Each week we go Inside the Enemy Camp with the FanSided editor who covers the Chiefs’ next opponent. This week we sat down with Clint Starks of The Viking Age.

TVA is an awesome Vikings blog and has been getting it done for the FanSided Network for some time now. Be sure to head on over there to find out what is going on from the Vikings perspective.

Now, let’s go Inside the Enemy Camp with Clint Starks and The Viking Age!

There is the obvious Vikings-Chiefs Jared Allen storyline going into this game. How has Mr. Mullet been performing so far this season?

The Love Number has been excellent. He came into the season saying he thought he was back and he thought this team was going to be pretty good. Jared Allen has delivered on his end when a few Vikings have not (read: Donovan McNabb). For instance, not a soul had touched Matt Stafford coming into the Lions game this last week. Allen changed all of that recording 3 sacks and applying pressure for most of the afternoon. Jared did all he could to not let the win slip away last week but alas he was not able to play QB. By and large I think we are expecting big things from him this Sunday against the Chiefs.

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WARNING: This post ends with a bad rap parody.

It’s hard to believe, maybe, that this week marks the four-year anniversary of the debut of HBO’s Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, to celebrate,* the NFL Network broadcast a HK:TCWTKCC marathon yesterday. For one day, it was August 2007 all over again, and the whole gang was there: Herm Edwards, of course, and Gunther “%&#^@!” Cunningham, along with the stars of the show: Turk and Tank. Boomer Grigsby. The Croyles (mostly Kelli). And poor, poor Bobby Sippio.

*”To celebrate” is one way to put it. “To kill six dead hours in the middle of a Monday” is another.

It can also be hard to remember that, at the time, things didn’t look so bad. There was hope. We were coming off a 2006 season in which the Chiefs—though some of you, I’m sure, got “this thing twisted and think we backed into this deal”—were a playoff team, with an All-Pro running back that had just lead the league in carries and finished second in yards. Meanwhile, All-World tight end Tony Gonzalez had been signed to a five-year extension. And now, HBO was reviving its acclaimed NFL training-camp reality series and wanted to feature the Chiefs and only the Chiefs—and had been spending the whole summer hyping it.

No, we didn’t know at that moment just how hard we would all be knocked over the next three years. As late as that Halloween, it still seemed like we would continue to have something to root for. First, there were those 24 unanswered second-half points in San Diego to erase a double-digit halftime deficit. Then, in a very sloppy game in Oakland, the Chiefs outlasted the Raiders to prevail 12-10, securing a 4-3 record and, heading into their bye week, first place in the AFC West. That was October 21, 2007.

The Chiefs would not win again until September 28, 2008. They would lose 12 games in a row and 28 of their next 30, getting outscored 808-499 during that stretch—though the close, late-game losses would be the most pathetic and painful.

(You know, just in case you didn’t remember all that.)

But the point is that now, four years later, though we may whine and moan about our young Chiefs’ growing pains, we also have much to cheer. Which means it’s time for another parody.

So with all apologies* to Jaz-Z for hijacking his original (and to Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, who co-wrote the original original), please enjoy, if possible. Just don’t ask me to perform it for you.

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As much as I want to, I figured you guys probably didn’t want to listen to me rant about the CBA again this week.  And since the “7 holy days” agreement is reasonably promising, it seems fair to spare the billionaire tyrants my wrath for a day.

Like many of you, I’m starting to lick my chops in anticipation of the upcoming draft.  But I’m no Mel Kiper.  The way I handle the draft is to become extremely attached to a handful of players based on dubious logic and snap-judgements.  There are usually about ten guys I really want, and ten guys I really don’t, and we don’t pick any of them.  It’s a personal roller-coaster that I have a really good time with, but I’m under no illusions that I’m actually able to accurately judge between one prospect and the next.  I can get the obvious stuff right, thats about it.  For expert draft coverage, go to Merlin and Adam, or as I all them, Merl Kiper and Toren McShay (right?).

Draft season always makes me think of our past drafts.  I’m somewhat of a Chiefs draft historian.  I might not be able to predict who we pick, but I can sure as hell remember them.  Name a year, name a round, and I can tell you who we picked.  A fairly worthless skill, big picture.  It turns out people aren’t really interested in when Montique Sharpe and Willie Pile were drafted*.  It is only during draft season, when mentally compiling charts of our previous years’ picks and tendencies, that my memorization becomes at all usefull.

*7th round 2003. We had 2 seventh rounders that year. Cha-ching!

I thought this week I’d consult my mental database and see who checks in as our best picks of the last ten years.  Of course this is all subjective.  But the common perception is that the Chiefs have been terrible drafters for most of the last decade.  And thats true, pretty much.  I’ve been saying for years you could staff a Burger King with our defensive tackle busts (Downing would be manager).  But there have been some pretty great picks in there too.  Here are the ten I’ve deeemed best:

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Four weeks after the Kansas City Chiefs played their last game, the 2010 NFL season is finally, officially over. Super Bowl XLV* has come and gone, and though it wasn’t mentioned during the broadcast, you probably, at one point or another, noticed that the Chiefs weren’t in it.

*As a friend tweeted Sunday night, “Why not just VL?”

But so what? Yesterday formally marked the first day of the 2011 campaign. Bodog.com has already set the opening odds, and the Chiefs are a 35-to-one shot to get to Super Bowl XLVI and win it all. Not quite as sure a bet as, say, the Packers (seven-to-one) or Patriots (15-to-two), but to quote the distinguished Canadian-American actor Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber: “So…you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance!”

With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to see just how optimistic I could be (while testing my knowledge of Roman numerals). So, without further ado and in no particular order, here are XLVI reasons why next year could be the year…
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Source: Yardbarker.com

When the Kansas City Chiefs traded All Pro Defensive End Jared Allen to the Minnesota Vikings prior to the 2008 draft, I was furious. I have never liked the idea of giving up productive, proven players for draft picks and prospects. The NFL Draft is a crap shoot and you never know what you are going to get, whether you are picking first or seventy first.

The deal was made to unload Allen before he had the chance to unload Kansas City. Allen hated then Chiefs GM Carl Peterson and he was unlikely to hang around once his contract was up. I was of the opinion that the Chiefs should shit-can Peterson and re-sign Allen but back then my opinion didn’t count. Now that I run AA, however, Pioli has me on speed dial. =)

Three years later, Carl Peterson is long gone and Scott Pioli is set to either reap the rewards of one of “King” Carl’s last big moves or clean up Carl’s last blunder.

Chiefs fans are hoping for the latter.

More after the jump.

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Source: Yardbarker.com

If it is possible, having a mullet just got a little less cool.

Former Chief turned Minnesota Viking, Jared Allen, cut off his mullet for love. From ESPN.com:

The Minnesota Vikings‘ star defensive end, known as much for his hairstyle as well as his ability to get to the opposing team’s quarterback, lost his mullet as he gets ready for his upcoming wedding next month.

“The things men do for love,” Allen told Vikings.com.

Allen, who often says his mullet is a “lifestyle” has capitalized on the popularity of his hairstyle, selling “Mullet Militia” T-shirts and including a “mullet generator” on his iPhone app, where users can try out the “lifestyle” for themselves.

There has been a lot of unwarranted criticism of Scott Pioli’s pick of Tyson Jackson. Many have called him a reach and a bust.

First,  I want to address this idea of a draft pick being a reach. I think it is baloney. Of course, you can reach, as the Raiders did by taking DHB over Michael Crabtree, but let us forget about draft position for a moment. You know as well as I do, that players can be busts or gems no matter where they are taken. For instance, if the Chiefs had taken Jared Allen in the first round, the pundits would have raked them over the coals. Today, they would be calling them brilliant.

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The Minnesota Vikings are still trying to sell the remainder of their playoff tickets for this weekend’s game and they have resorted to begging. They have not hosted a game since 2000 and are still finding it hard to fill up the seats. So they have brought in Jared Allen to beg Vikings fans to spend their Christmas money to come watch the Vikes. I find it somewhat amusing that a multi-millionaire is asking people to spend their Christmas money. You can watch Jared beg here.

Here is my question to you:

Would Jared ever have to beg Chiefs fans to buy home playoff tickets?

Tyler Thigpen can go out there and play like Drew Brees and we can rush for 100 yards, score 27 points and still lose. The common denominator? Herm Freaking Edwards. Harm Edwards.

My question to you, fellow Chiefs fans, is how much Harm is enough? How long must we deal with Herm wrecking our team and tunneling it further into the ground before we storm the castle?

He’s taken two teams, year-in, year-out playoff participants and gone nowhere but downhill with them.

In KC he took a team with one of the most prolific offenses in the league and turned it into a Pop Warner squad. The Chiefs the last several years have sort of resembled the last two Presidents- (Obama and Bush) a tale of two extremes. Dick’s Team was all offense and no defense, we’ll call his Bush for argument’s sake. Now, I wish I could say Herm “fixed” our defense, gave us a mediocre offense and brought us to the Obama term and Arrowhead glory of the early 90′s: but we have no offense AND no defense; while we still have some offensive stars, their play has been, well…offensive. We can’t seem to find the middle.

Herm’s defensive expertise, which he is given waaaay too much credit for- has given us a worse defense than we had during the Vermeil years. This year we are last in rushing yards allowed by 17 percent. It’s an embarrassment and there’s no way to explain why Harm Edwards still has a job. Unless of course you are Carl’s homie and you work at One Arrowhead Drive, where the “Rebuilding Umbrella” shields you from those heavy downpours of criticism, keeping you warm and dry from the storm.

Fuel to the fire

Herm has been good at squeaking into the playoffs with Bill Parcells and Dick Vermeil teams, at 10-6, 9-7 and then 6-10. He runs RBs like Curtis Martin and Larry Johnson into the ground and can’t protect his QBs. He had to bring Vinny Testaverde out of retirement due to injuries, got Trent Green killed, hurt Damon that year, now Brodie and Damon again. LJ was leading the league in rushing ’til he jumped the shark or we would have been down the same road again. If we had beat the Raiders, we’d be contending for the top seed of the AFC West with two wins! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Having Herm Edwards as the coach of your football team needs to be part two of that definition. All roads lead to mediocrity.

Oh yeah and we are 1-17. ONE AND SEVENTEEN! Going back to last season’s losing streak of 9 games.

Miami won one game last year, and look what Parcells/Sparano has done with them. Contending for their division, playoff bound- with Herm’s cast-off QB Chad Pennington! Rams, Falcons and Dolphins OH MY! All out-coaching and outperforming the Germ. Please, by all means defend Herm, but I challenge you to do it without the statement of “give him more time.”

• Are we seeing some improvement from young players? Yes, albeit, a little bit- absolutely. Isn’t that to be expected, at least a little bit?
• Are we still finding ways to lose games under Herm? More than we should.
• Was Brodie Croyle a mistake? Of course he was, it was obvious from the get-go.
  
• Was LJ’s contract a mistake? That’s looking like a yes- but don’t count him out.
  
• Letting Jared Allen go? I think we all know we had to.
• Not letting Tony Gonzalez walk? A mistake if we are truly rebuilding.

Finally, this question is for the fans to answer…

Addicts, how much time do we give Harm Edwards despite the Rebuilding Umbrella and other excuses?

Jared Allen sent a text message Saturday night to Tony Gonzalez, his good friend and old teammate from the Kansas City Chiefs. The word is, Gonzalez wants to be traded and the Chiefs are open to making that happen. Anyway, about that text message. Allen sent it after getting wind of the trade rumors.

“I said, ‘You want to get traded, man?’ ” Allen said he wrote in his text message to Gonzalez. “I was joking with him. I said, ‘Why don’t you come join me in Minnesota?’

The two teams have shown that they can get a deal done before, so you never know. Stay tuned, as we’ll be watching the Tony G situation like a hawk over the next 48 hours or so.

2008 has been the year of the nickname so far.

People love nicknames.  You know who doesn’t love nicknames?  Your mom and the NFL.

Chad Johnson going the hilarious “top that” extra mile of legally changing his name to Chad Ocho Cinco; the latest transgression that makes NFL commish Roger Goodell reach for the Advil. But hey, at least Ocho isn’t getting arrested daily like the rest of his Bengal brethren right? Either way, he has managed to be a burr in Goodell’s ass and raise interesting legal questions in the process.

It would be good for the NFL in spirit to lighten things up a bit. In an age of Fantasy Football, ludicrous contracts and stadium naming rights being sold to foreign firms; its nice to get a sideshow and entertainment to make us smile or wince. That being said, the NFL needs to make a policy before a bad precedent is set for future prima donna WR’s like KC’s own Dwayne Bowe aka Mr. Awesome.

The league has been cheapened enough by Spygate, Pacman arrests, and Bryant Gumbel doing games on the NFL Network. Do we, the fans, want headlines like these? The NFL absolutely does not.

• Mr. Awesome Tops Ocho Cinco
• Barbarian Slaughters Eagles with 5 TD’s
• Beast Mode Rampages in New York
• Megatron Transforms Lions’ Offense
• Pacman Gobbles Up Interceptions
  

The No Fun League has “you know what” blocked Cinco’s (?) latest antic by saying he’s financially obligated to Reebok to the tune of $500K to buy all the old jerseys with C. Johnson on the back. Nice try No Fun League, but that is a horribly transparent and pathetic argument. Does Jared Allen have to buy all the old red 69 jerseys?

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, “(Cinco) has a financial obligation to Reebok, which produces the jerseys available to fans. That has to be resolved before the on-field jersey can be changed.”

(cough cough…”Bullshit!” cough cough)

“The same obligation exists for any player that changes his number or name,” Aiello said with his fingers crossed.

So, Roy Williams in Dallas was charged for changing his number? Farve isn’t buying all his old Green Bay jerseys, bet. Is the NFL going to bill Devin Hester for old “23″ jerseys when they make him change his number as per the rulebook?

Of course this all could be a smokescreen stall tactic for more production time of the Ocho Cinco jerseys in some factory in China because they are back-ordered already. Plus, if the jersey being worthless because of the name on the back is the issue, why not sew on an “Ocho Cinco” nameplate on the existing jerseys? Their argument has more holes than Raider defense.

Ocho Cinco should trademark the name Ocho Cinco and sue the NFL for $500k. When they finally allow him to go by his new name, then, buy all the old Johnson jerseys with that money, change them, and exchange them for fans who bought Johnson jerseys this year; and give the leftovers to the Salvation Army. I’m sure there are some kids in Cincy that will rock any Bengals jersey.

Reebok is in the midst of a 10-year, $250 million licensing agreement with the NFL which is what all this pushback from the NFL stems from. They can’t have Mr. Awesome and the rest of the nicknamed millionaires throwing their cash cow jersey system into upheaval. The NFL with Reebok need to wake up and realize they are sitting on a goldmine. They could have an entire line of signature “nickname jerseys” like the one pictured above. I’ll be expecting a bird-dog fee on them Reebok. By the way, since when are players responsible for bailing out apparel makers? Players get traded, retire and change numbers all the time. (See Michael Jordan #45.) Last time I checked, its risky to put any product in the marketplace.

Anyone with even just a few critical thinking skills can deduce from the “no celebrations” rule and now Ocho Cinco’s antics that the league does not want young black wide receivers and their antics to be the face of the league or the top story in the sports page on Monday. Is the NFL going to make up the rules as they go along and snub the laws of the United States?

NFL, this is karma for you. This is payback for the “no celebration” rule. If you take all the fun out of the circus the clowns are going to find a way to get your attention, even if you hate them.

A lot of people hate Chad Ocho Cinco, and other brash WR’s of their ilk. Mostly, those people fall into a few categories. They are either closet racists, or Mormons. The touchdown dance is as American as apple pie and the gamesmanship that goes on should be allowed for $100 bucks a ticket. T.O. went to the ground in a starting-block homage to Usain Bolt, and was promptly flagged. Apparently you can’t go to the ground in celebration anymore either.

This isn’t about Chad Cinco, or T.O. or Mr. Awesome, TD dances or jerseys. It’s about the Almighty NFL wanting to control its image, please its corporate bedmates, and keep its iron fist drew back; ready to strike. Does this keep the NFL from becoming the NBA or is it inevitable that the proverbial inmates will eventually run the asylum? (please don’t read too much into that reference) The fans should speak up and say if a player cannot change his name, then the league has to stop renaming our stadiums.

We are about to get the answer to the following questions. Has it come to this?

Has the NFL become so powerful that it trumps the law?

As reported earlier Thursday, Minnesota Vikings and former Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen did not travel with the Vikings on Thursday for the teams’ joint practice in River Falls, Wis.

According to Vikings coach Brad Childress, that could very well be the case. From the Access Vikings:

Today’s main Vikings story — at least the one that didn’t focus on Brett Favre — was all about Jared Allen’s return to see his Kansas City Chiefs teammates during tonight’s joint practice in River Falls, Wis.

Seemed like a good story idea. Doesn’t seem so good now. There appears a very good chance that Allen will be among the veterans who won’t be making the trip from Mankato. In Brad Childress’ defense, he tried to warn reporters following the afternoon practice on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if they will see him,” Childress said when asked about Allen being able to visit with his ex-teammates. “I’m going to be selective in the guys that need to compete over there because I want to look at as many young guys as I can.”

Looks like the highly anticipated Branden Albert-Jared Allen showdown might not go down. Shucks! That would blow for all of us Chiefs fans.

Jared also had a few things to say about his former team.

He definitely gave the young Chiefs players some locker room material. All I know is that the Vikings didn’t put a “whoopin” on us last season, training camp or regular season, and we were a 4-12 team. Jared’s last sentence here makes me think he was more about the money then most of us realize. “Now look where I’m at,” sounds like he is sitting on his millions having a good ole’ time.

(No Hard Knocks this season)

Friday, July 25: Begin training camp

(Starts two days earlier than last season, what does this mean? I have no idea.)

Thursday, July 31: Practice with Minnesota, River Falls

(I bet Jared Allen is buying the meal for his former teammates)

Saturday, Aug. 2: Family Fun Night

(Are you going to River Falls?)

Thursday, Aug. 7: Chiefs at Chicago, 7 p.m.

(Meet Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert)

Friday, Aug. 15: Break training camp

(Hopefully, the Chiefs will be arrest free at this point in the offseason)

Saturday, Aug. 16: Chiefs vs. Arizona, 7 p.m.

(I am thinking about attending this game with a new Glenn Dorsey jersey)

Saturday, Aug. 23: Chiefs at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

(This is always the best preseason game)

Thursday, Aug. 28: Chiefs vs. St. Louis, 7 p.m.

(Trent Green getting his last shot at Arrowhead)

I am more excited about this preseason than the last few. Most of the time, we are trying to see who will win a few starting spots or who will be a good back-up. This season we will get to see a bunch of young guys fighting for almost every spot on the team, and that excites me! There will be around seven spots on offense potentially up for grabs, and about the same number on the defensive side of the ball. I love competition and I think it will help build a young team. Continue the discussion at our forums…

• 2008 Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp Dates Set – KC Chiefs
• Training Camp Link – University Wisconsin-River Falls

Jared Allen’s Sports Arena & Grill closed Wednesday, less than two weeks after working partner Chuck Tabor said he would stick with it and try to make it work.

Tabor and Allen could not be reached for comment Thursday. However, workers were tying up loose ends at the operation.

“Business was down, and the name wasn’t helping us any,” said Jose Alvarez, an employee who was in charge on Thursday. “The bills were behind and stacking up, so they decided to close it.”

All of this made me think of one great band that made one great song….

Closing time – time for you to go out, go out into the world Minnesota cold.
Closing time – turn the lights up out over every boy and every girl Chiefs fan.
Closing time – one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer Odoul’s.
Closing time – you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay HERE!

Yes, I know I went there with Semisonic. The one-hit wonder with the tune bad D.J.s typically end the night with. Corny? Yes, but the one thing I want to make clear was that if you leave K.C., you leave the fans, too. Good luck with a new restaurant…

Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
Cause I speak of the pompitus of love.
People talk about me, baby
Say I’m doin’ you wrong, doin’ you wrong
Well, don’t you worry baby
Don’t worry cause I’m right here, right here, right here,
right here at home

Cause I’m a picker
I’m a grinner
I’m a lover
And I’m a sinner
I play my music in the sun.
I’m a joker
I’m a smoker
I’m a midnight toker
I get my loving on the run… wooo woooo… – Steve Miller’s “The Joker”

Whether it was because he was the Space Cowboy off the field, or the Gangster of Love on it, Chiefs fans cherished Jared Allen. When he got his DUIs, a lot of people did worry and, myself included, said that he had done us wrong and didn’t deserve his big raise. Such raises were instead reserved for star players like Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzalez, players who had performed well on the field and off of it. But somehow he soothed our worries, got his suspension cut in half and convinced us that he was a Chief-for-life reborn, despite earlier comments to the contrary.

And that was just for those of us who were skeptical. Most fans already had taken the bait–hook line and sinker. But eventually we all did.

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Breaking news from NFL.com–the Chiefs have sent Jared Allen to the Vikings. I’m actually quite happy with the two third rounders we got in addition to the No. 17 pick. By my calculations we now have six picks in the top 100, three in the top 40 and more trade value chart points than any other team out there. The draft now rolls through Kansas City. This is just crazy…

The Kansas Chiefs have agreed to trade Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen to the Minnseota Vikings, reports NFL Network’s Adam Schefter.

The Chiefs will receive Minnesota’s first- (17th overall) and both of its third-round picks (73rd and 82nd) as compensation. Kansas City has been looking to acquire additional draft picks in an attempt to speed up coach Herm Edwards’ rebuilding project for a team that lost its last nine games in 2007 and finished 4-12.

The Vikings also agreed on a new contract with Allen, which will be finalized Wednesday. Allen flew to Minnesota on Tuesday night in anticipation of Wednesday’s events.

From Pro Football Talk:

The Chiefs will now add the No. 17, No. 73, and No. 82 overall selections to the No. 5, No. 35, and No. 66 picks, giving them six selections among the first 100 picks…

More PFT:

In addition to the three 2008 draft picks that the Minnesota Vikings gave up in order to acquire the rights to defensive end Jared Allen, the Vikes have made defensive end Jared Allen the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.

Per Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com, Allen will get a six-year, $74 million deal, with $31 million in guaranteed money.

Actually, the guarantee is $31,000,069. That’s right . . . “Wine ‘em, dine ‘em, 69 ‘em.”

We’ll be breaking this down all week, folks. For now, it’s still a bit of a shocker. I wasn’t expecting this until later in the week, personally. Stay tuned!

Likely soon-to-be ex-Chiefs star Jared Allen is still in Minnesota negotiating with the Vikings. Tonight from the Star Tribune:

Jared Allen continued his visit with the Vikings on Saturday afternoon at Winter Park as the team worked both to reach an agreement on a multiyear contract with the Pro Bowl defensive end as well as a trade that would send draft picks to the Kansas City Chiefs…

The Vikings have offered Kansas City their first-round pick (No. 17 overall) in next weekend’s NFL draft as well as one of their two third-round selections. Those picks fall at No. 73 and No. 82 overall, with the first one having been acquired in a trade last year with the Denver Broncos.

Carl Peterson, who serves as Chiefs president, chief executive officer and general manager, is known in league circles as an extremely tough negotiator and could be looking for a better compensation package.

The rebuilding Chiefs, coming off a 4-12 season, would have five of the first 73 picks in the draft if they obtained the Vikings’ top pick as well as their first selection in round three. The Buccaneers reportedly are willing to part with their first-round pick, but that might not be as attractive to the Chiefs because it comes three picks after the Vikings’ selection.

We’ll keep you posted!

(hat tip: Enrage over at Vikings’ forum at Football’s Future via The Daily Norseman)

There have been three previous installments of “The Blueprint” and throughout the series there has been one constant–the Chiefs can’t trade. This seemed to cause considerable grumbling amongst the fanatical Jake-Long-or-trade-down crowd, but with Jared Allen now almost guaranteed to be shipped prior to the draft the only stipulation for “The Blueprint 4” is that I have to explore trades with plausible partners. I’ll do so using a little bit of common sense, realism, rumors and the draft trade chart. The beauty of this edition is that my main theory still applies here, especially since we will now likely have two first rounders to address major needs. That theory: never reach when drafting in the top ten. Ever. EVER!

Before I get started, when we whipped up this image we thought that the wheeling-and-dealing Jerry Jones and his Cowboys would be the ones to shake up the draft with the team’s two first-round picks. Now, with Allen all but guaranteed to be moved it looks like the Chiefs might shake up the draft more than any other NFL squad.

Here are nine teams I have tabbed as potential trade partners: the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Bucaneers. Bloggers from many of these ballclubs will be dropping in with their POV on the situation. From where I’m sitting all of the above-mentioned teams could and might pull off a trade, even after contemplating the considerable costs.

Prior to getting into the hypothetical trade scenarios, I want to rap about the Jared situation a little bit. Chiefs fans seem to be heartbroken over this, but I say screw Jared. That’s right–eff Jared Allen and the horse he rode in on.

Now, I’m not going to defend Carl Peterson‘s overall performance as GM–he should have been canned. But I will defend him when it comes to Jared Allen. No GM in his right mind would have given the One Man Gang a contract after he was racking up DUIs like sacks and driving as recklessly off the field as he plays on it. Not one. He had no reason to gripe last year at all, well, maybe about the taste of O’Douls, but not about his contract. When he said he wanted Dwight Freeney money after the DUIs, I honestly laughed out loud. But, he came in, cleaned up his act and had the best season of any defensive end in football.

That being said, it was one year and he was playing for a contract. Who knows if Jared will fly straight for good. After all, his track record of getting in trouble is pretty extensive, dating back to his wild college days at Idaho. What really chaps my ass is despite all his off-the-field issues, Chiefs fans have embraced him more than any other player. Yes, even more than Tony G. (I think J.A. is just more of a K.C. good ol’ boy-type guy). This is how he repays us? I mean, the Chiefs franchised him and gave him Dwight Freeney money even though he is being an absolute pain in the ass to negotiate with. The key to the city, NFL superstar dough, the adulation of the NFL’s best fans–what the hell more does this guy want? He scoffs at all of this and flies off to try and get something done with Zygi Wilf and the Vikes. To hell with you, No. 69. You should be honored by what Kansas City has given you, not disrespecting our gracious hospitality, brother.

The other thing that annoys me is Chiefs fans getting pissed at Carl for the Jared negotiations when they had Carl’s back during the Larry Johnson negotiations. That makes no sense at all, and it is evident you fans are Jared apologists/L.J. haters. Despite what one research-deficient Chiefs fans stated in the comments, L.J.started his career off with the most brilliant first two-and-a-half seasons a running back has ever enjoyed. You can count on one hand the RBs who have enjoyed back-to-back seasons of 2,000-plus all-purpose yards and 19-plus touchdowns, let alone those who started their careers in such prolific fashion. The guy didn’t have one great season, he had two outstanding seasons and two outstanding half-seasons. Plus, he only had one minor off the field incident and didn’t get in any legal or NFL trouble for it. He had all the leverage with Carl, and he deserved every cent he got. Jared’s been great, but not quite as good as L.J. so far in his career. Also, Jared got in major trouble off the field. Carl’s played it right, and Jared shouldn’t have ever had any leverage.

I think we have to move Jared. We’re rebuilding and he doesn’t want to be here, all of that’s obvious, so I say we move him now. His value will never be higher. I doubt he will ever win another sack title, he’s only 26 and who knows if he will ever fall of the wagon and start boozing like Lindsey Lohan on a bender again. He is our most valuable trading chip considering that L.J. is contractually unmovable. I honestly think we have to get a first this year and a second next and move on. If we could score a player like Bryant McKinnie or Lito Sheppard along with a first, then I’d probably let a third or fourth rounder substitute for that second.

Here we go after the jump…

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Jared Allen’s days with the Chiefs appear to be numbered.

Allen, the NFL’s reigning sack leader, told FOXSports.com that the Vikings and Buccaneers have held trade talks with the Chiefs and he anticipates a deal will get done prior to next week’s draft.

“It’s a situation that works out best for both sides,” Allen told FOXSports.com. “I can go to a team that is competing for a championship right now. The Chiefs can get valuable draft picks to rebuild with.”

Allen said he is flying to Minnesota and has a visit set up with the Vikings by this weekend. He is tentatively scheduled to meet with Tampa Bay next week. The Jacksonville Jaguars had previously inquired with Allen’s camp as well.

The Pro Bowl defensive end is the Chiefs’ franchise player, but re-signing in Kansas City will be a problem as the team is looking to stockpile draft picks.

Allen said the two sticking points are working out terms of a deal with a new team and the Chiefs agreeing to compensation for a trade. A package of first- and second-round picks or one of first- and third-round picks in the upcoming draft have been discussed as possible terms. It’s unclear at this point what it will take to get the deal done.

This tells me that Carl Peterson is impossible to work with. He has failed all offseason to have guys he targeted to even visit Kansas City. Agents and players are sick of dealing with a man that has been in power for 20 years. Trading a guy like Jared Allen makes zero sense to me, but Adam I know feels a bit different about the situation. I just feel that tells me that no one in the NFL wants to work with this egomaniac and it is time for him to go (too bad this probably won’t happen until he steps down, which is basically like pulling an Al Davis)!

Thanks to bfett81

Eagles | Samuel expected to sign soon
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:19:56 -0800

Updating a previous report, John Clayton, of ESPN.com, reports the Philadelphia Eagles are expected to sign unrestricted free-agent CB Asante Samuel (Patriots) soon. The deal is expected to be more than five years and $47.2 million.

(hat tip: Inside the Iggles)

That’s a lot to get back in a trade. While it would definitely sting, his value couldn’t be any higher and he might just not want to play for King Carl‘s Chiefs any longer. This might be what we have to do. Nothing has been verified, so stay tuned…

2. Jared Allen will remain a Chief

I’m at a loss here. At first I thought, well, it’s because the Chiefs had a horrible season and Jared got in trouble. Then I remembered that Jason Taylor won the DPOY award last year, and Shawne Merriman placed as well. Remember, the Dolphins sucked and Merriman got suspended for steroids. So, now I really can’t make sense of all of this because it makes no sense. Usually, sacks are the defensive glamor statistic. Not this year, I suppose. Except for Mario Williams and Patrick Kerney, who received votes even though they finished behind Allen in the sack race.

Secondly, sure all those guys are good defensively. I’ll give them that. But can they go on TV and not only be informative and entertaining, but also look like a badass in a big, black cowboy hat? I don’t think so. Gotta love this video…

• “Harm” Edwards. (Sorry, but if you prematurely end Curtis Martin’s storied career by needlessly running him into the ground, you get no love here.) The Preacher, as he’s affectionately known by some, returns to the site of the crime, the Meadowlands, and to the team he jumped ship on in 2005 after having led it to a 4-12 record and into general disarray.

• The once-vaunted line has rapidly deteriorated (no more Will Shields or Willie Roaf), and after going through Larry Johnson, Priest Holmes and a cast of dozens, rookie Kolby Smith now leads the once-feared, now-anemic running attack, currently dead last in the NFL at 79.7 yards a game.

• Pro bowl end Jared Allen has been a monster this year, notching 14 sacks and 2 TDs while terrifying offensive lines around the AFC. (Note to D’Brick: Hold him if necessary!)

• The Chiefs special teams have been — to be kind — an absolute mess.

• Bottom line: If there are more than 5 points scored this week, it’ll be a shocker.

With a top five draft pick going to the loser, let’s hope the Jets are the team lucky enough to muster those paltry five points.

• “TJB Scout: Kansas City Chefs” – The Jets Blog

Then there’s Tony Gonzalez. What can you even say about Tony G that hasn’t already been said? This is his tenth Pro Bowl. Tenth! How many players can boast that same claim right now? All time. Congrats, Tony, you’re one of the few Chiefs players who always shows up, healthy or banged-up, win or lose. He even beat out Kellen Winslow for the honor, and that guy is having a helluva season. Tony might as well have a condo down there at this point. Thanks for another great season!

Our only real snub was Derrick Johnson, but all three of the guys picked ahead of him led their teams to playoff births. Next year, D.J., next year.

• AFC Pro Bowl Roster – ESPN