Dwayne Bowe Trade Rumors: Should Hunt Fire Pioli Before He Does Something Stupid?

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Yesterday there was a flurry of activity in Chiefs Nation when Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports mentioned that he thought it was plausible that the Kansas City Chiefs were in trade talks with WR Dwayne Bowe.

Apparently the whole thing started when an ESPN Insider article was posted suggesting that the Dolphins and Chiefs were talking trade. As I am sure you know, ESPN Insider is the biggest helping of bullshit available for consumption on ESPN.com and that includes the incessant Tim Tebow coverage. That portion of the site is designed to trick poor sports fans into shelling out a few bucks to read speculation they can get elsewhere on the internet for free. It’s garbage. But since it comes from ESPN, it is immediately lent some credibility.

So Cole gets asked about the whole thing and says he thinks it is plausible and a shit-storm of Tweets and articles start flying.

We still don’t know if there is a kernel of truth to all this. Cole clarified he was not reporting anything so all we’re left with here is the word of ESPN Insider. Unfortunately, there is no way to know if they actually heard something concrete or were just making stuff up.

Whether the situation is true or not really doesn’t matter. The trade deadline is October 30th so we’ll find out soon enough.

But should we have to?

This entire situation brings up an interesting question. Most folk seem to think that Chiefs GM Scott Pioli’s seat is very, very hot. There has even been some speculation that he could be fired this week. I’m not sure that is going to happen but you have to believe that if the Chiefs continue to lose that Clark Hunt will want to make a move. In fact, it is possible that Hunt has already decided to replace Pioli but wants to have his replacement lined up before he cuts the cord.

The problem is that unless he is told otherwise by Hunt, Pioli is going to keep doing his job as if he is coming back next season. That means if Pioli really does think trading Bowe is a good idea, he could pull the trigger and move the WR at some point in the next two weeks.

How angry do you think Chiefs fans would be if Pioli traded away one of the team’s best offensive players for a 2nd or 3rd round pick and was then fired a week later? Or even at the end of the season?

Bowe is a valuable asset to the Chiefs and they can’t afford to let an outgoing GM decide his fate. If Hunt is considering, even a little bit, firing Pioli at some point this year, at the very least he needs to tell Pioli that he is forbidden from making any major trade deal.

The Chiefs still have plenty of options concerning Bowe. For one, the can still use the franchise tag on him again this offseason so Bowe isn’t going anywhere in 2013 unless the Chiefs say so. A new GM, if one is brought in, might value Bowe a heck of a lot more than Pioli, especially if that GM is going to be drafting a QB such as Geno Smith or Matt Barkley this offseason.

Cole reported that Bowe wants out of KC “badly” and I am sure he does but his attitude might change if  Hunt decides to bring in a new coach, QB, and a GM that wants to pay the WR.

I am sure Hunt is considering all this but if he isn’t, he needs to. Unless Hunt is absolutely committed to Pioli for, in my opinion, at least three more years, he has no business letting the GM trade away one of the team’s most productive players for an unknown quantity in the form of a draft pick.