I’ll go with primarily #5 with a dose of #3. I still think money rules in FA, players say otherwise, but they almost always go where the money is.

1. Truly talented players who appear to have adequate mileage left on the tread who realize that there are teams willing to pay almost anything for their services.

2. Players perceived as talented because they played for a successful team and who are now seeking to make bank off of that perception.

3. Historically successful players in the twilight of their careers whose primary interest is simply one last paycheck. They consider landing with a contender to be a nice, but unessential, bonus.

4. Veteran players, unhappy with their current circumstances, who are looking to play for a team they consider to be contender. Money is important but of secondary concern.

5. Inexperienced, untalented, overlooked, discarded, or “problem” players who are looking for an opportunity to prove themselves. Money is typically of very little concern to these guys.

Which of these 5 categories would you guess the Chiefs are most interested in at present?

Excellent question, free agents selected a team for three possible reasons: money (the most important reason), to win a Super Bowl, or playing time. So, short of overpaying (something Pioli doesn’t like to do) we are regulated to giving somone an opportunity for playing time. It’s not a situation given to attracting high level free agents.

What is the likelihood that should I join this team, it will be in a position to realistically compete for a championship while I am there?

If any of this supposition has merit, I would be worried too. But at this point it seems all supposition. Every team is looking for the “right 53″ goes about it in their own way. some more successfully than others.

Look at the Seymore trade. Remember when Junior Seau came out of retirement? I understand your concern but am also seeing some “Patriot-like” activities happening here. I think it’s curious to see some of the parallels here. Some folks scratch thier heads and wonder at the moves the Patriots make but give them the benefit of the doubt because they are winning now.

What if Drew Bledsoe hadn’t been injured? Think about that. If Brady hadn’t been injured the world would have never known about Cassel.

I don’t think we will have a problem attracting talent, our problem has been been selecting talent. And we do need talent, you are very correct there. I think our problem attracting talent went away with Carl.

I do agree with your point on developing talent. I am not sold on Pendergast. We also need an OC, to not have one is not smart. But your perception of what the “right 53″ entails by our team’s standards might be scewed, again based upon the statements of a former player. I know players talk, Coach Tomlin benched his #2 RB because he didn’t like the way he was doing stuff. Mendenhall has now gotten on board and is “out of the doghouse”. The team is successful so the benching is just business. But because we aren’t successful yet Haley doesn’t get a pass at running the team.

I say this, we are close to winning. Our guys are not giving up. We need more talent, yes, but future players could be part of something big here. We are not the Lions, we are not the Browns, we are the Chiefs. I believe Clark Hunt loves K.C. and his father’s legacy. I believe Scott is a professional and very intelligent person doing his very best to make this team a winner. I believe Todd can lead us to success if given a chance.

If thats drinking the koolaid, so be it. But again I ask, if we had beaten Dallas in overtime, would we even be having this conversation?

It is one thing to be let go because you are not the right fit. I get that.

It is totally another thing to have your former employer do their best to personally destroy you just because you were not the right fit for them.

That’s the real problem I see here which actually brings me to my second point that we haven’t really discussed much yet. Namely, suppose you are a free agent considering whether or not to come play for the Chiefs? The first thing that would probably factor into your decision is the message to new players that comes from the Chiefs – we are only interested in players who are the “right 53,” who don’t argue with or second guess their coach, who are willing to put aside their manhood/pride if need be, who care only about playing football and who don’t care about making money. The second thing you would probably want to consider is what might happen to you should the Chiefs decide you are not among the “right 53?” Could your stint with the Chiefs be the last of your NFL career because Scott Pioli leads the rest of leagues GMs to believe you are, for whatever reason, a problem player? Oh and don’t kid yourself, players do talk to other players around the league and find out what it’s like to play for the Chiefs.

This is the kind of stuff that worries the heck out of me about the direction of this team and it’s ability to attract talent. And don’t tell me we don’t need to attract talent because at this point you would be hard pressed to show me many, if any at all, examples of talent being developed organically from the current roster (which in and of itself raises a whole other concern about the quality of our coaching).

The turn arounds by Miami and Atlanta last season have wet our appetites for success. While I believe these teams are an anomoly in the NFL, they have left us questioning, even subconsciously, why not us. Wondering if the changes have been made for the sake of change and nothing else as these changes have not yet transferred to wins.

I listened to the Herm interview and I came away with a different meaning. To me Herm wasn’t helping Pollard overcome a blackball stigma perpetrated by the Chiefs, but hesitancy by other teams because Pollard was released by a 2-14 team; i.e. if he’s not good enough for them why would we want him kind of thing.

Herm also stated that at one point he was deemed “uncoachable” and was in a sense blackballed by NFL scouts. I just don’t see anything sinister here like that.

Pollard may have been our Defensive MVP last year, but that was on a team with 11 total sack for the season. A team performing at or near the bottom of the NFL. In a sense, he might have been the best of the worst. Now that he is gone are we to recall his efforts with rose colored glasses? He wasn’t a fit the management wan’t to try and make work. With so much to fix already, why have to spend even more effort to work in a noisy, hit and miss player?

I suspect the last thing Pioli wants to see happen is having his reputation for genius be tarnished in any way. If I were the GM of another team that banked on Pioli’s opinion in such cases, I would be very tempted to take a hard look at out-of-work former Chiefs right about now.

Lastly, those of you accusing me of having it in for Pioli are dead wrong. I was in love with this hire. Now that I understand how Pollard was handled, I am left feeling regretful of giving that support blindly and overall quite jaded about the style and motives of this new regime.

Haley won’t talk about his conversations with his players, won’t talk about players on other teams, won’t talk about former players; but the front office part of the team is back there talking trash about Pollard?

Now all of a sudden, Herm Edwards “vouching” for a released player is news? It all seems a bit contrived and intentionally salascious.