KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs' draft "war room" will be replaced by war rooms plural during this year's NFL Draft.
Or war offices, war basements and war living rooms.
Wherever Chiefs personnel will be, they'll be alone in their homes, separated from the other staffers who usually congregate together in the team's draft headquarters for the three-day prospect bonanza.
"We're all set up," Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said Thursday during a videoconference with reporters. "Coach will be at his house. Me and our directors will be at our homes."
Veach actually will have a little company April 23-25, when the NFL will hold an unprecedented virtual draft amid nationwide quarantines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The league allows an IT person to be present at your house and a security there," Veach said. "Just in case people don't like your picks, they're not knocking on your door, ringing your doorbell."
Veach, Chiefs coach Andy Reid and team owner Clark Hunt along with other higher-ups will have multiple monitors set up for the three days.
For the Chiefs, a centralized staffer will act as a sort of air traffic controller determining who sees what.
"He'll be able to control who comes in and who comes out of the room," Veach said. "So, if I say, 'Grab me Rick,' he can bring me Rick into a chatroom. If I say, 'Grab me an area scout,' he can bring him in."
Despite all 32 teams operating under similar virtual working conditions, the NFL will not extend the time between picks for this unique scenario.
Veach said that the Chiefs will be able to do everything they've done in the past, but he wants to make sure it's done as quickly as possible.
"I think the scenario that we're all kind of playing through our mind is, you're on the clock and you're about to turn a card in and then with 45 seconds left a team comes in and presents a really interesting trade," said Veach. "Just to make sure that we don't have a slow connection during that 45 seconds, so that's a little bit of a concern."
The Chiefs currently have five picks in the draft, with the first being No. 32 overall. It's the last pick in Thursday's first round.
"I think we have a plan, and I think it's going to be smooth, and we're excited about it," Veach said.
