Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach's latest trade has caught the eye of a former NFL decision-maker.
The Chiefs managed their second trade ahead of the upcoming Nov. 5 NFL trade deadline on Monday, acquiring DE/LB Joshua Uche from the New England Patriots. It came after they decided to acquire WR DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans just last week.
Speaking on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN , former Patriots HC Bill Belichick sounded off on the trade. He explained the beauty of the deal and the trade compensation from a player-personnel perspective.
"Look, when you have a good team, when you can acquire an asset without giving up a lot, that's a good move," Belichick said. "So (Joshua) Uche is at the end of his contract this year. He'll be a free agent, if they don't re-sign him then they'll get a comp pick. It'll probably be a sixth anyway, so the Chiefs really didn't give up anything other than they'd have to wait a year to get that pick back. I assume it was a 2025 sixth. If it was a 2026 sixth, they didn't give up anything in my mind. And then, if you like the player and re-sign him, you like the player and re-sign him."
The Chiefs are sending a 2026 sixth-round draft pick to the Patriots in the trade per reports. That means, as Belichick says, the Chiefs really didn't give up anything to acquire Uche for the remainder of the season. Even if they re-sign him after his contract expires it's a really, really good deal.
There's also something to be said of the player the team acquired, who Belichick knows very well. He coached Uche during his best season as a professional (2022) where he managed 11.5 sacks. While his production has been down over the past two seasons, Belichick believes those numbers will go up in Kansas City because they'll give him more opportunities to rush the passer.
"Look, Josh Uche's a really good (pass) rusher," Belichick said. "He hasn't had a chance to rush much this year for the Patriots because they've been behind a lot. He had a good year two years ago, now he had (Matt) Judon on the other side of him, so two good pass rushers. He'll have a lot of opportunities to rush with Kansas City and I think he'll really help them. He's got surprising power for his size. He's got excellent quickness and a good get-off. And he has some flexibility in coverage. I think he's a good addition for a team that needs another pass rusher, which everybody does."
The Uche move isn't the only one that caught Belichick's attention, though. He gave Brett Veach his flowers for the first move he made as well.
"(DeAndre) Hopkins, I mean, this guy is a dependable catcher," Belichick said. "He's probably not what he once was, but he's still a force, he's a hard guy to cover, he's great in zone coverage, he's got great hands and he's a great red area receiver and third-down conversions. If he picks up one or two third downs and makes a great play in the red area, he's going to help you every game. I think it's a great move. He's hungry. He hasn't played in a big game in a long time, and I'm sure he's excited to get back into action and play in really important games."
The Chiefs aren't just playing winning football on the field, but the front office is clearly playing winning football, too. For a future Hall of Famer like Belichick to heap such praise, you've got to be doing something right.
"That's two good players that honestly, I don't think they gave up much for," Belichick concluded. "In the end, I think they'll probably be able to get back for (Joshua) Uche whatever they put into it."
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