The Kansas City Chiefs will have a new head coach next season but it won’t be Scott Pioli’s buddy Kirk Ferentz.

The Iowa coach, believed by many to be at the top of Pioli’s wishlist to replace Todd Haley, has released a statement confirming that he intends to remain at Iowa.

Statement and more after the jump.

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The Kansas City Chiefs reached an agreement with fifth-round pick Ricky Stanzi on a four-year contract worth $2.2 million on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

From www.nationalfootballpost.com (share this quote)

Great to see the Chiefs getting their draft picks locked up. That makes two that we know of so far. We’ve also learned that 7th round pick Shane Bannon was signed.

I look for the Chiefs to try to get everyone signed today so they can practice at camp tomorrow. Let’s hope.

The Brodie Croyle era appears to mercifully be coming to an end as the Kansas City Chiefs have drafted QB Ricky Stanzi out of Iowa.

The Chiefs realized how poor their QB depth was when Matt Cassel was suddenly taken out of action by an emergency appendectomy. Backup Brodie Croyle was forced to start in Cassel’s stead and was absolutely terrible in a loss to the San Diego Chargers.

The Chiefs spent a lot of time this offseason looking at QB options so it comes as no surprise that Stanzi is the pick here.

NFL Draft Scout lists Stanzi as the 8th best QB in the draft. He weighs in at 223 and stands at 6-4. He was projected as a 3rd or 4th round pick so the Chiefs got some nice value here in the early 5th.

We will have plenty on the Chiefs new QB but for now, what are your initial reactions?

Source: thenationalfootballreport.com

Wes Bungting, Director of College Scouting for the National Football Post is reporting that the Chiefs are interested in Iowa defensive lineman Christian Ballard.

Bunting via Twitter:

WesBunting Wesley Bunting

Hearing the #Chiefs really like #Iowa DL Christian Ballard, don’t know if it’s first round “like”, but wouldn’t surprise me. #NFLDRAFT

I’m not going to lie, Bunting’s tweet worries me. It should worry you, too.

The reasonable person will tell you not to trust anything you hear about a team’s interest in a particular player this time of year. Even if Scott Pioli himself, called a press conference and said exactly who he wanted to draft in the every round, it could all be a smoke screen.

Those reasonable folks I mentioned above are right. There is a lot of speculation this time of year and if you trust every tidbit of draft information you hear as fact, you’ll likely be surprised come April. That being said, you should absolutely feel uneasy when people start telling you inside sources are telling them that your team likes a guy enough to seriously reach for him.

That is what is happening with this Bunting report.

Ballard is a DE prospect and he is currently being projected as a second round pick. If the chiefs were to take Ballard at #21 it would be considered a tremendous reach.

I say you should worry for one reason.

I remember Tyson Jackson.

In fact, if  I hear any more about this rumor I very well may organize a letter writing campaign across Chiefs Nation. We can all send Scott Pioli emails and letters that simply say:

Remember Tyson Jackson.

It’s like the Alamo but the carnage is way worse.

More panic ridden analysis from an overworked, underpaid and bored blogger, after the jump.

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