The Morning Fix: Chiefs News From Around The Web

To many, including me, the Kansas City Chiefs seemed to be one of the best situations for Manning. They have a good, young receiving corps with Pro Bowl pick Dwayne Bowe, Jonathan Baldwin and Steve Breaston. A promising young tight end, Tony Moeaki, coupled with running back Jamaal Charles and a solid offensive line all looked inviting. Add in a defensive-minded head coach who would stay out of your way in a division that has been, well, let’s be respectful and just say that it is fluid. Yet with all this, the Chiefs couldn’t even get a call back. This has left the fan base wondering why general manager Scott Pioli whiffed in the process. Ripple!

REPLAY – The Buffalo Bills have made a proposal that would eliminate the on-field referee as part of the decision making on instant replay. The Bills want the decisions to be made by the booth official. Also, there has been a suggestion that the booth official review all turnovers. Currently, the booth reviews all touchdown plays.

OVERTIME – On a suggestion by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the overtime rule for the playoffs would go into effect for regular season games as well.

INJURED-RESERVE LIST – A change has been suggested where the team can designate a player to go to the injured-reserve list at the start of the season and be able to restore him to the active roster for the eighth game of the regular season. Currently, a player that goes on IR in camp is done for the season.

Replacement: Stanford Routt

The Skinny: Routt was given a huge contract by the Raiders last year, then flopped and was released. That was an Al Davis move. The new regime decided he wasn’t worth the money. The Chiefs signed him with the anticipation they might lose Carr. Routt can be a good man-cover player, but he wasn’t last season. Carr was. Routt isn’t the same type of player.

Grade the Replacement: C

But can he — or the Kansas City fanbase — be all that comfortable with not knowing why Manning declined to talk with him? Is it, as some speculated earlier, because of a conflict between Pioli and Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, or is it because, like in Miami, the biggest free agent in two decades simply didn’t believe in the franchise’s direction? Or is it because Manning doesn’t want anybody tapping into his phone?

The Kansas City Chiefs, with the No. 11 pick in the first round, sent the largest contingent to Iowa City, with general manager Scott Pioli, head coach Romeo Crennel, offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni, and scout Terry Delp. If Reiff is still on the board in the first round April 26, the Chiefs will likely pounce, but most mock drafts have the 6-foot-6, 300-pound native of Parkston, S.D., going four picks earlier to Jacksonville.

“One of the things about Iowa football is that the players who come here are well-coached,” Crennel said. “They’re technique-sound, they play hard, try hard, they’re competitive, and we know that. Last year there were a few more defensive (Hawkeyes) coming out, this year a few more offensive guys are coming out. We know that you’re going to get fundamentally-sound guys who are very competitive and who give you a good day’s work.”