’s new contract in that case). This is classic New England/new cap era dumping of guys potentially one year too early than too late or after a devastatingly large contract extension kills your flexibility. Houston is a shadow of himself, Ford would have been limited in the new scheme and Berry is flat out broken.
4) The Chiefs weren’t going to pay a center, who they survived just fine without last season while he was hurt the kind of cash Morse just got.
5) The rest of the construction project remains to be seen. Rumor is Darby is in town tonight and would not be surprised to see him leave with a deal. The Chiefs have also acquired a lot of draft capital (6 in the first two rounds this year and next so far). This can be used for cheap talent (this draft is loaded with potential impact defenders) or as trade chips.
6) The goal is to remain flexibile and lower the age of the team to maintain a large window of competitiveness with Mahomes...plus needing money for extensions for Tyreek, Kelcie, Chris Jones, etc.
I’m not saying it’s all gonna work out - I’m just saying there is a definite method at work here with Veach.