Now that we’re eight days into free agency, I’m starting to get a little worried about the Chiefs’ strategy. Sure, maybe players don’t want to play here, but money talks and we have more of it left than any other team. Additionally, everybody knows Arrowhead is one of the best places to play in the league. It shouldn’t be this hard to attract free agents.
I’m not sure if it’s Clark Hunt being frugal or Scott Pioli sticking to the Patriot way, or both, but I’m honestly worried that we are going to have to overpay scrap-heap players just to fulfill the minimum-salary requirement. Even Ray Willis is no longer available. I mean, are we going to have to throw money at Jason Taylor just to hit the minimum? I’m trying to be patient, and I know some big names will continue to get cut, but we have done absolutely jack sh** thus far. What’s up with that?
Addicts, sound off on the free agency period, or lack thereof…
FanSided Sports Blog
Kings of Kauffman
NFL Mocks
Stock Car Spin
Bolt Beat
Just Blog Baby
Predominantly Orange
Ramblin' Fan
Loading ...
I totally agree. You can’t even get a good rumor to wet your appetite. I know silence is golden, but come on throw us a bone.
I keep thinking that since Khalif Barnes is not signing with the Raiders or 49ers that maybe we are one of the other two teams that have an interest.
I can at least dream right!?!
I had that same thought, but the last thing I want to do is get anybody’s hopes up at this point.
I must admit i’m getting a little tired of looking at all these fan sites waiting for something new to show up and give me some hope for next year, but come on these guys know their shit and no one on these sites are going to convince me they know more about football than they do. So i will continue to check and be hopeful until they start making their moves. PS i don’t know what some of you are smoking but if TO were to come here i would not be a chiefs fan any longer (just a random thought)
I wish they would do something soon, so we don’t have to read pathetic articles like Andrew Dice Haley anymore.
Pioli has made a living doing just this: getting bargains. The football world is dryer now than a chick’s vag after menopause, and we’re thirsting for some wetness! I would love to have a Khalif Barnes, that would leave 1 less hole to fill in the draft, but this draft is deep at tackle and Pioli usually picks some studs late in the draft. I think I know a lot about football, but I’m sure Pioli knows more both about football and evaluating personell. We should be happy that we have gotten a potential franchise QB and a leader for our D, even though we still have a shit ton of cap room left.
Finally, some good news, T.O. just signed a one yr deal with buffalo…i didn’t want to have to play against him in denver or oakland. and although i would love for the chiefs to sign khalif barnes, im done getting my hopes up, i’ll believe it when i see it
I agree it is somewhat frustrating but nevertheless this off season is still pretty exciting.
Any mathematicians want to crunch the numbers as to how much more money we have to spend?
-I mean Cassel takes off 14 mil until restructured,
-We got Vrabel and the few other signings
-The draft should take another chunk.
So anyone know a ballpark figure?
Patriot way? What does that mean exactly? The Patriots have signed all kinds of players this off season. If Pioli was sticking to that, the Chiefs would have a number of free agents on the roster now.
Again, just like last year, the Chiefs aren’t going to over pay for free agents. They said they wouldn’t last year, and they didn’t. Nobody could believe it. This year, Clark Hunt said the Chiefs wouldn’t be active at the start of free agency, and guess what? They haven’t.
People want the Chiefs to spend money just because they have it. It’s ridiculous. Pioli is going to spend it on players that fit what he wants. Obviously he didn’t think Canty and Olshansky fit the mold. I for one am not going to question his thinking. I’m going to wait until the season starts and see what the Chiefs do or do not have.
Is this a start of a shaking in the faith of the Pioli Trinity? That hasn’t taken very long at all.
No shaking in the faith. I am just a firm believer in dissent and also feel A.A. is a good place to play devil’s advocate. Just getting a little nervous, too, that’s all. The cupboard at least seems bare. AADQ will go the opposite way tomorrow, by the way.
I figure Cassel will re-sign and hit 10. Vrabel is 3.5, plus McGraw, Niswanger and Page and those other camp bodies we signed. That’s Another 10. We still have to spend $15 million, and that’s if we don’t unload any vets in trades. I have a theory that I will get to in the next AADQ, though.
Two things to ponder. First, Pioli talks about building for the long haul. In my opinion, I think he’s saving cap space for the future. Pioli wants money available when he needs to add a couple of superstars, because we’re only a player or two away. (i.e. Randy Moss, Adaleius Thomas, etc.) Second, we lost a lot of close games. Mark Schlereth said it himself “the Chiefs are not a bad team, their an inexperienced team”. Perhaps the talent on the team isn’t that bad, they just need a new system to flourish. I think this will be particularly true on the defense where the lame ass cover 2 is rapidly fading out of the NFL. I haven’t lost faith yet.
well put 447
Amen 447. I think also holds true with the apparent lack of interest in any OL prospects. Youth and inexperience with the exceptions of Waters and McIntosh-that said still antsy. Any word on DC?
Adam…
You are the best!
I just joined the site to contribute my take….
In regards to Free Agency….
I am excited that we arent doing the KingCarl thing and spending on overpriced,FA’s that are past their prime….but waiting…..
We will be ok….just be patient a bit more…
No more Kendrell Bell’s or Pat Surtain’s….
Adam:
“I figure Cassel will re-sign and hit 10.” The reason Cassel leaves almost 5 mill on the table is? Are you willing to give him a five year contract?
Cassel gets at least 5 if not 6 or 7 in my opinion.
Why hasn’t Derrick Brooks’ name come up at all. Brooks and Vrabel teaching DJ and Curry for 2 years. I know he’s a cover 2 LB, but I’m sure he has as much left in the tank as Vrabel, and those two together could be interesting. He seems like the type of “smart” player that this organization is looking for. Just a thought. The Chiefs can win next year. There is no such thing as re-building in the NFL. The problem is that Herm stripped everything away so that he could sell Clark on this rebuilding bullshit. So we have a bunch of young players that will be good, but have no depth and not many worthwhile special teams players. Our special teams the last few years have lost us at least 3 games per year. The first one that comes to mind is the san diego game when we let Sproles run back 40some yards back and just give them field position. That shit kills our team. Pioli as a lot of holes to fill, so while they will never say re-building that is exactly what we are doing this year. As Adam has pointed out time and again it starts with the most important position on the field, QB. Linebackers and OL will be next and special teams has to be addressed one way or another. The last few moves, re-sihning McGraw, that backup reciever and NE reserve LB are all addressing our shit-hole special teams. It’s not glamorous but they have a system.
Thanks for letting me vent.
A four- or five-year deal is very likely. And I would give him that kind of deal. Pioli wouldn’t have brought him in if he didn’t believe in him, and I’ve seen enough that I believe he has what it takes to be our QB of the future.
Pat Surtain was obtained in a trade. As far as Carl overspending on overpriced FA he overspent on mediocre free agents. He did the same thing we are doing now, he waited until all the great free agents got huge deals and we waited and got what was left. So instead of overpaying for great free agents that might actually do something Carl overspent on mediocre players who never produced.
Adam pretty much stated this same thing in his post and that might be what happens to the Chiefs this year.
Adam:
You have to be real sure about Cassel to commit to him for that length of time.
You have to be real sure to trade for a player signed to a contract for almost $15 mil that year. You know what’s crazy about Cassel? Everybody thinks he got like the world’s best protection last year, but he got sacked 47 times. This kid has poise. After wasting two years on Brodie — a QB who I guaranteed wouldn’t work out — I think we can give twice that to this kid who looks like he’s the real deal.
Adam,
I agree. The problem is we have allowed good players in positions of need to sign elsewhere. At the same time we are required to spend a certain amount to reach NFL rules. I have the hardest time understanding Center Jason Brown going to St. Louis. We need a center, and why would anyone pick the Rams over the Chiefs!!!
Does this lack of spending have anything to do with the possibility of an uncapped year in 2010? Almost seems like we should have spent the max in 2009, since FA’s should be more expensive w/o a cap next year.
I thought with an uncapped year being a possibility we might spend to get back up to the cap too.
We may just have a cheap owner now who believes in saving money instead of doing whatever it takes to put a good product on the field like his father did. Maybe we have now become the Royals.
I agree we will sign Cassel to at least 5 if not more to spread out his guaranteed cash. It is a bit of a gamble but I still think it will be less than we would have spent on a completly untried rookie at #3 if we took either of the “top” QB’s in this draft. Makes sense to me.
As to the cap space…………..aren’t we all forgetting what it will take to sign those 22 people off the street to win our two games this year?? lol
OK everybody stop and think. No big name free agent will make a hill of beans difference this year. You fill your obvious holes (LB LB LB) and you get insurance and competition on the field (Cassel). If we spent to the cap, where would we be to take the next necessary step next year?
I would let Cassel languish at 14 M this year, and see what he has got. If he doesn’t cut it, cut him and pick up one of the several good QBs in next years draft. It makes total sense when you are building for a dominant team. Also most people agree that we need some talent at key positions, but we need depth as well. We have a young talented team but nobody behind most of them. This looks great to me so far.
If we cut Cassel after one year draft a QB next year that is another 3-4 years of rebuilding. When will the rebuilding excuse end?
As of now there will be no salary cap next year. Some of the young talented players you speak of are proving that they were just that, some young players that had some talent…that is all, not NFL players. Croyle, Hali, Pollard, Turk. We will find out about the 2008 players….Dorsey may not be what we thought he was either.
Every year for three years we are getting even more and more holes to fill because of the lack of getting any talent in free agency and have been relying on the draft only (besides one trade). And our 2006 & 2007 drafts have been nothing to speak of besides Bowe.
If you like seeing KC go backwards then you should like what you are seeing Gump.
Its really funny you bring this topic up. I brought this up over on my subscription based website of Warpaint Illustrated (Scout.com) and was “attacked vehemently” for even questioning the Pioli Way!!!!!! It’s like you can’t even have an opinion that might just slightly dissagree with the Pioli Way. Glad to see that there are others out there that don’t just drink the “kool-aid” and question nothing. After all thats why GOD gave you a brain!!!!
According to Gretz last week we have somewher between 16-32 million in cap space.
“The NFL salary cap ceiling for the 2009 season is $127 million. Teams must spend 87.6 percent of that, setting the salary floor at $111.252 million. When free agency started, the Chiefs had a ballpark figure of $50 million under the cap available to them, meaning $77 million was spoken for by players on the roster. That number jumped by $18 million with the additions of Cassel and Vrabel, so now the team is at $95 million. That leaves about $16 million for the Chiefs to reach the minimum and $32 million to reach the maximum. The Chiefs won’t get anywhere near the cap sealing in the ‘09 season, and will likely be closer to the minimum. So Pioli may be saving his cap space for draft picks and signing new deals for some of the team’s younger players who step forward on the field during the ‘09 season.”
I like what we have done thus far but I would have loved to see Brown come here. I think Pioli will earn his cash with names that aren’t sexy signings. One or two that fall through the cracks of others draft boards.
If you think we have gone backwards in the last 60 days….. We haven’t relied on the draft only for three years, that was just last year. What about D-Mac, Nap Harris etc… They were touted as the missing pieces by several people and look at what you got. You want more of that?
All I’m saying is everything in moderation. A week ago Pioli and crew were FA geniuses having stolen Cassel, and now less than a week later this? Get off the roller coaster. A steady measured aproach to both FA and the Draft is what we need to build a strong foundation and a core of players that can win for a long time. FA is to fill holes once the foundation is in place. Every year we go through this people, calm down.
I’ve watched and listened to folks here and elsewhere throw hissy fits when the front office doesn’t pick or sign their guy. I’ll bet you all are fantasy champions too right, ’cause you got mad skillz and a crystal ball right.
I will say this again Gump “So instead of overpaying for great free agents that might actually do something Carl overspent on mediocre players who never produced.”
You just backed that up by mentioning D Mac and N. Harris.