With their woeful offensive line and feeble running game, they weren’t particularly disappointed Croyle didn’t show more.

Among the many changes with this year’s Chiefs, they’re expecting a lot more from their starting quarterback. Croyle would be wise to provide it, and quickly.

“I want to see him in games, the preseason games, move the team down the field and score,” coach Herm Edwards said. “That’s not just on him. We’ve got to protect him and we’ve got to be able to run it. But he needs to get some confidence and get the team into the end zone.”

The Chiefs scored just seven touchdowns in Croyle’s six starts. They were being shut out in Detroit when Croyle left that game because of a sore throwing hand.

“You play the cards you’re dealt,” Croyle said. “You don’t always have the ideal situation. Even though we didn’t play as (well) as we wanted to and we didn’t win games, it was a big step. There’s a lot to learn in this league.

“In college, you might be able to get (a pass) into a certain hole. I tried it last year and it didn’t work out too (well). It’s when you start making the same mistakes that you get yourself into trouble.”

full story...

Kicker Jay Feely has lost his chance to upstage the Dolphins and Bill Parcells, who cut him two weeks ago.

It didn’t take long.

Feely was released by the Kansas City Chiefs today, a day after he signed a one-year deal with the team.

The deal put Feely in a position to face the Dolphins on Dec. 21 in Kansas City. No doubt he’d have wanted a shot at a game-winning field goal after Parcells axed him in favor of undrafted rookie Dan Carpenter a season after Feely hit 21 of 23 field goal (a Dolphins’ record 91.3-percent rate).

But Feely was brought in by the Chiefs to compete the past two days with two other kickers, Connor Barth and Nick Novak. Feely finished in third place.

He was 24 of 30 the past two days, while Barth was 28 of 30 and Novak 27 of 30. Barth and Novak will be competing for the job Thursday when the Chiefs play host to the Rams in the final exhibition game.

full story...

The battle is back to Nick Novak and Connor Barth for the Chiefs' kicking job now that the team made the stunning move of cutting veteran Jay Feely, a day after signing him.

It will be interesting to see how the young kickers react. Both players have one more game, Thursday against visiting St. Louis, to make their case to be Kansas City's kicker. Novak had the edge going into last week's game at Miami, but he missed his only attempt. That's when the team brought in Feely on Monday. However, Feely was chopped Tuesday after a poor showing Monday and a decent showing Tuesday.

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Kicker Jay Feely, cut by the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago, has been signed by the Chiefs to a one-year contract. No other terms were immediately available.

Feely was at practice Monday in Kansas City.

In 2007, his first season with the Dolphins, Feely experienced the most productive season of his career and in Dolphins franchise history.

full story...

NFL teams normally take it easy the final week of preseason, allowing projected regulars to rest during the short practice week and play little during the final game. The Chiefs’ only regular practice is today, but the team’s starters will play Thursday against St. Louis.

Teams have to trim rosters by five spots before Tuesday, and rosters must be cut to 53 active players by Saturday. Edwards said last week he knew whom the Chiefs would retain, but after Saturday’s 24-0 loss at Miami, some things changed — and Edwards wants one more week to decide some positions.

One of those is kicker, after Nick Novak missed his only field-goal attempt Saturday. Novak and rookie Connor Barth have each made two of three field goals, their only misses coming from 48 yards. Still, Novak entered with a clear lead because he has NFL experience. Novak has played for Arizona and Washington before spending last season in NFL Europe. Full story

Carl Peterson didn’t want to talk about his future with the Chiefs or the speculation he may not be with the team next year. He wanted to tell a story.

“How about that circus over there in Green Bay?” he started. “I was talking to the commissioner and we chatted for just a few minutes and he said, ‘Look, what do you think?’ I said …”

This was Peterson’s response when asked about reports that another 4-12 season could end his 20-year run atop an NFL franchise: A story about Brett Favre and Roger Goodell that led, inevitably, back to 1993 and Joe Montana.

In their less flattering interpretations, many who know Peterson say the stories he tells often circle back to the man telling them: Stories about Carl’s relationship with late founder Lamar Hunt, Carl’s dual role as head of football and business operations, Carl turning around a franchise, Carl and his winning seasons, Carl and 1993, Carl, Carl, Carl.

So it went this time. Full story

The atmosphere

Edwards was able to push the pedal to the metal because of the makeup of his roster. Seemingly overnight, the Chiefs have gone from the oldest team in the NFL to one of the youngest.

Among the 53 players on Kansas City's season-ending roster in 2007, 14 were 30 or older. Of the 80 players who went to camp this summer, 28 were rookies or first-year players. And younger players can recover more quickly.

In addition to the quick tempo, the Chiefs' camp was more physical. "We had to find out what we had," Edwards said.

The hot topics

• The O-line. Branden Albert was supposed to settle in at left tackle and anchor an offensive line that has new starters at four of the five spots. That's why the Chiefs drafted him in the first round. But Albert has been sidelined with a sprained foot he suffered during a joint practice with the Vikings early in camp and may not be ready for the season opener. Herb Taylor, a second-year player who got minimal playing time as a rookie, has been playing left tackle in Albert's absence. Taylor is an athletic battler, but he doesn't have Albert's talent.

full story...

“My own family — they’re like, ‘Yeah, right, whatever,’” the nine-time Pro Bowl selection said. “But we’re a lot better team than last year. I’m telling you, these young guys can play.”

With all due respect to one of the game’s great tight ends, it’s hard not to be skeptical.

Gone from a defense that struggled is Pro Bowl end Jared Allen, who led the NFL in sacks but demanded a trade and is now chasing quarterbacks for Minnesota.

The Chiefs are also learning an entirely new offense and going with a quarterback who’s never won a regular-season game.

If that’s not enough, the roster is laced with inexperienced players. At such key positions as cornerback and left tackle, rookie starters are learning on the fly.

full story...

Taylor is still learning the game and its speed, the way things happen when you’re the Chiefs’ starting left tackle — even if it is a temp job.

“Anytime you make a mistake out there,” Taylor said Tuesday, “in my mind, it’s a big mistake. Everybody sees it, and then the quarterback is depending on you, too.”

Taylor is filling in for Branden Albert, the Chiefs’ first-round pick who sprained his foot the first full week of training camp and is likely to miss the entire preseason. Herm Edwards won’t say when Albert might play. Even if he’s healthy by the regular-season opener, he’ll have to work his way back into shape, which could take more time. So that means Taylor’s performance in his temp job becomes more important the longer Albert stays out.

Taylor said he’s learning. He’s trying to master the footwork and where to put his hands when the ball is snapped. There are bruises associated with his education, and already he’s jammed his right hand, which caused Taylor to wince Tuesday when someone shook his hand.

“The life of an offensive lineman,” he says, stretching his fingers on that hand.

That life also includes the certainty that when Albert is healthy, Taylor no longer will be in the Chiefs’ starting lineup.

full story...

The Atlanta Falcons released wide receiver Joe Horn today, thus granting the 36-year old his wish he’s been asking for since the beginning of training camp.  I’ll ask the question that everyone asks when a name player becomes a free agent: would he fit on our team?

Never mind the obvious fact that Horn could ALREADY be a member of the Chiefs - since we were the team that drafted him in the fifth round of the 1996 Draft.  However, that Joe Horn that the team drafted and the Joe Horn that flourished in New Orleans were two totally different people. 

The Joe Horn I remember playing for Kansas City seemed to have a penchant for making horrible special teams plays, both on returns and coverage.  I think he and Santos Stephens had a bet to see who could lead the league in “block in the back” penalties.  Plus, I remember him kicking a punt that should have been downed on the 1-yard line through the back of the end zone. 

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Savage rushed for 2,092 yards, averaging 6 yards a carry, in two years at Oklahoma State, but he was passed over in the NFL draft. The Chiefs signed him out of a tryout camp, and in the first two preseason games he has opened some eyes.

"He's like a bowling ball with butcher knives on him," Edwards said after practice Monday. "It's hard to tackle the guy. He's not the biggest guy. He's probably not the fastest guy. That's probably why he wasn't drafted, but then you look what he accomplished at Oklahoma State.

"He doesn't go down on the first hit. If you think you can just hit him with your shoulders and don't wrap him up, you've got problems. He's going to make yards. He's got a very strong base. He's got powerful legs."

full story...

It might be his job to lose now.

That became evident in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s exhibition game against Arizona. After his nifty 45-yard kickoff return in the third quarter, Savage was called to the sideline for a quick consultation with coach Herm Edwards.

Edwards had some friendly advice for Savage, a rookie free agent.

“I just said, ‘That’s what I like. You just keep doing that.’ ” Edwards said after Monday’s practice. “When you get a player like that, when they do things like that, it gets the whole sideline enthusiastic. Not only the fans but the players, too.”

The head coach, too, evidently. It’s rarely Edwards’ style to publicly rave about a player, but he’s having trouble controlling himself with Savage, who signed with the Chiefs not immediately after the draft but after his invitation to a rookie tryout camp. Full story

It might have been the only comfort Flowers got during the Chiefs’ 27-17 exhibition loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin sure didn’t give the Chiefs’ rookie cornerback any relief Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.

“You don’t get many bigger challenges than that,” Flowers said. “You’ve got to know they’re going to come at you all night. They’ll always go after the rookie.”

Flowers found his way to the ball on most of the Cardinals’ first-half pass plays, but Arizona’s receivers took advantage of a young defense that’s still learning on the job. The Chiefs are trying to find out who can start and who can go against a big-boy receiving corps such as Arizona’s. Saturday night, Kansas City found out that the pieces are there, but its defense just isn’t ready yet.

The Cardinals beat Flowers twice to convert third downs during a touchdown drive in the second quarter. Flowers faced a pair of franchise receivers in Boldin and Fitzgerald, and the Cardinals weren’t shy about testing Flowers. Full story

Like most of his teammates at Grand Valley State, a Division II school in Michigan, Brandon Carr would sit in front of his television on fall Sundays and dream about competing against the NFL players on the screen.

The difference is that for Carr, a rookie Chiefs cornerback, the dream is coming true. It won’t get much more vivid than in tonight’s exhibition game against the Cardinals at Arrowhead Stadium.

Arizona features one of the NFL’s top wide-receiving tandems in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. The two will give Carr and another Chiefs rookie cornerback, Brandon Flowers, the best test of their young NFL careers.

“This is what you play for,” Carr said. “I’m a competitor, so you want to compete against the best, and those guys are some pretty talented receivers. It’s going to be a lot of fun out there. I admit that it’s hard to believe I’m playing against guys I grew up idolizing. I’m out there checking them.

“I used to watch these guys on TV, and I always wondered what it would be like to line up against that person. Pretty soon, I’m going to know.” Full story

They leave their summer home in Wisconsin still very much a work in progress but also with a few reasons to believe they can somehow be competitive against the defending AFC champion Patriots.

“We got a lot accomplished with a lot of the young guys that are going to play for us,” coach Herm Edwards said. “That was the whole key coming up here. We wanted to find out about a lot of young guys, and we’ve learned a lot about their strengths and their weaknesses.

“We knew we had some athletes. The physical part of it we didn’t know about until we got here. We established that. We established that we’re going to be a physical football team. That’s something we have to be.”

This year’s camp was all about their many young players who for better or for worse will either start or get significant playing time. With the significant exception of their two injured first-round draft picks, Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert, all received valuable practice time and return to Kansas City with more experience than when they left. Full story

There's only one opening for a place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs and Novak and Barth are competing against each other for the job neck and neck, or foot and foot as the case may be.

Novak, with 16 NFL games on his resume, has an edge in experience. In two stints at Washington and one at Arizona, he's 13-for-20 in field goals and 25-for-25 in extra points. Barth is an undrafted rookie on a team that's recently had a terrible experience with a rookie kicker.

In a camp that's been highlighted by heated competition at many positions, theirs is as close as any. Heading into Saturday night's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, the Chiefs have charted about 130 field goals, and Novak and Barth have both made about 85 percent.

They've been disappointing in the distance they've put into kickoffs. But 85 percent field-goal accuracy would be about a world and a half better than the 70 percent three struggling kickers combined for during a 4-12 campaign last year.

full story...

There was a point in the spring of 2006 when the idea of becoming Dr. Rudy Niswanger, orthopedic surgeon, sounded real intriguing to the studious LSU offensive lineman, the winner of the national Draddy Trophy more commonly known as the "Academic Heisman."

After all, the Louisiana native who spent three summers interning for an orthopedic surgeon already had been accepted to the university's medical school. The NFL, the other dream in his life, hadn't made such an offer. At least, not during the 2006 draft, two days during which Niswanger's name never was called.

But a college football player's dreams don't die on draft day.

Within hours of the final pick, various teams began calling the free-agent player who manned all five offensive line positions in four years with LSU's elite program. Eventually, Niswanger elected to do his post-grad work with the Kansas City Chiefs where he studied under the wing of guards Will Shields and Brian Waters, and center Casey Wiegmann — professors emeritus in the NFL.

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They know they are coming off a 4-12 season. They know they have nearly 30 rookies on the 80-man roster. They know they only have 12 players with six or more years' experience. They know they traded Jared Allen, their defensive centerpiece, before the draft. They know there are major questions about their quarterback, Brodie Croyle, and they know they are expected to be the last-place team in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL."We get it," Kansas City coach Herman Edwards said. "We've heard it all."

Yet Edwards and his blissfully ignorant team couldn't care less.

The 2008 season in Kansas City will be about nothing but getting the program together. It is about reshaping a franchise that suddenly grew old without a payoff. It's about a future that starts now, and they are not making any excuses or apologies.

"We know who we are," Edwards said. "We are a team that's rebuilding. Let's face it. That's what we are. We know we need another good draft. We know all that, but we also know we will work hard every day to get better."

Observing the Chiefs' practice, it's very easy to see there are no hang-ups or worries of pending failure. The only focus is competition. Edwards says training camp has been much more productive than he had hoped, and he was even more encouraged after the Chiefs' promising play in the preseason opener in Chicago last Thursday.

Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said the competition and focus at this camp has been the best he has seen on any team in years. Edwards and Cunningham attribute the high spirits in western Wisconsin to the youth movement.

"Everybody is playing for a job," Edwards said. "We have that type of determination from both younger and older players who want to be part of this team and who want to get better."

full story...

The Chiefs spent their offseason unloading many of their over-30 players, including Surtain’s fellow starting cornerback, Ty Law. Then they drafted one rookie, Brandon Flowers, and made him a starter.

They later drafted another, Brandon Carr, now the third cornerback. Throw in coach Herm Edwards’ stated affinity for going with young players and Surtain, 32, is in for the fight of his career.

“That happens to all of us at some point,” the former Pro Bowler said. “I hope that if I go out there and play like I know I’m capable of playing, then maybe I’ll be here in the future and be able to keep my job. If I go out there and stink up the joint, then maybe I’ll have to move on.

“I’m not going to worry about that right now. I’m looking at going out and having the best year of my career. Even though it’s my 11th year, I feel I have a lot of good years left in me.” Full story

He died running around a football field, playing the game the twins from the Bahamas promised themselves they’d someday play in the NFL. He died because of shoulder pads and heat and the exhaustion of running until someone else says it’s time to stop.

Darling, a Chiefs receiver, is standing in the afternoon heat. His head is sweating, and he keeps patting the left side of his chest pads when he talks about his twin, Devaughn Darling, who died in February 2001 after collapsing during a mat drill at Florida State.

“You go through every day your whole life with someone,” Darling says, still patting his chest, “and all of a sudden, you wake up and they’re not there anymore. That was the harsh reality, not being able to see him, hear him and talk to him.”

Devard wants you to see what he keeps patting. He pulls back his white practice jersey and reaches inside his chest pad. He pulls out a sepia-toned photograph of Devaughn in his Florida State uniform. He wore No. 53. Full story

Waters is 31 now, and that means he’s thinking about the end of his career. Yeah, he has some years left. But the three-time Pro Bowl guard wants this offensive line to right itself after last year’s dilapidated line gave up an NFL-high 55 sacks.

The Chiefs hope to have a solid line by the time Waters retires. Waters wants to finish his career on his terms. If both are to happen, thank goodness for that remaining time.

“I want to hand it off,” Waters said Saturday. “I feel like Will Shields handed it off to me like it was handed off to him. So I want to be able to pull some guys and hand it off to my guys and, when I walk away, feel like I left it in a good, stable situation.

“We’ve got a little ways to go to get to that point.” Full story

They got an unexpected bounty instead when Will Franklin, Maurice Price and Jeff Webb all were major contributors to Thursday night’s 24-20 win over the Bears.

The game eased their fears about the abilities of the spare receivers. It will also make their decisions about playing time a little more difficult.

“That part of it is OK,” wide-receivers coach Eric Price said. “We’d rather the decisions be tougher this way than the other way.”

The other way was to choose between the lesser of the evils, which for a time in training camp the Chiefs thought they might have to do. Franklin, a rookie, was learning on the job.

Webb, who has played two seasons for the Chiefs, was steady but not spectacular. Maurice Price, an offseason star, hadn’t looked like the same player. Full story

Why would he?

Things were going well, and Croyle, the Chiefs' third-year starting quarterback, was smiling. He was sharp and calm, and by God, the Chiefs won. Coach Herm Edwards walked up to Croyle early in the second quarter, put his arm around him and told him his night was over.

Was Edwards sure? Couldn't Croyle play one more series, one more drive like that first one - the 16-play possession that ended with a touchdown?

"I didn't want to come out of the game, that's for sure," Croyle said.

Thursday night was different from what Croyle was used to. This is the guy who hadn't won a game as the Chiefs' starter. And that's been a long time. He lost all six of his starts last year, and for a quarterback desperate for a win, he didn't want to hear that Kansas City's 24-20 win against the Chicago Bears didn't count for anything but practice.

"He was comfortable," Edwards said.

That first drive, the 25-year-old Croyle looked like an old pro. He was five for nine and completed a 22-yard pass to Will Franklin to convert third and 15. The Chiefs scored four plays later.

After one more series, Edwards put his arm around Croyle.

"He got hit," Edwards said, "and the powers that be - the offensive coordinator and the quarterbacks coach - they looked at me and got nervous. (Croyle) said he didn't want to come out, but I was like, 'I got overruled. You played 20-something plays. You did pretty good.'

full story...

The Chiefs will face more difficult trials than the one they successfully met in their preseason opener, a 24-20 win over the quarterback-challenged Chicago Bears.

The Chiefs, using starters for most of the first half, led 14-3 at the break. The Bears then took advantage of the Kansas City reserves.

Quarterback Tyler Thigpen threw an interception that led to one Chicago touchdown, and the Bears put together a long drive for another.

Thigpen led the winning touchdown drive, throwing 27 yards to Bobby Sippio for the score with 1:08 left. Full story

The Miami Herald is reporting that the Chiefs are interested in quarterback Chad Pennington.
This will be interesting to follow.

There is a connection between Pennington and the Chiefs. He played for Herman Edwards for five years with the Jets, who cut him Thursday after trading for Brett Favre.

Still, the Chiefs are committed to a youth movement, so signing Pennington, 32, would stray from that plan

full blog post...

When Kansas City scored only two offensive touchdowns and a league-low 32 points in four preseason losses this past year, warning sirens should have sounded.

The preseason offensive ineptness was, in fact, a forecast of dire things to come. The Chiefs closed the regular season with a 4-12 record, nine consecutive losses and next-to-last league standings in scoring (14 points a game) and total offense (277 yards).

That is why tonight's preseason opener against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field is anything but meaningless for the Chiefs.

Take the word of Brodie Croyle. Winless in six starts as Kansas City's quarterback, the third-year player needs to experience a victory right now, preseason game or otherwise

Full Story...

“I wish we had five or six preseason games,” said wide receivers coach Eric Price, who is busy sorting through several candidates for playing time. “I’d like to just keep on playing those things.”

Price’s wish is shared by each of the Chiefs’ coaches, Herm Edwards included. So don’t expect the exhibition norm — one, perhaps two series and finished for the starters — in tonight’s preseason opener against the Bears at Soldier Field.

Excepting selected veterans like Tony Gonzalez and Larry Johnson, Edwards indicated most starters could expect extended playing time, which he didn’t define. All of their new components, particularly on offense, demand it, he said.

“The young guys need to play a lot,” Edwards said. “It’s according to what kind of team you’ve got. That’s the point we’re at right now. We’re not a veteran football team anymore. We’re the other way, so these guys have to play a lot. Full story

That won’t leave many chances for the other wide receiver, so the expectations for him are minimal.

“He’s got to be a threat so they can’t just double-team (Bowe) and get away with it,” said Eric Price, the Chiefs’ wide receivers coach. “When he gets that one-on-one coverage, he has to win that play.

“It’s kind of like being a backup quarterback. You never know when your number is going to be called, so you have to do everything right on every play. You might not get the ball for a few plays but then all of a sudden, the ball’s coming your way and you’ve got to make the play.”

The Chiefs have plenty of candidates for the job with Devard Darling, rookie Will Franklin and Jeff Webb leading the way. But even with such meager expectations, the Chiefs are unsure whether any of them can handle it. Full story

A league source tells us that an MRI on Chiefs defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey’s knee was negative, and that he’s day-to-day with a sprain.

That sound you just heard was every Chiefs fan in the world exhaling.

Per the source, Dorsey is expected to miss the first preseason game on August 7 against the Bears and play in the second one on August 16 against the Cardinals.

Dorsey sprained the knee when banging it against a teammate during practice on Saturday.
source...

If the first-round pick out of Virginia Tech does have to sit out the next few weeks, it could be a blow. He's trying to learn the left tackle position after playing guard most of his college career.

Coach Herm Edwards said Albert would be evaluated day to day, but he is unlikely to play in the first preseason game this week against the Chicago Bears.

full story...

Guards Will Shields and Brian Waters and left tackle Willie Roaf all went to the Pro Bowl in 2004 and '05. Many thought center Casey Wiegmann should have joined them.

But last season, with everyone but Waters either retired or let go, one of the league's best offensive lines turned into possibly the worst.

The Chiefs' 55 sacks allowed were the most in the league. Largely because of poor blocking, harried Kansas City quarterbacks threw 20 interceptions. Until he missed the last eight games with a broken foot, Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson was getting hit so often in the backfield he hurled his helmet several times in disgust.

The Chiefs would have been derelict if they hadn't cast off aging, ineffective Chris Terry, John Welbourn, Kyle Turley and Wiegmann.

full story...

The conditions were perfect Monday afternoon.

It was hot. The players were near the end of the two-a-day workout and had done nothing but football for four days, since the Kansas City Chiefs opened training camp on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus.

All it took was a short pass across the middle, with third-year cornerback Tyron Brackenridge drilling the receiver even though no one was wearing full pads. While the first melee of the fall was being sorted out, those watching on the sideline wondered who had caught the ball, only come up with 'No. 6.' That nobody knew his name, Sergiori Joachim, a rookie from Central Florida, was hardly surprising.

full story...

When Brodie Croyle misfires on a short pass, Hunt takes note. When rookie cornerback Brandon Flowers makes a good play, Hunt watches.

At 43, Hunt is the NFL's youngest owner. He graduated No. 1 in his college class and now he's learning all he can about the football team his father bequeathed him.

"It's a very busy time and I'm enjoying being involved with it," he said.

Lamar Hunt, the Chiefs owner and revered NFL pioneer, died in December 2006. Clark was called home, in effect, to Arrowhead Stadium. He'd begun his business career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs and mostly had been involved with other aspects of the family's far-flung interests.

While he and his three siblings shared in their father's vast estate, only Clark chose to take an active role in football. So he's supervising Arrowhead's $315 million renovation while sitting in on coaches' meetings and player personnel sessions.

"Professional sports, and I think pro football is maybe the best example of this, is a people business," he said. "I know there'll come a time when I'll need to make decisions and evaluations of people in our organization."

full story...

Wish I was in River Falls, Wis., today, but I won't get there for another 11 days. It is going to be a circus atmosphere as the Minnesota Vikings visit for a workout with the Chiefs.

The Vikings, of course, are bringing along Jared Allen. You remember him, right? He was the centerpiece of the Chiefs defense who was traded to Minnesota in April for a truckload of draft picks.

full story...

With their woeful offensive line and feeble running game, they weren’t particularly disappointed Croyle didn’t show more.

Among the many changes with this year’s Chiefs, they’re expecting a lot more from their starting quarterback. Croyle would be wise to provide it, and quickly.

“I want to see him in games, the preseason games, move the team down the field and score,” coach Herm Edwards said. “That’s not just on him. We’ve got to protect him and we’ve got to be able to run it. But he needs to get some confidence and get the team into the end zone.”

The Chiefs scored just seven touchdowns in Croyle’s six starts. They were being shut out in Detroit when Croyle left that game because of a sore throwing hand. Full story

It's hard to ignore what the Kansas City Chiefs tight end has already accomplished.

He has caught more passes (820) and touchdowns (66) and been selected to more Pro Bowls (nine) than any other tight end. Now, still strong and frisky at 32, he heads into his 12th season just 179 yards away from another major record: the tight end mark for career yards receiving.

The only thing he's missing is a title, and the Chiefs may be further away from championship calibre than they've ever been since Gonzalez left the University of California in 1997 as a first-round draft choice.

"I can't dwell on the past. It's over, there's nothing I can do about it," Gonzalez said. "We didn't go to the playoffs. We didn't win the Super Bowl. If that's how I end my career, that's not going to take away anything as far as me feeling proud of what I've done, the friendships that I've established while I've been in the league, guys that are like brothers. It's been an unbelievable experience."

The Chiefs are beginning a massive top-to-bottom rebuilding effort. It's a project that may reach fruition too late for Gonzalez, who may have only two years left. He says he's 95 per cent sure he'll play next season.

full story...

No, he’s not injured or exhausted. The foot he broke eight months ago isn’t acting up again, not causing the shooting pain that ran up his middle toe and toward his ankle, even after doctors told him it had healed.

It is Monday morning, and Johnson is watching his teammates, the young running backs who might succeed him someday. He crouches for a few moments and then slides on his Chiefs helmet, running toward the huddle.

Ask him, and he’ll tell you: This is his team — still.

“Guys follow what I do,” Johnson says between training camp sessions Monday. “They can learn from what I do and as far as what I can do on the football field. That’s what they should be following.”

Johnson missed the final eight games last season with that broken bone in his right foot. He tried a handful of comebacks, and coach Herm Edwards didn’t rule him out for a game until the season finale. Full story

But Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt spent a good portion of training camp’s first three days watching practice. Not just from the sideline, but at times from the field. He might have had more practice-field time than any NFL owner but Dallas’ Jerry Jones, who is also the Cowboys’ general manager.

Hunt’s field time was spent mostly in quiet, solitary observation. Still, it was yet another sign that Hunt is more than just a caretaker.

“I want the football team and the coaching staff and the organization to know that our family’s passion for the Chiefs did not pass away when my father left us,” he said. “I also want them to know the expectations for our excellence start with our family. From a leadership standpoint, that’s important for the entire organization.

“I’m not spending any more time on football issues than I did last year. I am more visible publicly and to the team. It’s a byproduct of my desire to be more involved.” Full story

“We’re pleased to announce the signing of the first of our two number one draft choices,” Chiefs President Carl Peterson commented. “We all know Glenn is an outstanding football player and we expect and hope that he will make great contributions to the Kansas City Chiefs. Even though it took a little longer than we had hoped, Glenn has missed only a couple of walk-through practices and we expect he’ll be involved very quickly.”

Link

In between raindrops and tornado warnings, Edwards saw his vision come to life Friday when the Chiefs started training camp. Rookies were everywhere. Some played offense, some played defense. Some were starters, others came off the bench.

But as many as six were in significant roles.

“It’s refreshing,” Edwards said. “The (veteran) players have just kind of accepted it. The young guys have accepted that they’re expected to play and expected to play well.”

Both of Friday’s practices were forced indoors because of storms, so the Chiefs couldn’t even begin to unveil the scope of what they have planned for their rookies.

Two of them, tackle Branden Albert and fullback Mike Cox, were starting on offense. Another, cornerback Brandon Flowers, started on defense. He will be joined by unsigned defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey when he agrees to contract terms.

Will Franklin was the first receiver off the bench when the Chiefs went to their three-receiver formations. Brad Cottam joined Tony Gonzalez in the lineup when the Chiefs went to a double tight-end formation. Brandon Carr was the third cornerback. Full story

After surviving the first cut, he is trying to win the Chiefs' starting job with former Maryland kicker Nick Novak. Their training-camp competition begins today and plays out live Aug. 7 in Kansas City's preseason opener at Chicago.

A visualization proponent, Barth talks about Soldier Field in Chicago as if he's been there before. In his mind, he has. Mental strength is the key, Barth said, to landing the job.

"The only time I got really nervous was the first day … with the team," Barth said of his trip to Kansas City in May. "I realized I was actually at the NFL stage. After that, it felt like college again."

As the kicker at North Carolina, Barth was as dependable as the tides. In Barth's four seasons, coaches John Bunting and Butch Davis were rarely on the right side of wide-margin games, so Barth was under pressure to keep a slim lead or keep the Tar Heels in shouting distance.

Barth is hoping to have a job worth shouting about (NFL salary minimum: close to $300,000) by the end of August. Even he's getting a little nervous. "Now, it's kind of like, it's for real," he said. "This is your life, what you're working for your whole life." Source

Branden Albert, the No. 15 overall pick, signed a five-year contract about noon Thursday, in time to fly to Minneapolis with the Chiefs and take the bus to their training camp site on the Wisconsin-River Falls campus. He walked off the bus and smiled.

“I’m happy,” Albert said, talking over the hum of the buses. “It’s like a world has shifted off my shoulders right now — just worrying about the business aspect and getting here.”

The Chiefs will have to wait for the other big guy. Glenn Dorsey was the fifth overall pick and is the highest draft pick who hasn’t signed. Chiefs president Carl Peterson said he temporarily suspended contract negotiations Thursday morning with Dorsey’s agent, Joel Segal.

Although the NFL’s first four draft picks have signed with their respective teams, Peterson said Segal wanted to wait until more first-rounders had signed. The No. 6 overall pick, Vernon Gholston, was close to a deal Thursday with the New York Jets. Full story

Expect to see more of the Chiefs starters if you’re headed to this year’s training camp.

Also look for them to play more if you watch any of their preseason games.

Mindful of their sluggish 0-2 beginning in each of the last two seasons, coach Herm Edwards made some changes aimed at getting the Chiefs off to a quicker start.

The biggest change will mean more work for Brodie Croyle and many of his offensive teammates.

“It’s critical that not only he’s practicing, but the offensive line is there and the receivers are there,” said Edwards, who opens his third camp with the Chiefs on Friday at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. “It’s all about timing and playing together. You can’t just say, ‘Well, we’ll get it.’ You won’t get it if you don’t practice together.

“It’s not just the practices. These guys are going to play a little bit more in the preseason. Brodie Croyle. The offensive line. How much more will be determined by how we’re doing. We’ve got a lot of young players, and they have to play. That’s good for them, so we’re going to play them.” Full story

Q: How effective will Minnesota be in stopping the pass now that it added Jared Allen? Does the Vikings' assumed improvement make them a favorite in the division?

Jeff in Seattle

A: Allen could be one of the biggest impact acquisitions of the season, but his impact may show up on first and second downs more than you might think. Teams don't run on the Vikings because of Kevin and Pat Williams. Why try two runs and set up third-and-8? Instead, the opposing game plan is to try more early-down passes. If Allen can disrupt the quarterback with his pass rush, the secondary will benefit. His rush should take some of the pressure off cornerbacks because they won't have to stay on their routes as long. One early-down sack should kill a drive because opponents are so one-dimensional against the Vikings. It's hard to overcome a second-and-13.

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Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, the No. 5 overall pick, remains the highest remaining unsigned draft choice. Therefore, Dorsey will be the most watched draft pick as the signings start to pour in. The Chiefs are set to report to camp in River Falls, Wis., Thursday and start practicing Friday.

Will Dorsey be there on time?

We'll see. The team and his agent have been talking for several weeks and both sides believe a break-through could come soon. Again, these things can drag out. Both Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson and Dorsey's agent, Joel Segal, are good at what they do, so it will be interesting how this unfolds.

Full Blog Post...

Kansas City Chiefs President Carl Peterson announced on Monday that the club has agreed to terms of three-year contracts with RB Jamaal Charles and TE Brad Cottam. As per Chiefs policy, no other terms of the agreements were made available.

The Chiefs have now agreed to terms with eight of their 12 draft picks from the 2008 draft class. Charles and Cottam join third-round selection S DaJuan Morgan (82nd overall), fourth-round pick WR Will Franklin (105th overall), fifth-round selection CB Brandon Carr (140th overall), sixth-round picks T Barry Richardson (170th overall) and WR Kevin Robinson (182nd overall) and seventh-round pick DE Brian Johnston (210th overall).

Link

You won’t hear it said anywhere at Arrowhead Stadium — administrative wing, coaching offices, locker room — that this Chiefs season is about anything but winning.

And why would they? Other teams have made quicker, more astounding turnarounds.

But realistically, the expectations are quite different. That, too, is in order for a team in the beginning stages of a massive rebuilding phase.

The Chiefs, who open training camp on Friday at their summer home at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, abruptly moved from one of the NFL’s oldest teams to one of its youngest. They could have as many as seven players making their first NFL start when the season begins Sept. 7 against the Patriots in New England.

Such an enormous emphasis on youth is not the typical formula for immediate success. That’s why, public proclamations not withstanding, there’s a quiet understanding that 2008 is about more than the win-loss record.

It’s about building something substantial for 2009 and beyond. Full story

With less than a week remaining before the start of training camp, the Chiefs have signed half of their 12 draft picks.

Third-round safety DaJuan Morgan of North Carolina State agreed to terms on a three-year contract, making him the sixth Chiefs draft pick to do so.

Among the six unsigned rookies are both first-round picks, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and Virginia tackle Branden Albert, and their second-round choice, cornerback Brandon Flowers.

The others are third-round running back Jamaal Charles of Texas, third-round tight end Brad Cottam of Tennessee and seventh-round tight end Michael Merritt of Central Florida. Source

Robinson, a receiver, was one of Kansas City's two sixth-round picks. He caught 178 passes for 2,485 yards in 46 games for Utah State. He set school records with 1,104 yards and four touchdowns on punt returns, and 2,725 yards and four touchdowns on kickoff returns.

full story...

Glenn Dorsey

The former LSU defensive tackle is arguably the most talented player to come out of this draft. Miami considered taking him with the No. 1 overall pick. Dorsey has been compared to Warren Sapp and has a chance to make an instant impact for the Chiefs. The team is in a rebuilding phase and could turn it around quickly on defense with Dorsey eating up the middle of the defensive line. Defenses revolve around tackles, and Dorsey has a chance to be a franchise player. If Kansas City gets back to form quickly, it will likely be because of Dorsey's fast development.

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Gonzalez

"Tony saved my life. There's no doubt," Ken Hunter, a shipping company manager, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Tony came up behind me and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Thank God he was there."

Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection who has set numerous NFL records, was having dinner with his wife, brother and 5-week-old daughter at Capone's restaurant in Huntington Beach Thursday night. Hunter, 45, was dining with his girlfriend at the next table when suddenly a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

"I tried to take a drink of water, but I couldn't swallow," Hunter told The AP. "Then I couldn't breathe. That's a terrible feeling. I couldn't breathe. Then I guess I started to panic."

Gonzalez, sitting with his back to Hunter's table, looked around when he heard Hunter's companion yelling.

"She was screaming, 'He can't breathe, he can't breathe,'" Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything.

full story...

Southeast Missouri State assistant football coach Troy Dumas has been awarded a 2008 National Football League Minority Coaching Fellowship with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dumas, a former NFL player who is in his first year at Southeast, will attend training camp with the Chiefs in River Falls, Wis., beginning July 24.

Established by the NFL in 1987, the Minority Coaching Fellowship Program provides NFL training camp positions to minority coaches every year.

Current Chiefs coach Herm Edwards began his NFL coaching career by serving the fellowship with the Chiefs in 1989.

Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart also began their NFL coaching careers through the program.

As part of the training camp staff, Dumas will perform duties that mirror those of the Chiefs' assistant coaches.

"It's a tremendous honor to be selected because I know hundreds of aspiring minority coaches apply for the fellowship every year," Dumas said in a release. "To see what it has done for coaches like Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis and Brian Stewart, they became what they are today because of this program. It is truly an honor to follow in those footsteps."

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One of the greatest running backs in history accepted the Lamar Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night at the Sprint Center at the Kansas City Sports Commission’s annual banquet.

In 1965, after concluding a fabulous career at Kansas, Sayers was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the AFL draft, the fifth overall pick.

He also was taken by the Chicago Bears in the NFL draft. Sayers was the Bears’ second choice in the first round, behind linebacker Dick Butkus.

Hunt, the Chiefs owner who died in 2006, had helped create the AFL in 1960. But when it came to the bottom line, the established league won out.

“I signed a four-year contract with the Bears for $25,000 a year,” Sayers said. “I thought (Hunt) would give me something better. He offered $27,500.

“I thought, ‘New league, no, I can’t do that.’ You didn’t know it was going to be a good league, so I decided to go with the Bears.”

full story...

I’m gonna begin a new segment called “Boom or Bust.” Today, we’ll begin with the most interesting of all topics for the Chiefs’ offseason: will the Chief’ offensive line boom or will they once again play like limping matadors against opposing defensive lines, helplessly waving a cape in front of a charging bull?

Boom?

DJ from Arrowheadpride gave his five reasons why the Chiefs’ offensive line will be better in 2008. His first point is probably the most compelling. He basically implies that the offensive line couldn’t possibly be worse than it was in 2007. That’s a pretty good point. Watching Welbourn and Terry on the right side of the offensive line was like watching paint dry while repeatedly getting kicked in the privates. Casey Wiegmann has never been a horrible center, but he appears to have aged a bit and looked outmatched much of the time as he operated in more of a power blocking scheme. The Chiefs almost certainly win at right tackle because Damion McIntosh can’t possibly be worse than Chris Terry was. McIntosh has always been a decent run blocker, but he’s often been too slow to keep up with speed rushers. He should fare better at right tackle where he will have to handle slower, power rushers. It will be an adjustment, but he can do it.

full story...

In January, he might feel differently.

The Chiefs had a solid draft, and the expectations are generally consistent with this team's status as a work in progress. But a certain number of losses could be enough to prompt owner Clark Hunt to clean house.

If Edwards goes, he'd likely end up a collegiate head coach. He has never been an NFL defensive coordinator, and after eight years as a head coach, he probably wouldn't be interested in becoming a position coach again.

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Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star and the NFL Network both recently reported that the Chiefs were one of several teams looking to add wide receiver Koren Robinson to their roster.  Robinson is most widely known for his run-ins with the law and his history of alcohol abuse - not exactly the legacy he wanted to leave when he was a first-round draft pick (9th overall) by Seattle in 2001.

Is he a good fit for the Kansas City good guys?  Is he someone the team should take a chance on, assuming the money, contract length and character issues are addressed?  Is it worth the risk?

No. No. And hell no.

I don’t care if we pay Robinson the league minimum and load his contracts with incentives.  I don’t care if he could bring some veteran leadership to a club that sorely lacks it, specifically in the wide receiver department.  We simply don’t need the headache that is Koren Robinson.

Look, I know that guys can change.  That doesn’t necessarily mean they do change.  If you’re a jerk (Terrell Owens), you’ll always be a jerk.  You may hold your tongue longer, or keep your comments out of the media more often, but you will still be a jerk. 

Rarely does someone seem to overcome their issues and their off-the-field problems entirely.  There may be periods of time when the person seems to have their act together, like when Robinson was selected to the 2006 Pro Bowl - but the troubling issues still linger.

full story...

Kansas City has made it no secret that Herm Edwars’ job is safe. Barring some ridiculously poor offensive performance in 2008, Chan Gailey’s job is safe. We haven’t heard anything about Gunther Cunningham having the same kind of job security.

Under the Gun

There’s a lot to like about Gunther Cunningham. There’s something very endearing about his personality. He’ll swear in front of your kids. He’ll curse and spit at players three times his size. He lives, breathes, and craps football 24/7. Personalities are nice, but sooner or later he’ll have to be held accountable for the defense he puts on the field. Gunther Cunningham’s defense has not been impressive in his second stint and he’s running out of excuses. Every year, he’s had a new excuse. Year 1, his defense underachieved because he didn’t have his players. The year after that, he failed because Vermeil handcuffed him with his offensive approach and lousy defensive assistants. They’ve moved Gunther inside the booth and outside the booth. Surrounded him with his players, and soon surrounded him with better players. They’ve surrounded him with a defensive head coach and terrific assistants. In 2006, they gave him a run-heavy offense that afforded him well-rested players and a favorable defensive environment. Granted, in 2007, he was limited by the fact that his defense was on the field all the time and undoubtedly grew tired, but that should not excuse the fact that Cunningham has yet to produce a defense that he should be producing.

full story...

After starting all 37 games that he played in at the University of Virginia, many thought Branden Albert would be a first-day selection in the 2008 NFL draft. But after showcasing incredible athleticism at the NFL Scouting Combine, his stock skyrocketed and he became the 15th pick overall by the Chiefs.

While primarily a guard in the college, Kansas City saw enough mobility and strength in Albert to project him as the team’s future left tackle. He now is charged with the task of anchoring a rebuilding offensive line as a rookie.

The 23-year-old recently took a few minutes to talk to PFW about barbeque food, transitioning to tackle, the Chiefs’ offensive scheme and Julius Peppers.

Albert: I’ve tasted a couple of places: LC’s Bar-B-Q and Gates Bar-B-Q. Those places have great food.

PFW: How are you enjoying your time in Kansas City so far?

Albert: I am enjoying it real well. I just got a new house, so I’m excited about that. I’m also excited about the new season and being a part of this new era that’s going on in Kansas City.

PFW: Being a guard in college and now moving to left tackle in Kansas City, how is the transition going?

full story...

Connor Barth hasn't made an NFL roster, but he has survived the first cut.

Barth, a former Hoggard and University of North Carolina kicker, is on the training camp roster for the Kansas City Chiefs, who recently let go of one kicker.

Barth and Nick Novak made the cut; Billy Cundiff was cut loose.

"My goal was to take it stage by stage," Barth said by phone Friday. "I'm hoping to get to the next stage and be the last guy standing."

That next stage begins in about a month, at training camp in River Falls, Wis. Barth will remain in Kansas City for about a week, lifting weights and conditioning with other rookies. He'll take a few days in Wilmington, maybe take some golf lessons, then continue training in Chapel Hill, where he has easy access to NFL-style uprights and smooth grass or artificial turf.

Barth had a comfort level as the kicker for the Tar Heels; His job as the starter was never in question in four seasons. Now, each kick, even in practice, means something.

full story...

This team will be a work in progress all season. Yes, the season starts in May and will likely end in December for the Chiefs.

Thanks to a potentially strong draft class, Kansas City will be a team to watch in the coming years. But it may be too much to expect the Chiefs to be a contender or to even finish .500 in 2008. This season, no doubt, will be all about a youth moment in Kansas City and it began in the minicamp season.

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When you're a Pro Bowl tight end, it's difficult to change your routine. Difficult, and maybe crazy. If you're in the midst of a Hall of Fame career, why change anything? As Tony Gonzalez discovered, sometimes change comes to you.

He hadn’t heard his phone when it rang an hour earlier. The voice mail didn’t make sense.

Johnson reached the sidewalk and called his eldest brother, Dwayne. Derrick Johnson’s index finger pushed his earpiece deeper, amplifying the sound over the street noise.

“Dwayne,” the Chiefs linebacker said. “Did I hear that message right?”

Their 60-year-old father, Wayne Johnson, had been in the hospital nearly two weeks. He had diabetes, and his weight had swollen to nearly 500 pounds. His heart had been strained, and weeks earlier, Wayne began saying his goodbyes.

Derrick had pretended his father’s problems weren’t serious. Wayne Johnson had saved a man’s life in Vietnam and had taught his three boys about strength and determination. He was Derrick’s dad, for God’s sake. He couldn’t be near death.

“Derrick,” Dwayne said. “He’s gone, man.” Full story

When NFL draft analysts began the knee-jerk critique of this year's Chiefs draft, they almost universally gave Kansas City high grades largely because of the selection of LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Virginia lineman Branden Albert and Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers among the first 35 picks.

Each of those players immediately began working with first-team units in Kansas City's spring drills. Barring signing complications — and injuries, of course — that would keep them out of training camp for an extended period, each is projected to be an opening day starter when the Chiefs start the 2008 season at, gulp, New England.

The stories and spring progress of the Big Three have been documented on these pages. But Kansas City's cache of young players goes much deeper than their podium picks. Based on what we saw in spring workouts — drills in which youngsters got a lot of chances when veterans occasionally bypassed the "voluntary" sessions — here is a look at rookies who, ready or not, likely will see significant playing time in 2008. The order is based on what we think their contributions might be.

Brad Cottam, TE, Tennessee

Hulking 6-foot-7, 269-pounder will be a starter with vet Tony Gonzalez when new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey opens in the two-tight end set. And Gailey will use that set considerably until the Chiefs identify a reliable fullback who can do more than block. The rap on Cottam was that while his blocking was accomplished, his hands were suspect. He was beating that rap in spring, but then dropped back-to-back passes in the end zone during a last-week 2-minute drill when Gonzalez was absent.  Full story

Now that the Kansas City Chiefs are through with minicamp and on to summer vacations, I'd like a word with Clark Hunt.

Patience.

Herm Edwards and Co. suffered through a 4-12 2007 season. (Getty Images)

Frankly, it should be more when than if because the Chiefs are young in key positions, aren't sure what they have at quarterback and feature an offensive line with more holes than the daily stock report.

That's where Clark Hunt comes in. He is the Chiefs' chairman of the board, and someone who seems to have the strength, common sense and good intentions of his father, Lamar.

But it's his patience that will be stretched as the Chiefs try to end the nine-game losing streak that closed the 2007 season.

That won't be easy. This is a team that traded away its top defensive player, has its star running back returning from a serious injury and shares the same division with mighty San Diego.

Guaranteed, as sure as there will be losses there will be pressure to make changes, and it's not dramatic changes that are needed here now.

It's experience.

full story...

But the rain held off long enough for the Chiefs traveling show to complete its final spring workout before an estimated 5,000 fans Thursday at Missouri Western's Spratt Stadium.

Instead of watching the 3-on-3 basketball tournament that was the Chiefs contingency plan in case of inclement weather, fans from northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas watched three kickers in an on-going job audition and the two-minute drill that highlights the end of each day's practice

The only people who didn't see what they wanted were the players who envisioned a play day on the last day of the spring term.

"They were a little disappointed that they didn't get the basketball tournament we'd planned in case of rain," said coach Herm Edwards, who wanted a way to let the fans see his players even if they couldn't practice outside. "Those in the bus kept on saying, 'Coach, it's raining,' but then it cleared up. They were hoping for lightning."

Moving inside to Western's fieldhouse would have caused problems, given the building's capacity is only about 3,700. But Edwards had his tournament organized just in case.

full story...

Glenn Dorsey is trying to catch his breath. He’s standing at his locker now, partially wearing a gray sweatshirt because his arms feel like teabags and haven’t yet flung the fabric over his head.

He needs a minute to adjust to all this. He’s a rookie and a high-profile one. Dorsey was the Chiefs’ top pick, the No. 5 overall selection in April’s draft. He admits he is exhausted, but he knows he cannot let up.

“Everything is so quick-paced, quick-paced, quick-paced,” he says. “You’re breathing; you’ve got to rush the passer. It really tests your endurance and how strong you are.

“Everybody can play when they’re not tired. But when you get tired and you have to go faster and faster, it’s a little more difficult.”

Dorsey has been an NFL player in earnest for nearly four weeks. The Chiefs will wrap up offseason practice today with a noon session at Spratt Stadium, on the Missouri Western State University campus in St. Joseph. After that, the Chiefs have six weeks before training camp starts July 25. Full story

But the 32-year-old Gonzalez was a different man when the Chiefs concluded a mini-camp last weekend, one who was undeniably brimming with optimism. He wasn't griping or moping, and he definitely wasn't demanding a trade to a team with championship potential. He'd decided to do what professionals do -- which is worry about the things he actually can control -- and that philosophy has made life much easier for him to handle these days.

There's no question it's a struggle to be standing in Gonzalez's shoes. Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, a perennial Pro Bowler like Gonzalez, is facing a similar rebuilding process with his franchise, and it's already clear he wants no part of it. "You really do deal with this stuff in two ways," Gonzalez said. "First you get pissed off and you feel frustrated. It's tough because I'm not getting any younger and I want to win right now. But then I calmed down and started to accept it. It really was the only thing I could do."

Gonzalez hasn't just accepted the Chiefs' new look. He's completely bought into the plan that head coach Herm Edwards and general manager Carl Peterson laid out for a team that likely will be the youngest in the NFL this fall. Gonzalez has been impressed with Kansas City's strong draft class and he's been especially willing to reach out to the younger players. After a morning workout last Friday, he grabbed second-year wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and third-year quarterback Brodie Croyle to work on pass routes before heading into the locker room.

full story...

“Uh-uh, rook,” Waters said, not smiling. “That’s my area, too. You don’t sit in my area.”

Albert shuffled to his left and leaned against a wall. He smiled, acknowledging that hazing is part of the rookie welcome, injury or not.

Albert was standing when he said the sprained ankle he suffered Sunday likely would keep him out of the Chiefs’ final week of offseason practice. He did not practice Tuesday and said he didn’t expect to work today or Thursday.

“I’ve just got to protect it right now,” he said.

The Chiefs’ second of two first-round picks — defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey is the other one — is not just a rookie. He’s a rookie learning a new position and trying to cram in as much prep work as possible before training camp begins July 25. Albert played guard at Virginia; the Chiefs, though, viewed him from the beginning as a tackle. Coaches think he can be the team’s left tackle of the present and future. Full story

But even after all the acclaim Dorsey received as a collegian, his new boss dares to dream of even bigger accomplishments waiting for the Kansas City Chiefs' first-round draft pick.

"Fans and media might not always recognize how well he played with the handcuffs he sometimes had to play under," said Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham.

Handcuffs?

If Dorsey was handcuffed in Baton Rouge, he became Houdini in escaping to record 69 tackles, 12 of them for losses, with seven sacks in his final LSU season despite playing with a severe knee sprain after Auburn caught him in a vicious chop block.

Handcuffs?

full story...

After three weeks and two phases of its offseason program, Kansas City wrapped up its mandatory minicamp with a mellow, one-hour practice that coach Herm Edwards admitted was a letdown.

It wasn’t because of the team’s performance. Instead, it came a day after a 90-minute practice in front of a crowd at Arrowhead. Sunday at a mostly empty practice facility, Edwards said, just wasn’t the same.

“Yesterday, it was real easy to practice,” he said. “You really would like to have ended it yesterday. But this is what you’ve got to get through.”

The Chiefs now are through three of four practice weeks. Edwards said it has been — and will continue to be in this week’s three practices — a time for coaches to test and observe players and for new faces to get used to what’s coming.

That doesn’t mean all of the changes, including a revamped offense under new coordinator Chan Gailey, have been easy on veterans. Full story

Yet, as he gets acquainted with the city in which he hopes to build a long-term NFL career, former Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers doesn't get a lot of questions about replacing future Hall of Fame cornerback Ty Law, whose No. 24 he now wears. Some will ask if the Chiefs are going to be better in 2008, but they, too, are in the minority of locals who strike up a conversation with Flowers.

full story...

Judging by this weekend’s minicamp, Carr appears to have adjusted nicely.

“The game has slowed down a lot for me,” said Carr, who played at Grand Valley State, a Division II school in Michigan.

Carr’s rapid improvement is making his push for a starting spot the most interesting of the Chiefs’ ongoing position battles. Carr is already the third cornerback, playing when the Chiefs go to their nickel defense. Carr plays cornerback while fellow rookie Brandon Flowers, a second-round pick, becomes the nickel back.

Carr also is getting some of veteran Patrick Surtain’s first-team snaps. While it might be unrealistic for Carr to unseat Surtain, a former Pro Bowler, by the Sept. 7 season opener at New England, some Chiefs officials are expecting it to happen sometime during the year.

“He’s doing (well),” coach Herm Edwards said of Carr. “He’s gained a lot of confidence. If you look at him, he’s a big guy. I like guys like that. When he gets his hands on people he can disrupt them. He can knock them out of the way because he has strong hands and weighs 200 pounds, is 6-feet and can run. He has a good temperament.

“Every day now he’s starting to make plays. He’s not overwhelmed by it. He keeps playing. Hopefully, he’ll continue to understand what we’re trying to do.” Full story

Three of this year’s top four NFL draft picks are under contract now that Arkansas running back Darren McFadden has signed with the Oakland Raiders

Don’t look for the fifth pick, defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey of the Chiefs, to join them soon.

President/general manager Carl Peterson said the Chiefs have been in contact with Dorsey’s agent, Joel Segal.

“We’ve had conversations, and that’s all I can say,” Peterson said.

But no agreement appeared imminent.

Segal declined comment. But given the particulars of McFadden’s contract, Segal might not be content with a marginal raise over the fifth pick of last year’s draft, offensive tackle Levi Brown.

Brown was signed to a six-year contract that included $18 million of guaranteed money. Last year’s fourth pick, Tampa Bay defensive end Gaines Adams, received a reported $18.56 million in guarantees.

McFadden, the fourth pick this year, received a reported $26 million in guaranteed money. Full story

Greg Wesley was a Chiefs safety when he unexpectedly showed up at Friday’s minicamp. He was still a Chiefs safety when he walked off the field.

Beyond that time, Wesley said, he had no idea.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, walking toward the players’ parking lot. “I’m a Chief right now.”

Last month, Wesley said team officials told him he would be released or traded before minicamp. In whichever fashion he would depart Kansas City, he was assured it would happen, sooner rather than later. He said in May he would not participate in offseason practice or minicamp because he was “done with the Chiefs.”

But there he was Friday. Only it looked as if more distance had grown between Wesley and the team. He participated in position drills but sat out the second half of the 90-minute session.

Some inactive players watched from an end zone, and others gathered near the north sideline. But Wesley stood, alone, on the south sideline and paced sometimes, other times crossing his arms and staring forward.

When the team gathered to close practice, Wesley kneeled about 5 yards behind the standing group and was first to leave the field. Full story

Veteran B.J. Sams was among the NFL’s top-ranked return specialists while with Baltimore early in his career. Rookie Kevin Robinson, a sixth-round pick, had eight kick-return touchdowns during his time at Utah State.

Normally, that might be enough to make the Chiefs optimistic they will get more from their return game than they did last year, when it was among the worst in the league.

Their optimism is tempered because they thought the same thing last year when they signed veteran free agent Eddie Drummond, a former Pro Bowler with Detroit.

That didn’t go very well, so the Chiefs will withhold judgment until they get a better look at Sams and Robinson. The process continues today when the Chiefs begin a three-day minicamp. Full story

Slightly more than three months remain for the Chiefs to prepare for their Sept. 7 season-opener against the Patriots in New England, but they have no illusions that their remaining time is plentiful.

Armed with a lengthy to-do list, the Chiefs know better. Already, the clock is ticking loudly.

Wednesday’s workout pushed them past the halfway point of their spring practice schedule. Eight down and seven to go, including practices on each of the next four days.

A three-day minicamp begins Friday. Saturday’s practice at Arrowhead Stadium is open to the public.

The Chiefs will then practice three more times next week and that’s it for offseason workouts. They won’t reconvene until training camp opens in Wisconsin late next month.

“At the end of this, all of our offense will be installed as well as our defense,” coach Herm Edwards said. “So when we get to camp we can just worry about competing and not worrying about trying to learn something.”

The Chiefs have been busy building around quarterback Brodie Croyle, reinstalling Larry Johnson as their featured back and integrating their many rookies and other young players into the starting lineup or other significant roles.

Seven rookies spent at least some time with the starting groups at Wednesday’s practice.

“(Veterans) have got to help them a little bit and coach them up a little faster so they can get ready to play,” Edwards said. “It’s not too big for them. It won’t be too big for them to play early.” Full story

Colt. Pony. Dragon.

Any of those words describe a play, the protection and the formation in the Chiefs’ new offense. Having to say just one word in the huddle has lifted a burden in Croyle’s bid to establish himself as the team’s starting quarterback.

He’s not bogged down by the wordiness and complicated terminology that often leads to mistakes and interceptions.

“I really like the offense,” Croyle said Thursday after the Chiefs completed their second week of the on-field portion of their offseason program. “I’m very comfortable, surprisingly. The reads are pretty clear right now for us.

“It’s a pretty simple offense. It’s giving guys the chance to go out and play, not a whole lot of thinking about it, just go out and line up and go.”

Croyle, a third-round draft pick in 2006, was given every chance to win the starting job last year. The club cleared the way by trading veteran Trent Green and gave Croyle an inside track during the preseason.

But he performed poorly in the preseason, allowing veteran backup Damon Huard to open the season and start the first eight of nine games. Once the season was out of hand, Croyle started six of the final seven games — all losses in a 4-12 season — though in fairness he was handicapped by a dilapidated offensive line and absence of running back Larry Johnson. Full story

Chan Gailey wouldn’t let up.

The Chiefs’ new offensive coordinator sat down last month with first-round pick Branden Albert and talked about the future and which position the youngster would play. Albert had played guard at Virginia, and Gailey was talking about moving the rookie to tackle — left tackle, one of any NFL team’s marquee and highest-pressure positions.

Albert was listening, but Gailey kept saying it.

“He sat me down and told me, ‘You’re going to play left tackle for us,’ ” Albert said Wednesday. “He was real stern about it. He said, ‘You’re going to play. You’re going to get it.’

“You’ve got to trust him. You’ve got to go with it.”

The Chiefs are going with a lot of what Gailey has suggested since he replaced Mike Solari in January. After arriving in Kansas City, he started changing anything that looked like it might have caused last year’s 4-12 record. Full story

The last time Johnson participated in a practice open to the media, it was December. That time, he was helped off the field at Arrowhead Stadium and, a week later, placed on injured reserve. He missed the final eight games of last season with a fractured bone in his right foot.

But Tuesday, Johnson ran and kept running. There was no limping and, he said later, no pain.

“Sometimes,” he said, “I forgot I had a foot injury.”

Johnson said he is back — for real this time. He said he is healthy and eager to finish practice and play a game. Heck, he said, if the Chiefs had a game this Sunday, he’d be in the starting lineup.

Johnson spoke for nearly 10 minutes Tuesday, a rare interview with the enigmatic and publicly guarded Chiefs running back. He was candid, and no topic was off limits. Sure, he said, Kansas City’s nine-game losing streak to end last season might not have happened if he had been in the lineup.

“When I was playing,” Johnson said, “everybody’s main emphasis was on stopping the run. When you didn’t have me back there those last couple of games, it was like: All hell is going to break loose. You might as well blitz them until they can complete a pass.” Full story

Sure, it was only a team workout and anyone who actually had tried to tackle the highest paid player in team history would have risked getting cut right on the spot.

But the foot injury that shelved Kansas City's two-time Pro Bowl running back the final eight games last year seemed fully healed.

From all appearances, L.J. is back.

"It felt good to come out here and still be able to come out and run," Johnson said after the 90-minute practice on Tuesday. "Body-wise, I'm 100 percent."

full story...

Dwayne Bowe led all rookie receivers last season in receptions and yardage, so he obviously figured out some things quickly.

He had to, as anyone who witnessed his spring debut can recall. Bowe, who was unsteady and fighting the ball every time it headed his way during spring practice last year, looked more like an undrafted rookie than a first-round pick.

In other words, Bowe looked like most rookie receivers. For whatever reason, receivers tend to strain in making the transition from college to the NFL even at a time of year — no contact allowed — when they should be shining.

All of which is why the Chiefs are cheered by the early play from Will Franklin, their fourth-round draft pick from Missouri. While it’s probably going too far to say Franklin was a star last week, the first week of offseason practice for the Chiefs, he certainly didn’t look as if he were lost.

Franklin instead looked as if he belonged.

“He’s really quick making his moves, and he’s got really strong hands,” said quarterback Damon Huard, who now in his 12th NFL season has seen more than a few rookie receivers come and go.

“He’s dropped a couple of passes, but everyone’s dropped a couple. As a rookie receiver, it’s always tough for those guys coming into a situation like this. But he’s got the skills to be a special player. If he works hard at it, he will.” Full story

It was the kind of advice Dorsey needed to hear, and he'd be the first to admit that. Though he didn't end up becoming the first pick in this year's draft -- the Chiefs selected him fifth overall after several draft analysts labeled Dorsey the best prospect in this year's class --- he still might have as much impact as anybody taken before him. That's because Dorsey didn't just fall to a Kansas City team that never imagined he'd be available so late in the process, he also plopped right into the best possible defense for a man of his vast ability.

But the comparisons to Sapp are likely to keep coming.

full story...

Instead of taking the field, the star running back stood on the sideline of the Chiefs’ practice facility and watched as Kolby Smith took snaps with the first team.

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said Johnson, who missed the second half of last season because of a broken foot, is healthy and practiced in the first three offseason workouts this week. But because rain forced the Chiefs to practice indoors Thursday, Johnson was held out because Edwards didn’t want him to run on artificial turf.

“I took him out,” Edwards said. “He worked hard three days (in) practice. He’s been running; he’s been finishing his runs. He’s fine.”

Thursday was the first day the Chiefs opened practice to the media. Johnson was not made available after practice or in the locker room, and Chiefs officials postponed Johnson’s previously scheduled meeting with reporters.

Johnson watched Thursday while his teammates ran non-contact drills. And as was the case the final eight games last year, Smith was the Chiefs’ primary rusher — for one day, at least. Full story

Head coach Herm Edwards already has the right idea about how he'll work Johnson after the Pro Bowl running back spent the past few months recovering from a broken foot. He'll take it easy on Johnson while giving backup Kolby Smith and rookie Jamaal Charles as many quality reps as necessary. Johnson will get his chances to get acquainted with the new offense installed by first-year coordinator Chan Gailey. But the Chiefs also know Johnson's health is the key to whatever success the team hopes to enjoy this coming season.

Their world didn’t turn itself upside down in a day. That process started in the dying days of last year’s 4-12 season and continued right through the draft.

But the reality landed its blow for Chiefs survivors on Monday, the first day of offseason practice. They were able to see for themselves the change on the practice field, where the Chiefs lined up with new starters in 10 different positions, and in the locker room, where 33 rookies prowled wide-eyed but determined.

It wasn’t just like the first day of school for the veterans. It was like showing up on a different planet.

“They’re in the minority now,” Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. “They kind of looked in the locker room and a bunch of them grabbed me and said, ‘Who are these guys?’ I said, ‘You’d better figure out who they are because that’s kind of what our team is right now.’ ”

Age and experience, qualities that were prized as recently as last season, are now in rare supply. The Chiefs are down to nine players who are 30 or older, but will be down to even fewer than that by the start of the regular season.

One such veteran, safety Greg Wesley, did not show up for practice Monday and is certain to be traded or released shortly. Another, J.P. Darche, is a deep snapper. A third, Damon Huard, could eventually be traded or released if the Chiefs are satisfied with the progress of their two young quarterbacks, Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen. Full story

The Chiefs’ selection of Jamaal Charles (73^rd overall) is a very interesting one.  On the surface, it looks like the Chiefs are looking for some youth to backup their very highly paid starter, Larry Johnson.  The Chiefs drafted Larry Johnson early when they had arguably the best running back in fantasy football (Priest Holmes) on their roster, there’s every reason to think they’re drafting Charles to sit on the bench for a few seasons as the running back of the future.

Dig a little deeper though, and you have to wonder if the future is a lot nearer than you’d think.  Charles dropped to the third round because he’s not exceptionally big (5’ 11", 200 lbs), but he is a fast, elusive back with decent pass-catching skills.  He would make a great speed back to compliment Johnson’s power back role.  With Johnson suffering from nagging injuries last season, it would seem to be a good idea to have somebody step in and take a few carries to help preserve him for the entire season.   The Chiefs' plan to let Johnson take 400+ carries in 2006 looks pretty stupid in hindsight.

So there are two ways Charles could be used this season.  He could come in as a change-of-pace back, grabbing a few carries each quarter and keeping LJ fresh.   Or, he could be used as the speed component of a full-fledged running back by committee, taking anywhere from 25% to 50% of the carries.  I don’t know what the Chiefs are thinking, but Herm Edwards isn’t known for being flexible and innovative on offense, so I doubt that they’re moving to a "Thunder and Lightning" running back arrangement.

Even if they don’t give Charles a decent share of the carries, Johnson is still an injury risk so Charles is likely to start at least one game this season.  I like Jamaal Charles as a good late round draft pick, a guy you stash on your bench as an RB4 or RB5.  If you draft Larry Johnson, then Charles becomes an essential choice as a running back handcuff.

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The Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs will have an evening practice July 31 at the Chiefs’ training camp site in River Falls, Wis. The teams have been working on finalizing the arrangement for a few weeks.

According to the Vikings’ web site, the practice will begin at 6:30 p.m. This schedule is another step in minimizing what used to be a two-day, four-practice affair. Last year, the teams had one night practice in Mankato and another the following evening in River Falls.

There still figures to be some drama this summer when DE Jared Allen reunites with his old teammates.

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The list of tasks the Chiefs need to accomplish in the next month is massive. They need to work in a considerable number of rookies and other new players, learn coordinator Chan Gailey’s new offensive system and reestablish Larry Johnson as the centerpiece of their offense.

They will have no more important job than resetting their offensive line, which after years of being among the best in football crumbled into severe decay last season.

Coach Herm Edwards said he plans on wasting no time in getting to that once offseason practice begins on Monday.

“After the (offseason practices) and the minicamp, you’ve got to have the five starters,” Edwards said. “You’ve got to know who the five are going into training camp. Really, you’ve got to know who the seven (including the two top reserves) are. They’ve got to work together. I was talking with Brian (Waters) last week and he told me that’s what killed us last year. We never seemed to practice together.

“You’ve got to have the five guys playing together. That’s how the good offensive lines play. That’s why they’re good. They know each other and have a feel for each other.”

Edwards wouldn’t talk about his plans, but the Chiefs will probably line up with rookie Branden Albert at left tackle, Waters at left guard, Rudy Niswanger at center, Adrian Jones at right guard and Damion McIntosh at right tackle.

Albert, Niswanger and Jones are new starters. McIntosh is moving from left tackle. Only Waters is a familiar face in his same place. Full story

It’s a good thing for the Chiefs that Herm Edwards has a fondness for young players. Otherwise, he’d have nothing to like about their wide receivers.

The only established player at the position, Dwayne Bowe, is all of 23. The old man of the group, Arena League veteran Bobby Sippio, is 27, and he’s not guaranteed to make the team.

But age isn’t necessarily the problem. A lack of accomplishments is. Bowe led all rookie receivers last year with 70 catches and 995 yards. Otherwise, Jeff Webb has two career starts, free-agent addition Devard Darling one, and the rest of the wide receivers either haven’t played in an NFL game or haven’t caught a pass in one.

“Is it a star-studded group? Is it household names? Maybe just one: Dwayne Bowe,” Edwards said. “But we’ve got some other guys who have a chance. They just have to go play.”

This can’t be what Edwards had in mind when the Chiefs cleared out two former starters, Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker, during the offseason. Or maybe it is.

The collection screams for the addition of a veteran even just as a safety net in case Webb, Darling, fourth-round draft pick Will Franklin of Missouri and all of the other wide receivers prove unworthy of a starting spot or playing time.

But Edwards said if the Chiefs sign a receiver, it wouldn’t be until after training camp has started. Full story

The Chiefs have told Wesley they will release him as soon as they believe they have exhausted all trade possibilities for him. That time could come as quickly as this week.

The Chiefs, who begin offseason practice on Monday, believe they are set at safety with starters Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard, veteran reserve Jon McGraw and third-round draft pick DaJuan Morgan.

“They told me after the draft that if they couldn’t trade me before the minicamp, they would release me then,” Wesley said, referring to the June 6-8 minicamp. “Since then, they told me they would release me sooner than that.

“This would be great. I feel like I’ll be in good shape as far as getting a job even if they don’t do it until June 1. Some teams have shown a lot of interest in me. There’s not a big supply of safeties. I guess you could say the demand is bigger than the supply, so I’m not worried about getting a job. They’re just waiting for me to be released.” Full story

The Kansas City Chiefs ranked last in the NFL last season in rushing offense with an average of 78 yards per game. They hope to improve on that mark with the selection of running back Jamaal Charles, a third-round pick out of the University of Texas. Charles finished his career with the Longhorns rushing for 3,328 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Charles joins a backfield that includes second-year back Kolby Smith, and two-time Pro Bowler Larry Johnson (foot0. Johnson is coming off a season in which he was placed on Injured Reserve, due to a broken bone in his foot, after only eight games. Prior to the start of the 2007 season, Johnson signed a five-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Chiefs through the 2012 season.

To start the season, Charles will be used as the change-of-pace back. Only hovering around 200 pounds, Charles has the ability to be the big-play threat that the Chiefs need. Charles is lighting quick running a 4.38 40-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine in February. Charles will also be a factor in the passing game as he has good hands. Head coach Herman Edwards has also flirted with the idea of allowing Charles to return kicks on special teams.

Edwards brought in Chan Gailey to be the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs this season. Gailey's philosophy is a run-oriented offense, as he likes to run the ball to set up the pass. With the two-headed attack in Johnson and Charles, Kansas City should be able to improve on their No. 32 ranking from last season, as well as take the pressure off the passing game.

full story...

Rohnie Sykes, who played football at Yuba College for one season, signed as a free agent Wednesday with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League.

"He's a nice kid," 49ers football coach Ted Hoal said. "We're all real happy for him. He worked hard and got an opportunity to go on and he took advantage of it."

After playing one year at Sacramento City College, Sykes played tight end with Yuba for part of the 2005 season while dealing with a personal family tragedy, Hoal said.

"We were tickled to death to have him," Hoal said. "For the five games or so he was with us, he played well enough to earn a Division I scholarship."

Sykes caught 25 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns with the 49ers.

The Sacramento native then went on to play tight end at Morgan State in Baltimore for two seasons.

In 2006, Sykes finished with 21 catches for 111 yards and one touchdown and was selected to the 2007 pre-season All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference second team. Sykes finished with six catches for 68 yards his senior season with the Bears and helped open holes for an offensive unit that averaged 348 yards per game and 203.4 yards on the ground.

While he signed as a free agent, Hoal said Sykes still has to make the Chiefs' roster, although Hoal added Sykes fits the perfect mold of a typical NFL tight end.

"He's 6-5, 245 pounds, big, athletic, strong, he can catch, run and block," Hoal said.

Hoal said what the Chiefs like most about Sykes is "his willingness to get in there and block, mix it up, take on defensive ends and linebackers.

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The Chiefs’ strategy for solving their kicking troubles was a simple one. Too simple, as it turned out.

Their solution was to sign the best available free-agent kicker, Seattle’s Josh Brown. They had no backup plan.

So when Brown instead signed with the Rams in the opening days of free agency, the Chiefs were left at kicker with journeymen Nick Novak and Billy Cundiff, an undrafted rookie in North Carolina’s Connor Barth and plenty of continuing unease over the situation.

“We’ll have to decide at the end of the day if one of these three guys is the guy or do we have to go out and get one of those old guys who doesn’t want to come to training camp?” coach Herm Edwards said. “Hopefully we don’t have to do that, but if we have to, we’ll do it.”

The “old guys” Edwards referred to include John Carney, who kicked for the Chiefs toward the end of last season, and former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt, who worked out for them early in the spring. Both are free agents.

Whatever the Chiefs do, they can only hope that their decision-making when it comes to kickers is better than it was last season, when they made one wrong choice after another. They erred in drafting Justin Medlock instead of Mason Crosby, in keeping Medlock instead of Lawrence Tynes, and in signing Dave Rayner instead of several other candidates, Novak included.

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The Chiefs received the highest rookie pool numbers by the NFL, a source said on Wednesday. With 12 draft choices -- two first-rounders taken in the top 15 -- the Chiefs have a rookie pool of $8,221,790, tops in the league. Not only do they have two first-rounders to sign, but they have a second and three thirds.

Even though agents and teams get around the rookie pool with contract escalators, post first-year option bonuses and one-time incentives, the rookie pool was created to somehow slot the signings of draft choices by the position they were selected. Each selection in the draft is given a value, which is a predetermined cap number. All rookies, including undrafted rookies, have to fit within the assigned rookie pool.

The Atlanta Falcons ended up with the second highest total at $7,918,670. They had four selections among the first 68 picks, including two first-rounders. They had six picks in the first 98.

The Miami Dolphins signed Michigan tackle Jake Long to a five-year, $57.75 million deal that had a $3 million cap number. That contract left $3.538,400 for the other eight draft choices, which include two seconds and a third.

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Besides the inevitable changes in the roster, the 2008 Kansas City Chiefs will look and feel much different than the team from even a year ago. Here's a look at just exactly what we have to look forward to.

Let's not underestimate the importance of replacing first-year offensive coordinator Mike Solari with football veteran Chan Gailey.

It was obvious from the beginning of the season that Mike Solari was in over his head. Solari was a fine offensive line coach, a position he was recently hired for in Seattle, but as an offensive coordinator he defined the Peter Principle - the idea that employees are promoted to the level of their incompetence.

There's no need to go into the football Xs and Os specifics as to why Solari was an ineffective offensive coordinator. We can look at the stats.

Ranked 31st in total points scored. 31st in yards gained per game. The worst rushing offense in the league.

Arguably, this was the worst offense in franchise history.

To be fair, Solari's failures as a coach were a few of the many problems for the Chiefs' offense that we've discussed a number of times. His demotion back down to a positional coach speaks for itself though.

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The Chiefs liked what they saw from Savage in a workout over the weekend in Kansas City. Savage wasn't offered a free-agent contract but is expected to sign later this month when he returns for the Chiefs' off-season program.

"You saw on film that he's very talented, but once we got him on the field it was quite obvious he has a lot of talent,” said Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. "He did a really nice job in our camp.”

Gailey, the former Dallas Cowboys head coach who spent the past six seasons as Georgia Tech's head coach, said the Chiefs put Savage through an extensive workout.

"He's one of those tweener backs,” Gailey said. "He's not a big back. He's not a thumper. He's a smaller, quicker guy, but he has good speed.

"But is he the kind of guy we can take to camp? We'll just have to see where that takes us on whether he's part of this organization. But it was obvious he's a very talented young man.”

For Savage to make the Chiefs' roster, he probably will need to win the kick return job. The favorite is rookie wide receiver Kevin Robinson, a sixth-round pick out of Utah State, who was selected primarily for his return skills.

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With every sack, every feeble rushing play, every three-and-out series, the Chiefs resolved they would take this offseason to fix their forlorn offense.

They would repair their decrepit offensive line, they would give Brodie Croyle the tools to succeed as an NFL starting quarterback, they would take some of the considerable burden off their overtaxed defense.

Despite the Chiefs’ elation over their recent 12-player draft, their efforts are coming under question.

“You can only do so much in the draft,” said former Washington and Houston general manager Charley Casserly. “It’s still a work in progress. They got better where they could get better.”

Yet it’s difficult — if not impossible — to argue the Chiefs will be better on offense. They do have some reasons for optimism. They traded an offensive coordinator learning on the job, Mike Solari, for a proven veteran, Chan Gailey.

Running back Larry Johnson won’t be a holdout again and — if the law of averages prevails — won’t miss half the season because of a foot injury. Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe could be even better than he was as a rookie.

Elsewhere, the Chiefs appear held together with a lot of wishful thinking. Croyle has yet to win a game or prove he’s a high-quality NFL starter. The offensive line still has holes. The Chiefs are relying on a boost from two third-round draft picks, running back Jamaal Charles and tight end Brad Cottam. Full story

Mike Cox was just like every other graduating high schooler heading off to college to play football. He wanted to be the star.

He was determined to be the ball carrier and not the blocker even though his coach at Georgia Tech, Chan Gailey, preferred him at fullback instead of tailback. Gailey, though, let the decision be Cox’s.

It didn’t take long for Cox to realize his football future was brighter as the blocker and not the runner.

“I think I lasted about two days at tailback at camp,” Cox said. “I figured I might as well ask the coaches to move to fullback before they made me move over there.”

His decision worked out for all parties involved and now, perhaps, the Chiefs. Cox went on to be a three-year starter for Gailey. He wasn’t selected in last weekend’s NFL draft but jumped at the chance to sign with the Chiefs afterward so he could be reunited with Gailey, Kansas City’s new offensive coordinator.

His arrival, plus the recent addition of Oliver Hoyte off waivers from Dallas, gives the Chiefs something they haven’t had since Herm Edwards arrived as head coach two years ago.

That would be a true fullback, one they didn’t have to convert from another position like Ronnie Cruz, Kris Wilson or Boomer Grigsby. Full story

While Jerome Simpson was clearly the area's winner in the NFL Draft drama last weekend, in his second-round shadow former Coastal Carolina quarterback Tyler Thigpen is also in good spirits.

Thigpen, who was the first Chanticleer to be drafted last season, benefited by the Kansas City Chiefs avoiding a quarterback in the draft.

"The quarterback coach [Dick Curl] said he has two guys who he believes in [in Thigpen and Brodie Croyle]," Thigpen said via cell phone Tuesday.

Thigpen added that Curl has "taken heat" for persuading the Kansas City front office to concentrate on areas other than quarterback.

The Chiefs had three selections in the first 40 picks, selecting a defensive lineman (Glenn Dorsey - LSU), an offensive lineman (Branden Albert - Virginia) and a corner back (Brandon Flowers - Virginia Tech).

With the Chiefs not having signed a significant free agent quarterback or drafting one with one of their 12 draft selections, Thigpen looks to have an excellent chance to keep the No. 3 role as long as he can hold off former Georgia quarterback David Greene.

Greene was signed late last year as insurance after Thigpen injured his knee.

Most NFL teams carry three quarterbacks, and Thigpen spent much of last season as the No. 3 quarterback on the Chiefs' roster behind Damon Huard and Croyle.

Croyle is expected to start for Kansas City this season.

Thigpen joined the Chiefs last season after being released by the Minnesota Vikings. He played against San Diego in Week 13, completing 2 of 6 passes for 41 yards and an interception after injuries to Huard and Croyle.

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Okay, the honeymoon is over. The Chiefs had a great draft and I’m excited to have our players. Yada, yada, yada. Today we’re going to start getting down and dirty and very critically evaluate each draft pick and what they can realistically contribute for this team. There’s no better place to start than Glenn Dorsey.

Based on all the post-draft analyses, you would think that Dorsey was the second-coming of Chuck Norris, but such idealistic analyses fail to unravel why four teams passed Dorsey up. They also fail to acknowledge that not everyone is sold on Dorsey’s guaranteed dominance on the pro level.

Dorsey’s downside

We’re only going to start with Dorsey’s downside simply because we’ve heard so much about his limitless upside. The first is the most obvious: his injury history. Dorsey has never missed any significant time in college due to injury, but he still played hurt most of his college career. The injury that concerns me most is a stress fracture he suffered in his leg in 2006. That only begs the question: will there come a point relatively soon where Dorsey suffers an injury that limits his productivity for the rest of his career?

Furthermore, there are some questions as to whether his dominance on the college level will translate on the NFL level. He’s got size, but he could still stand to get stronger in his upper body. He has good technique, but it could stand to improve, including using his hands a little better. Some would contend that these kinds of flaws will make it tougher to win trench battles on the pro level, where DTs don’t have the luxury of bowling over clearly undermatched offensive linemen. There are also those that question whether his size and style of play will limit him to a one-gap or two-gap scheme, where he’ll make much less of an impact than anticipated.

Finally, there are concerns about whether Dorsey has the closing speed to finish up plays. Dorsey is an outstanding run defender, but some question his ability to rush the quarterback. Not that he doesn’t get to the quarterback, but he can miss a sack or two.

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But just two seasons ago, Tamba Hali, then a rookie, led the Chiefs in sacks with eight, or one-half more than Allen.

The events of the last year made that feel so long ago to Hali, so long ago that maybe he dreamed it rather than lived it. Though he finished with 7 1/2 sacks, Hali was still so far behind the league-leading Allen and his 15 1/2 that he occasionally felt like a failure.

“I used to look at Jared and I’d get frustrated because he’s such a good player, and there were times when I felt I didn’t reach his standard,” Hali said. “He was sacking the quarterback all the time and I wasn’t keeping up with him.”

The trade sending Allen to the Vikings guarantees Hali nothing because the comparisons will still be there. But the Chiefs are trying to boost Hali by moving him into Allen’s vacated position, the traditional spot for a team’s premier pass rusher because the right defensive end usually attacks the quarterback’s blind side.

The Chiefs have to make up Allen’s 15 1/2 sacks from somewhere. They won’t all come from Hali, but they are asking him to again be their leader. Full story

All A’s.  That has pretty much been the consensus so far among draft gurus- the Chiefs got all A’s.  Glenn Dorsey at #5?  Brilliant.  Branden Albert at #15?  Steal.  Brandon Flowers in the second round?  Grand theft.

Hold on just a moment, I say.  Yes, I was very excited about their picks.  Yes, I agree that, in terms of value at the respective draft slots, the Chiefs won this draft going away.  Yes, on paper, the Chiefs have built a great foundation for the future.

There is still one problem- Carl Peterson and training camp.

I got nervous about the draft last Thursday.  It would not have mattered if the Chiefs drafted Dorsey, Albert, Chris Long, Jake Long, Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Derrick Thomas, and Lenny Dawson this year.  It is one thing to draft great players, but it is another thing to develop them, and you cannot develop them unless you put them on the field.

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When it was time to return the jersey to a team employee, Dorsey wasn’t ready to let go.

“Take care of it, man,” he said to the employee.

For the next nine months, everything about Dorsey and Albert will be handled with care. They are the face of the Chiefs’ youth movement, a shift away from some of the familiar faces of years past and a new philosophy — less emphasis on free agents and more emphasis on draft picks — the Chiefs hope will dull the pain of last year’s 4-12 record.

The signs hung around Arrowhead say the Chiefs are spending this offseason “Laying the foundation.” Albert said Monday he thinks the team began by snagging a pair of linemen in the first round. Full story

Two days’ worth of activity had come to an end for the Chiefs on Sunday, leaving them a markedly different team from the one that entered draft weekend.

Herm Edwards paused to consider exactly how different. They no longer have Jared Allen, their best defensive player, but they selected 12 other players and will add as many as 10 undrafted free agents in the coming days.

Even that might not be enough to reverse the direction of a franchise that lost nine straight games last year and finished a dismal 4-12. But Edwards is delighted to be able to try.

“It’s great energy right now,” he said. “We’ve got to use that to our advantage. That’s good for us. That’s the direction we’re headed in.”

The Chiefs finished their draft by selecting nine players in the final five rounds Sunday. They won’t provide Edwards, who wanted at least six rookie starters from this year’s crop, that kind of haul he wanted.

The only likely rookie starters in the Sept. 7 season opener against the Patriots in New England are the ones the Chiefs selected on Saturday: LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and Virginia offensive lineman Branden Albert in the first round and Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers in the second.

They still are expecting big contributions from their three third-round draft picks. The first was Texas running back Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs already have Larry Johnson and Kolby Smith, but Edwards indicated that the speedy Charles would have a role as both a ball carrier and a receiver out of the backfield. Full story

Texas running back Jamaal Charles was the Chiefs’ first of three picks in the third round of the NFL draft, the 73rd overall pick. And even though he probably will start his career behind Larry Johnson and Kolby Smith, Charles could be the fastest player on the team.

“When I get like three steps on people,” Charles said Sunday, “most people don’t come from behind me and catch me.”

Charles said he was the fastest player at Texas, a school known for producing outstanding running backs. The Longhorns have had a 1,000-yard rusher each year since 1995. One former Texas running back was a Chiefs star who was chosen to three Pro Bowls during his seven seasons in Kansas City — and made an impression on Charles.

“I’m going to go up there and try to do what Priest Holmes did,” Charles said.

Like Holmes, Charles is an undersized back who coaches admit might not be built to carry an NFL team’s load. Charles is listed at 199 pounds. But more impressive is that he was a sprinter at Texas for one season, long enough to be selected an All-American in four events. Then, he quit track and settled on football. Full story

“You’ve got so many lights and cameras, you know, the heat is rising,” Dorsey said with a smile. “Everybody wants to get out of there as soon as possible.”

The former LSU star was the Chiefs’ first pick — fifth overall — in this weekend’s NFL draft. It was a surprise ending to months of speculation on which player Kansas City would select with its highest draft pick in six years.

Sure, there were concerns surrounding Dorsey. Worries, even. He broke a bone in his right leg two years ago, and some teams were concerned the bone never healed properly. The concerns were loud enough that Dorsey fell past where he had been projected. It was the Chiefs’ gain — unless that leg injury turns into a long-term issue.

He does, after all, have a history of leg problems. Some things never did change with Dorsey. He was always a big boy, his grandmother, Minerva Dorsey, said Saturday. And always hungry. And he loved sports, even when his legs wouldn’t let him play.

Dorsey was born with bowed legs, and he spent two years as a toddler wearing leg braces. Instead of playing with the other kids in the small town of Gonzales, La., he was stuck inside, listening to his friends play the game that would one day make Dorsey a millionaire.

“He tried to be like the other kids,” Minerva Dorsey said. “Then he got out of those braces, and he’s been running ever since.” Full story

He just thought it would be in basketball, not football.

Albert didn’t play football until his junior year of high school in Glen Burnie, Md.

He was already a basketball star, but soon his football skills surpassed his hoops prowess and he earned a football scholarship to the University of Virginia.

The Chiefs fulfilled his prophesy, albeit in a different sport, on Saturday when they made Albert the second of their two first-round draft picks and No. 15 overall.

Albert played mostly guard at Virginia, but he will probably start for the Chiefs at one of the tackle positions. The Chiefs have last year’s starter Damion McIntosh available to play left tackle, so Albert could wind up on the right side.

“I was always a basketball player,” Albert said.

“I grew up in (Rochester, N.Y.) and when I moved to Maryland with my brother, I was asked to play (football) because that’s what he wanted me to do. That’s where he saw my talent would be. It’s worked out for the best.” Full story

Carl Peterson watched Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers during Kansas’ win at the Orange Bowl.

When the Chiefs called Flowers on Saturday to tell him they were making him the team’s second-round pick, Peterson reminded Flowers that Kansas City might be KU country — but Peterson likes Flowers, anyway.

“I let him know that my wife is a Jayhawk,” Peterson said. “I said, ‘She may love the Jayhawks, but I love you, and we need you here.’ ”

The Chiefs addressed another of their myriad needs when they selected Flowers at No. 35 overall, the final piece Saturday of Kansas City’s intense rebuilding effort. Flowers had 86 tackles and five interceptions last season.

And he packs a load of confidence, too.

“I kind of knew after my sophomore year that the game was slow to me,” said Flowers, who left Virginia Tech after three seasons. “I definitely was ready to make that jump.”

The Chiefs hope Flowers will upgrade a secondary that ranked 12th among 16 AFC teams last year with 14 interceptions. But Flowers also comes with his own questions, primarily about his 5-foot-9 height. Full story

After losing the player they wanted and needed most — Michigan tackle Jake Long, the No. 1 pick already signed and sealed by Miami — the Chiefs now have a considerable interest in Chris Long, the lightning-quick defensive end from Virginia who could provide an immediate replacement for Jared Allen, the NFL sack leader traded to Minnesota for three draft picks earlier this week.

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The Chiefs spent the better part of the buildup to this year’s college talent lottery saying that all drafts are created equal.

Feel free to file that with the rest of the pre-draft hype.

It’s true the Chiefs started to place a greater emphasis on the draft two years ago when they hired Herm Edwards as head coach and promoted Bill Kuharich to lead their draft preparations.

But never before have the Chiefs had the kind of opportunity that will unfold when the draft begins today. They may never again hold such a draft bounty.

Thanks in large part to this week’s trade that sent Jared Allen to Minnesota, the Chiefs will have the fifth and 17th picks in the first round and the 35th overall choice early in the second.

The draft concludes Sunday with the final five rounds. The Chiefs will have 10 picks in those rounds, including three of the first 19 in the third round.

If the Chiefs draft well, they can put a down-and-out team on the road to recovery.

There isn’t the usual definition to the four picks ahead of them, other than Miami at the top. The Dolphins will select Michigan tackle Jake Long, who has already signed a contract.

Kansas City’s first pick figures to come from a group that includes defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey of LSU, defensive ends Chris Long of Virginia and Vernon Gholston of Ohio State, and offensive linemen Branden Albert of Virginia and Ryan Clady of Boise State. Full story

Maybe that’s why something stirs deep within his soul once spring arrives. He feels the urge to return to his roots, get back in the woods and hunt wild turkeys again.

“Hearing that first gobble of the spring ranks right up there with throwing a touchdown pass for me,” said Croyle, 25, who was brought up in Alabama. “I’m just a fanatic about turkey hunting.

“In Alabama, there isn’t much to do except hunt. I grew up with it. And I haven’t grown out of it.

“I could turkey hunt every day if I had the time.”

Croyle has already shot three turkeys this spring in his wife Kelli’s home state, Mississippi, and one in his native Alabama. But it’s an upcoming hunt in Kansas that has him the most excited.

Why? Because that May 3 hunt will benefit his parents’ Big Oak Ranch, two Christian-based children’s homes in Alabama that take in abused and orphaned boys and girls. Full story

A cell phone was on the table in front of him.

Ryan Sims wore a black suit with pinstripes on that April morning, when the group gathered to watch the 2002 NFL draft. Sims was a defensive tackle from the University of North Carolina. He was confident that morning he would be a top-10 draft pick. But Sims’ father, Ronnie, had heard bad things about some teams. There were a handful of franchises Ronnie Sims would just as soon pass on his son — even if they had a high pick.

“There are certain teams that you’re hoping don’t draft your kid,” Ronnie Sims says now. “And Kansas City was one of them.”

Ryan Sims’ phone rang. He flipped it open and pressed it to his right ear. One of the teams Ronnie Sims had heard about was on the other line.

Ryan Sims slid on a Chiefs hat and smiled anyway. Full story

Publicly, at least, they have no regrets. Coach Herm Edwards and president/general manager Carl Peterson did not waver Wednesday in their belief the Chiefs are a better team having sent Jared Allen to Minnesota for the Vikings’ first-round pick and both of their third-round selections in this weekend’s draft.

The trade gives the talent-starved Chiefs a chance to get well in a hurry. They have two of the first 17, six of the first 82 and 13 draft picks in total.

They will have to wait a few more days to determine the exact bounty they were able to extract from Minnesota. For now, they were bravely facing their new world without Allen, their only Pro Bowl defensive player and the NFL’s reigning sack leader.

“We got into the position where all of a sudden we had to make a decision as an organization,” Edwards said. “You look at our situation and you say, ‘You know what? Now it’s different. What’s the best for the football team, for the Kansas City Chiefs and not for Herm Edwards and not for Carl Peterson, not for Clark Hunt.’

“It makes you better in the fact that we have a lot of holes we have to fill. There are a lot of positions where we feel that we’re going to have to draft some players who have the ability to come in and start as rookies.

“We feel it will benefit this football team.” Full story

Jared Allen and the Chiefs agreed to part ways this week, but that might be all they agreed on.

Allen’s agent, Ken Harris, and Chiefs president Carl Peterson told conflicting versions Wednesday of how and why negotiations broke down to keep the All-Pro defensive end in Kansas City.

Peterson said the sides discussed a potential multi-year contract but that Harris “wasn’t interested in any offers.” Harris told The Star late Wednesday he has the airline miles to prove otherwise.

“We were the ones chasing. We were the only ones to make a formal proposal,” Harris said. “Last year, Jared had me running around the country, to the Super Bowl and the Senior Bowl and the combine and those sorts of things, making proposals to the Chiefs. We didn’t ever really feel like it was going to end up with a contract agreement.”

The Chiefs finalized a trade Wednesday that sent Allen to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for three draft picks. Allen signed a contract with the Vikings worth a reported $74 million, including $31 million in guarantees.

Allen said in late December he had heard nothing from the Chiefs about a new contract. Harris said Wednesday that as early as last year’s NFL scouting combine, in February, Allen began to believe he wouldn’t remain in Kansas City after his contract with the Chiefs expired. Full story

Get used to hearing the Chiefs' name called this weekend. Kansas City, after its trade of Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen to Minnesota on Tuesday night, now has a league-high 13 picks in the draft. The Chiefs got a first and two third-rounders (the extra third rounder made the deal worthwhile to the Chiefs) from Minnesota.

The Chiefs now have the No. 5, No. 17, No. 35, No. 66, No. 73 and No. 82 picks in the draft. Wow.

The Chiefs can move up essentially any time they want in this draft. It could help them secure a quarterback late in the first round if they want make a run at a Brian Brohm, Joe Flacco or a Chad Henne. Trading Allen hurts, but there's no denying the Chiefs got a lot for him. They will have plenty of flexibility this weekend because of it.

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Tuesday night, during the bleak final innings of the Royals’ humiliating 15-1 loss to Cleveland, the Chiefs did something they have never done before in their history. They traded away their best young player in the prime of his career.

Well, that’s one way to keep a Royals blowout out of the news.

The Chiefs traded Jared Allen on Tuesday, and even though it was no secret, even though it had been building for days, in the end, it was still a bit of a shocker. Teams don’t trade away 26-year-old franchise defensive ends. Teams don’t deal players who lead the NFL in sacks despite playing only 14 games. Teams coming off 4-12 seasons don’t trade away their best player.

But the Chiefs did make this trade — Jared Allen to Minnesota for a first-round pick (17th overall) and two third-round picks. It’s a decent haul, I suppose, when you consider that the Chiefs had backed themselves into a corner. There was going to be no long-term deal here between Allen and the Chiefs, no chance. There was way too much animosity between them. There was a lot of bitterness.

And that bitterness was on both sides of the aisle — that’s one part people missed. Yes, Allen felt bitter, he felt betrayed by the organization when the Chiefs did not even try to sign him to a long-term deal last year, when Chiefs president Carl Peterson called him a “young man at risk.”

On the other hand, the Chiefs felt bitter, too. They felt as if they had taken a chance on Allen in the fourth round when there were some character questions; they steered him through some rough times that included two DUIs; they stuck with him and helped him become an NFL star. It’s fair to guess that the Chiefs felt as if Allen should have understood why they wanted to wait and see before offering him a long-term deal. Full story

Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen has a new home

The former Chiefs player has agreed to terms with the Vikings, Allen told FOXSports.com exclusively, on a contract that makes him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. The deal is for six years and just under $74 million, including a stunning $31,000,069 guaranteed — 69 is his jersey number.

The Vikings will give up their 2008 first-round draft pick as well as two third-rounders, and the teams will swap sixth-round picks.

Acquiring Allen is a huge move for the Vikings and immediately gives them the best defensive line in the NFL. Allen joins fellow Pro Bowlers Kevin and Pat Williams as well as the very underrated Ray Edwards.

The Vikings, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, surrendered their first-round pick in the 2008 draft and both third-round selections for Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen.

The Chiefs will now add the No. 17, No. 73, and No. 82 overall selections to the No. 5, No. 35, and No. 66 picks, giving them six selections among the first 100 picks.

“We’ve gone deeper than we have the previous two years,” said Bill Kuharich, the Chiefs’ vice president for player personnel. “We’ve done 321 players. We’ve spent more time on each player. We’ve gone from 8 a.m. until 10 (p.m.) for 14 straight days. We’ve spent more time in-depth on players because of the quality of this draft.

“We didn’t do as many players last year. The most I’ve ever done for one draft is 321 players in 20-plus years of doing this. But there are good reasons we took so much time on each particular player.”

As much attention as there might be on the Chiefs’ first pick, which is fifth overall, they can’t afford for this to be a one-player draft. After finishing a 4-12 season with nine straight losses, the Chiefs gutted their roster, dumping several veteran players they deemed part of the problem and not part of the solution.

The result is a team that can use a lot of help in a lot of places. The Chiefs will soon need a boxcar to carry all of their rookie offensive linemen. They also must have cornerbacks, wide receivers, a quarterback and a kick returner.

If they are successful in dealing Jared Allen, they also will have to draft a pass-rushing defensive end. Full story

I’m going to throw this argument out there and, please note, I don’t have any information to back this up: is it possible that the Chiefs aren’t offering Jared Allen a competitive contract because they simply can’t afford him? Think about this in a very different context. I’m not talking about whether they can fit Jared within their salary cap. I’m talking about whether the Chiefs physically have the money to pay Allen for his contract.

This seems like an improbability, given that Allen did get slapped with a franchise tag which means the Chiefs will likely have to pay him $10 million this season; however, keep in mind that whatever contract Allen will ultimately sign in 2007 will likely include more than $10 million in up-front bonus money. After all, Allen will likely receive a hefty signing bonus money in addition to a significant base salary that he would receive in year 1.

Is it possible that the Chiefs can’t afford to pay Allen what he wants because they are spending a lot of their resources on funding the Arrowhead renovation project? I don’t have access to the financials, so I’m not posting this as fact, but it’s an incredibly important question to ask because it could affect whether we, the paying fans, are being misled by the Chiefs’ brass.

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KC Chiefs General Manager Carl Peterson deserves to be fired. And I do mean "deserves." Where's Clark Hunt when Chiefs fans need him?

Peterson "led" the Chiefs to a 9-game losing streak lost year, when the club finished a pathetic 4-12. He has "led" the Chiefs to a hapless record in the post-season: no playoff victory since January of 1994.

Think about that: More than 14 years without one victory in the playoffs.

Now, Peterson is feuding with the Chiefs only good defensive player, Jared Allen. The strong likelihood is that Allen will leave for more money somewhere else, meaning the Chiefs will really be a young and unproven team in the fall of 2008.

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His son Clark, now the Chiefs’ chairman, may not be as outwardly enthusiastic, but he does understand the draft’s importance. The Chiefs are placing an emphasis on the draft like no time in recent years, at least partly by Hunt’s direction.

That, Hunt said, is not a one-time thing because the Chiefs have the fifth pick in this weekend’s draft or 10 choices in the seven rounds, the most they’ve had in years.

This, with the intermittent exception, is how the Chiefs will do business from now on.

“We’re going to be very focused every year on the draft as the key tool that we build this team with,” Hunt said. “Certainly there will be an occasional year where we might sign a free agent who the public considers to be a marquee player. That’s how it will shake out. I don’t want to say we’re never going to sign a player that has name recognition, because that’s not true.

“But the focus will always be on the draft. We need to make sure we have the people and the process in place that allows us to be successful drafting every year. We’ve seen that if you go two or three years with poor drafts, that eventually will catch up to you. There’s nothing you can do in free agency to make up for that.” Full story

We received a text message and a phone call late Saturday/early Sunday from a league source who shared with us a curious development regarding the Minnesota Vikings’ ongoing efforts to acquire Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen.

Per the source, the Vikings are “likely” to sign Allen to an offer sheet after next weekend’s draft, if a “fair” trade can’t be worked out before then.

The move meshes with the idea that came us to like an acorn to a blind squirrel on Saturday.  With the Chiefs reportedly wanting a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Allen, why not simply nab Allen with a poison-pilled offer sheet and foist on the Chiefs the Vikings’ first-round picks in 2009 and 2010?

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Once Clark Hunt decided to retain Carl Peterson, the chance for the Chiefs to retain a happy, productive Jared Allen nearly evaporated.

At least for one more year, we’re stuck with The Artist Formerly Known as King Carl, so we might as well contemplate the idea of unloading Kansas City’s best football player for draft picks and whatever else the Vikings, Buccaneers or Team X is willing to give up.

Yes, it’s sad, an unfortunate consequence of the Hunts’ loyalty to a man who clearly doesn’t have the self-confidence to know when to say when. Hmm, when your employment stretches two decades and your postseason success can be documented in full detail on a matchbook, it’s time to say “when.”

And when your continued employment interferes with the club’s ability to negotiate in good faith with an ascending superstar and lone box-office draw, ownership should step in and dethrone you.

But I swore I was going to be positive about Clark Hunt’s new leadership. He’s learning to lead, and I can’t fault him for waiting to pull the trigger on his most important decision.

Given that circumstance, given the Chiefs’ 4-12 record and given the poor prospects of dramatic improvement in 2008, dealing Jared Allen to a new general manager does make sense. Full story

The Chiefs, as you no doubt have heard several thousand times in the last couple of weeks, have the fifth pick in Saturday’s NFL draft. It is their highest pick in almost 20 years, going back to 1989 when they snagged Derrick Thomas at No. 4.

But here’s what you really need to know: It’s not high enough.

The Chiefs have somehow gotten themselves into a mathematical maze that they cannot escape. The fifth pick has turned into the worst pick around for Kansas City. The Chiefs desperately want one of two players. And both will be gone.

Everyone knows the two players the Chiefs want — if you don’t, you can always pop on the Internet and check out one of the 4,923,483 mock drafts out there. To save you the time, though, one is Michigan tackle Jake Long, who some scouts see as the new Willie Roaf, a dominant left tackle for the next 10 years. The other is LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who some scouts see as an unblockable force.

(I say “some scouts” because, let’s be honest, it’s still the NFL draft, which means nobody really knows. Both these guys could be great. Both could be mammoth busts. Ask Buffalo about can’t-miss left tackle Mike Williams. Ask Chiefs president/GM Carl Peterson about the unblockable Ryan Sims.)

The Chiefs believe that Long or Dorsey could make a huge impact on this season’s team. Trouble is, other teams also have scouts. For a while, according to the early buzz, it seemed like Jake Long might be there for the Chiefs at No. 5. Now, it looks like he might go to Miami with the first overall pick.

For a while, it looked like Dorsey might slip down to the Chiefs; now it looks like he will go second or third. Full story

The Vikings had Jared Allen right where they wanted him Friday. The Pro Bowl defensive end spent much of his day receiving first-class treatment and visiting with team officials at Winter Park.

But owner Zygi Wilf attempted to downplay talk the Vikings were on the verge of working out a trade with Kansas City or a multiyear contract for Allen with agent, Ken Harris, who also was in town. Both of those things would have to happen for Allen, designated by the Chiefs as their franchise player, to end up in Minnesota.

"It's a multi-front type of [deal]," Wilf said while making an appearance at the Vikings' facility during a soccer event to benefit the Twin Cities-based National Marrow Donor Program. "You have to deal with Kansas City, you have to deal with Jared. It's a whole aspect, and you have to weigh that with what's best for the club. That's ultimately what's most important. What would be the best for this club and how we can get to the next level?"

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"It's a situation that works out best for both sides," Allen told FOXSports.com. "I can go to a team that is competing for a championship right now. The Chiefs can get valuable draft picks to rebuild with."

Allen said he is flying to Minnesota and has a visit set up with the Vikings by this weekend. He is tentatively scheduled to meet with Tampa Bay next week. The Jacksonville Jaguars had previously inquired with Allen's camp as well.

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The Chiefs perhaps provided some clues into their thinking regarding the upcoming draft by welcoming several prospects to Kansas City on Monday.

Quarterback Matt Ryan of Boston College, defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey of Louisiana State and offensive linemen Ryan Clady of Boise State and Branden Albert of Virginia were among those who began their visits.

All will be selected in the first round of next weekend’s draft, and at least some should still be available when the Chiefs make the fifth pick.

The visits aren’t a guarantee the Chiefs will select any of the players. But several times in recent years their eventual first-round pick came to Kansas City in the days leading up to the draft.

All of the players make sense for the Chiefs. They need as many as three starters for their offensive line, and either Clady or Albert would immediately move into a starting spot.

Clady would be the starter at left tackle with Damion McIntosh moving to either right guard or right tackle. Albert played mostly guard in college but could be a tackle in the NFL.

Ryan is generally considered to be the top quarterback available in the draft. Brodie Croyle is the starter but has yet to convince the Chiefs he is the long-term solution. Full story

Though the AFC West is becoming a division of bigger receivers, the Broncos went against the grain and reached an agreement in principle with 190-pound Samie Parker of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Parker

Parker's agent, Jordan Woy, was out of the country Monday, but he was putting the final touches on a contract for Parker. Terms of the deal weren't available, but it was close enough that Parker was making preparations to sign the contract.

The 27-year-old Parker started 22 games over the past two seasons for the Chiefs. He caught 41 passes in 2006 and 24 passes in seven starts last year. Parker was a 2004 fourth-round pick of the Chiefs.

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Kansas City, coming off a very disappointing season, finds their selves at a very odd spot in the first round that they’re not accustomed to: number five.

With that first selection, it will be interesting to see what they do. The biggest areas of need that they have are widely considered to be the offensive line and secondary. Lets take a look at who they might get.

On the offensive line side, I look at five possibilities: Jake Long, Jeff Otah, Branden Albert, Ryan Clady, and Chris Williams. Except for Albert, all are tackles.

They need one badly, with Will Svitek on the right side and Damion McIntosh starting to age in his thirties.

Long would obviously be the best one. However, most feel he’ll either be grabbed by the Dolphins or Rams before he makes it to pick number five, which he likely will. If Miami agrees to a contract with someone else and the Rams pick Glenn Dorsey or Chris Long, than there would be a good chance that Jake would slide to the fifth pick, where the Chiefs would gladly take him. However, again, don’t get your hopes up, fans.

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Part 32 of a 32 part series, a running back position analysis of each franchise. The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off of a disappointing season that ended with a 9-game losing streak, a 4-12 record and several questions and very few answers. The losing streak was a disastrous finish to Coach Herm Edwards’ second year at the helm.

Since his arrival, Edwards has stressed the need to get younger, and he’ll continue to follow that trend in 2008. Chan Gailey was named the offensive coordinator; he will replace Mike Solari. Gailey is renowned for helping to establish hard-nosed running games at Pittsburgh & Dallas. This also gives the Chiefs two coordinators with head coaching experience as Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, was the Chiefs’ head man in 1999 and 2000.

“Toughness” is the theme Edwards is emphasizing as he attempts to rebuild a once-potent offense that through age and attrition dropped to dead last in rushing and next-to-worst in scoring and total yards in 2007. Offensively the Chiefs have signed free agent WR Devard Darling who was released by the Ravens to play opposite Dwayne Bowe. The Chiefs needs going into free agency and the draft are OT, CB, OG, C, QB and a Return man. The Chiefs as a team rushed for 78 yards per game.

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The Kansas City Chiefs open the 2008 preseason schedule at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. Official dates and kickoff times will be announced at a later time.

The Chiefs host the Arizona Cardinals, travel to play the Miami Dolphins and host the St. Louis Rams in the '08 installment of the Governor's Cup series.

The NFL said dates and times for the regular season schedule will be announced later this month.

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Herm Edwards is a football coach, not a spin doctor. Ask him if the Kansas City Chiefs are rebuilding and, unlike so many others who prowl Sunday's sidelines, he doesn't cringe.

"No doubt," Edwards said. "You can call it rebuilding, blowing it up, whatever you want to call it. We're starting, not from ground zero, but close. . . . That's why we didn't dabble in free agency a whole bunch (of late). We're going to build a football team."

With patience. Through the draft. Just like San Diego did. The rest of the West appears wider than ever. The Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders are playing catchup.

It's easy to see how San Diego has done it. They parlayed the first pick in the draft in 2001 and 2004 into cornerstone players such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Shawne Merriman and Philip Rivers.

Moral to the story: Sometimes, in the NFL, you've got to be really bad to become really good. It's a fact of life borne out not only in San Diego, but in Indianapolis, where the Colts' wretched ways earned them the first pick in the 1998 draft, which they used to select one Peyton Manning.

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The two-minute offense.

Who will form the left side of the offensive line?

Is Brodie Croyle the answer?

These are things Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards and general manager Carl Peterson should be worrying about.  You know - things that will help a team win games.  Being concerned over the length of a player’s hair should be #5,029,771 on the priority list for Kansas City this year. 

Look - if Tom Coughlin was bitching about the length of someone’s hair, then maybe someone would step up and listen.  Winning a Super Bowl gives you some credibility around the league. 

Peterson (and to a degree, Edwards) pull stunts like this during non-playoff years for Kansas City.  A few years ago, Peterson introduced the idea of adding additional playoff teams to the NFL post-season. Considering that the Chiefs had just missed out on the playoffs that year, it sounded like sour grapes, or a kid changing the rules of his game because he couldn’t win.

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However, Oakland at No. 4 and Kansas City at No. 5 both face desperate situations to win now. The Raiders have spent heavily in free agency and the trade market. The Chiefs, conversely, have spent little in free agency, have many glaring holes and are desperately seeking to trade down to acquire more picks. Their two most pressing needs, having yet to fill the gaping holes left by the retirement of Willie Roaf and the release of Ty Law, are at the OT and CB positions.

The way we hear it, the Chiefs do not consider any of the draft-eligible cornerbacks to be worthy of the No. 5 overall selection, should they be forced to stay put as expected, with no team showing any interest in moving up. Given the depleted status of their offensive line, which remained thin at the OG position following Will Shields’ retirement a year ago, team brass would like to ramp up the offensive line and is seeking to establish a more powerful, man-blocking unit that best fits Herm Edwards’ style of smashmouth, grind-out-the-clock, win-by-a-field-goal football.

Michigan OT Jake Long, the only offensive lineman who grades out as a top-five selection in this year’s draft, is certain to be gone before the Chiefs select, leaving Boise State’s Ryan Clady and Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah — an Edwards favorite — as potential options.

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They merely have to be close. Their decision not to tap more heavily into this year’s free-agent market leaves them with little room for error.

“I would say at least half (of the draft picks) will be starting for us the first game of the season,” coach Herm Edwards said while taking a break at this week’s NFL meetings. “There’s a great chance of that. And I’m hoping for that. I’m actually hoping I’m wrong. I’m hoping it’s about 75 percent of them.

“If you look back at our last couple of drafts, about 80 percent of those guys are playing and a lot of them are starting. That’s a good thing. We’ve got a system now. Our young players know when they walk in the door, they have to prepare themselves to play.”

The Chiefs have 55 players and, assuming they sign no more free agents, will take 25 rookies to training camp, including college free agents signed after the draft.

That’s plenty for today’s NFL but not unprecedented. Baltimore in 2002 took 47 first-year players to camp and started the season with 19, an NFL record.

The Ravens didn’t go young by choice as the Chiefs are. They were forced into their youth movement by severe salary-cap problems and finished their season 7-9.

Baltimore bounced back the next season to win its division. Full story

What is it with the Jets helping out the Kansas City Chiefs?

First, they win a “thriller” in overtime during the last game of the season to guarantee the Chiefs a higher draft pick.  Now they make the announcement that they signed wide receiver Laveranues Coles to an extension, and that quarterback Chad Pennington won’t be traded.    Both of these moves save the Chiefs’ fan base a ton of headaches, and keeps with Herm Edwards’ philosophy of building from the draft, and getting younger.

Coles is a fine complementary player, someone who would definitely open the field up for Dwayne Bowe, Tony Gonzalez and Devard Darling.  However, paying Coles $11 million guaranteed over the next two years simply does not fit into our team philosophy. 

Chad Pennington is another story.  Benched in New York for Kellan Clemens, Pennington is looking for a way out of the Big Apple.  A reunion with his former coach in Kansas City has been rumored for months now - and I could not think of a worse scenario for the Chiefs. 

Pennington’s arm is as limp as John Holmes after the director yells cut - and he’s got some injury concerns as well.  Also, might I remind you - he was benched for Kellan Clemens.  It’s not like they have Joe Namath back there under center.  I think we already have an older version of Pennington in Damon Huard - so it’s not really an upgrade anywhere.  The only thing it would gain for the Chiefs is a bump against the salary cap.

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