Tonight at midnight the “official” NFL free agency period begins. For the past three days teams have been able to be “in contact” with players’ agents but no deals have been allowed to be signed. That all changes at the stroke of midnight tonight. Fans always want their team to go out and spend money on the highest profile players in hopes of landing a super star that will lead their team to a Super Bowl. That rarely if ever happens. The good teams use free agency to supplement their roster with solid players that fill gaps and provide depth. The teams that shell out huge pay days to a single player in free agency rarely get their money’s worth. With that in mind, I’ve come up with ten moves I’d like to see KC make in the coming days. There is no way that they will make all ten, but I think a combination of four or five of these could really help solidify the roster heading into the draft.

I’ll start with the offense.

1. Restructure Matt Cassel’s contract to be the backup QB.

I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but have you looked at the FA QB market? Jason Campbell, David Garrard, Rex Grossman, do any of these guys REALLY sound like better options to fill in for Alex Smith should he go down with an injury? It seems to me that Reid and Dorsey want to win games now. If that’s the case then you don’t want a mid to late round draft pick starting for you if your QB goes down. Cassel did well in NE and under Charlie Weis in KC when he had good coaching. He’s also a team first guy that would support Alex Smith. I think that under Andy Reid Cassel would be the best backup QB option available for KC. They can still draft a QB and he can compete with Stanzi for the #3 spot.

2. Sign RB LaRod Stephens-Howling from Arizona.

A lot of KC fans have talked about getting a new “thunder” to replace Peyton Hillis as the change of pace to Jamaal Charles’ “lightning”. However, Andy Reid doesn’t run the ball much so I’m just not sure a “thunder” is needed. Frankly, I’d rather they give the ball to JC on 3rd and short then some 240 lbs back up RB anyway. Stephens-Howling is only 26 years old, he’s quick, he catches the ball well, he plays special teams, he’s a good kick returner, he would be a perfect back up to JC, and best of all he will be relatively cheap in free agency. I say let him and Cyrus Gray compete for the 2nd string spot.

3. Sign WR David Nelson from Buffalo.

David Nelson is not a big name WR like Greg Jennings or Mike Wallace, but after giving Dwayne Bowe a huge payday the Chiefs can’t afford to pay another WR big FA dollars. Nelson is only 26 years old and was looking like an up and coming player before an ACL injury in week one last year ended his season. In 2011 he started 13 games and caught 61 passes for 658 yards and 5 TDs. He’s another big WR at 6’5″ and 214 lbs. The nice thing about Nelson is that he would push Jon Baldwin. If Baldwin responds and claims the #2 WR spot then Nelson could be the #3 WR, which would be fine since he shouldn’t command a lot of money. If Baldwin doesn’t step up then Nelson is good enough to step in and be the #2 behind Bowe. A lot of people are clamoring for a deep threat WR, but since Smith doesn’t have the strongest arm, I’m not sure KC could utilize that kind of player.

4. Sign TE Brandon Myers from Oakland.

Brandon Myers quietly caught 79 passes for 806 yards and 4 TDs for the Raiders last season. The 27 year old won’t be cheap, but also won’t command the huge contract that a big name would. Myers would push Moeaki as the first string TE. Myers isn’t a great blocker, but he isn’t a turn-style either. The TE position is going to take on an even greater importance with Andy Reid and Alex Smith at the helm of the offense. Both men have relied heavily on the TE as a safety valve. The Chiefs just can’t rely on Moeaki and his injury history. Plus, stealing one of the Raiders better offensive players makes this move all the better.

5. Sign C/G Evan Dietrich-Smith from Green Bay.

The 26 year old Dietrich-Smith has ties to new GM John Dorsey. He has versatility in that he could play at either center or guard. He has only started 9 games over the past two seasons so again he shouldn’t command a fat contract. Besides his connection to Dorsey, the other big plus is his ability to play all the interior line spots gives KC some options. If Hudson is slow to come back from his injury then he could start at center. If Hudson is ready to go then he could challenge Jeff Allen for a starting guard spot.

6. Sign RT Andre Smith from Cincinnati.

This is the one real big dollar free agent on my list. It’s probably the biggest long shot as well. Most people are assuming that the Chiefs cut Eric Winston to make room for the selection of an OT with the first overall pick. On a recent radio interview Winston said his release was a “philosophical thing”. Many have said that Reid likes a bigger and more physical offensive line. Andre Smith is a physically imposing 6’4″ 335 lbs (I’d wager he’s actually heavier then that listed weight). Smith and Albert would be a great pair of bookend tackles and would give KC the freedom back to do whatever they want with the first overall pick that they had before they released Winston.

Now on to the defense.

7. Re-sign Ropati Pitoitua.

This one seems like a no brainer to me. Pitoitua played well for KC last season and he has experience in the Jets 3-4 system that their new DC will be bringing to KC. I don’t know that Pitoitua should be a starter, but he’s a solid rotational player and should come with a cheap price tag. (Note: if recent reports of the Chiefs keeping Glenn Dorsey are true this move may not be needed.)

8. Sign DT/DE Desmond Bryant from Oakland.

Stealing another Raider, isn’t it great! Bryant might be the player I’d most like to see in KC on this list. He’s 26 years old, 6’6″ and 311 lbs, and has averaged 4.5 sacks over the past two seasons as an interior pass rusher. A defensive front of Bryant, Poe, and Jackson would be a very physically imposing one. Bryant would become the best interior pass rusher on the team and would possibly open Poe up for one on one blocking on passing downs. (Again, if Dorsey is re-signed this may not be feasible, but given the choice of Dorsey or Bryant I’d take Bryant hands down.)

9. Sign ILB Bart Scott from the Jets.

The Chiefs need a new starting ILB next to Derrick Johnson. Scott is getting up there in years and is a bit of a loud mouth. That sounds like a bad thing but it’s exactly why I want him in KC. Guys like DJ and Tamba Hali are both great lead by example guys but they aren’t much of a “rally the troops” vocal leader when the game is on the line. Scott would obviously know the Chiefs new 3-4 by heart and might give the talented KC defense the vocal leader they need to hold them accountable when things aren’t going well.

10. Sign FS Charles Woodson from Green Bay.

Another connection with GM John Dorsey from Green Bay. Woodson isn’t ready to retire yet, but may only have one or two seasons left in him. I love the idea of Woodson back there leading the Chiefs secondary. I REALLY love the idea of him mentoring Eric Berry. Woodson could play FS next year and then perhaps they could move the recently signed Dunta Robinson to FS after he retires.

There’s my list Addicts. What do you think? Who do you like? Who don’t you like? Who did I leave off the list? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and I look forward to see if any of these guys end up in KC starting tonight.

As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tradeoffs (sigh).

I haven’t seen the 2011 charting stat numbers yet, but I can tell you that in 2010, Stanford Routt, when paired up with Nmandi Asomugha, was a top shelf pass defender. Football Outsiders, for example, ranked him with the 3rd highest success rate, with 66% of passes defended. Carr ranked 10th in that department with 61% of passes defended. In fact, both scored better than Brandon Flowers, for what it’s worth. Also worth noting is that Routt only gave up 5.7 yards per pass to Carr’s 7.1 yd/pass. Given all that, I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to expect Routt’s production to parallel his 2010 situation playing alongside Flowers.

There are also rumors circulating in the media that Routt was somebody for whom Romeo Crennel actively lobbied. If true, I think that’s also pretty significant in terms of scheme fit. For a really well-written, compelling look into the player we’re getting in Stanford Routt, I recommend Doug Farrar’s (Yahoo! Sports) recent piece on him. Long story short, I personally feel this is a really good signing no matter how you slice it.

Now that Routt is inked, it seems that the popular assumption, or expectation if you will, is that all this means is that Pioli got himself a guy with skills very comparable to those of Carr for what we think could be 2 or 3 million less per year. Cynically put, Pioli avoided some unnecessary negotation stress by landing a comparable replacement for Carr who, oh by the way, just so happens to be cheaper to pay. Given that, one is then further tempted to think that the safe, conservative move now is to simply franchise Bowe and let Carr walk. CB dilemma solved, franchise tag dilemma solved, all good.

Well guess what? I’m going to go against the grain and offer an even better strategy. Scotty, I hope you’re reading this (I also hope that after reading this, you’ll finally start responding to those thousands of suggestion letters I’ve sent you dammit!).

Bowe, while inconsistent at times, has shown the potential to be a gamechanger. That’s worth something in the NFL. I think he can also be considered a foundational player for the Chiefs. Also worth something. Still, I believe that Bowe, rather than being tagged, ought to be locked up into a long-term deal before free agency hits. Unless you’re planning to shop him– in and of itself a risky strategy on many fronts– I see no reason not to just sign him to a comfortable, reasonable, market value contract.

So why no tag for Bowe you ask? Well, first off because if you really want him, and you’ve come up with a good backup plan for Carr, then there’s really no reason whatsoever for not focusing all of your attention and energy on getting a deal done to make Bowe’s long-term presence as a Chief into reality. Not just that, but doesn’t it also help to further underscore that whole PR pledgy thingy to develop and retain core players?

As promising and exciting and foundational as Bowe might seem, it is also important to recognize that he simply has not proven himself to be among of the 5 best receivers in the league which, in a certain sense, is what the franchise tag kind of suggests. Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 12th best WR going into 2012 and 19th best among their Dynasty Rankings. Similarly, Football Outsiders ranked Bowe 51st in DVOA and 31st in DYAR for 2011. Not exactly what you’d call eye-popping production.

We all know that Bowe every once in awhile makes for some fun highlight reel footage, but does he honestly merit franchise tag money? Especially when you’re most likely not going to find many teams willing to exchange a high value pick for him? I think you see my point. Bottom line, paying Bowe like he’s a top 5 WR really doesn’t sound all that Clark-like to me. Lest we forget, Bowe was a 1st round draft pick– just how likely is it that we can get that for him now? ROI people, ROI.

Moving on, if Pioli can sign Bowe to a long-term deal before free agency hits, he’ll still have a franchise tag at his disposal, right? Well, please tell me then what would be the folly in using that tag on Carr? In fact, franchising Carr seems to me like the best of all possible moves at this point and I’m going to offer some reasons as to why that is so.

It’s a proverbial seller’s market for top tier CBs and this year is no different. Justifiable or not, Carr is almost certain to command an elite CB level of monetary respect out on the open market. What’s more, it seems there could be some healthy competition for a CB of Carr’s caliber. I can think of at least a couple of teams out there that are desperately needing major secondary talent who, oh by the way, also happen to have some pretty interesting draft pick horsepower to make a lucrative deal happen for the Chiefs. For example, both the Patriots and the Bengals are in need of quality CB help and both are holding on to spare 1st round picks. Just imagine all of the tantalizing draft possibilities that would suddenly open up for the Chiefs if that were to happen?

Move up and get a franchise QB? Check.
Pick up a couple of first round offensive linemen? Check.
Control the draft by moving down? Check.

So you say, “well Double D, suppose nobody is willing to pony up a high draft pick for Carr? Aren’t you then stuck with an overpaid secondary that you’re underutilizing most of the time because, well, as everybody knows, you really only need 2 good corners? Very, very risky. Very expensive (i.e., unClark-like). Not good. Or as my AA colleague Big Matt might say ‘Mattie no likey.’”

Not good? How about not so fast?

Merlin and I were texting back and forth on this whole deal the other day and he brought to my attention a pretty interesting fact of which I was previously unaware. To wit, an NFL nickel plays about 50% of all snaps currently. That is a lot. On top of that, the more success you have at containing teams on 1st down, the more likely it is that you’ll see the nickel utilized on successive downs. In fact, I think with the right personnel, a pretty compelling argument can be made for having the nickel formation as your base D.

When I think of Flowers, Carr, and Routt being on the field all at the same time, I start thinking “two’s company, but hey, three’s a party!” Arenas might excel at wrapping up receivers pretty quickly after the catch but he’s not exactly setting the world on fire when it comes to preventing that catch from happening in the first place. Just sayin.

As many on the message boards here have already suggested, the Routt signing may indeed turn out to be a very forward thinking approach on the part of Crennel and Pioli. In fact, passing against a defensive backfield comprised primarily of Flowers, Carr and Routt would be close to impossible. In this increasingly pass-friendly league, I have to think that that level of secondary presence would basically relegate opposing offenses to beating you with their running game, and maybe tossing in a few dink and dunks for good measure (which painfully brings to mind a certain low-scoring, rather flaccid offense with which I happen to be pretty familiar).

The only practical alternative to going with the run would be to simultaneously risk a lot of coverage sacks. Unless your QB can progress through his reads quickly and also get rid of the ball in a hurry, you’re gonna be in a heap of trouble. If a team goes run, we’ll have DJ, Berry, and perhaps Belcher up in there to contain it. If a team opts to pass, their dealing with a DB set of Flowers, Routt, Carr, and Berry with maybe DJ in coverage while Hali & Houston, along with either an ILB, S, or CB, are all breathing fire in your backfield.

Next– just stay with me here– we grab a very gettable guy in the form of one Paul Soliai as our NT. Tell me, how can that cannot be considered a run stuffing, block eating, shutdown, ballhawking, nightmare defense?

So, armed on defense, we head into the draft to start filling holes on offense.

Final (crazy?) thought. While neither has any experience at the position (at least none of which I’m aware), both Carr and Routt possess prototypical size and speed to play Safety, Routt perhaps moreso because of his physicality. Might this signing, combined with the retention Carr, offer more options and much needed depth at that position as well? I know, stupid idea, probably makes more sense to just plug Sabby Piscatelli whenever the need arises, right? I’m sure we’ll be just fine should Eric Berry happen to miss any games.

That’s my Double Take.

Sound off Addicts!

So all in all it appears that unfortunately I was right about free agency up to this point.  No big splashes (unless you count picking up the Cardinals #2 receiver) and a few decent players picked up at bargain prices.  According to Scott Pioli he has no set cap for spending from the Hunt family, and basically has free reign to pay for and pick up whoever he wants for the team.  Evidently Pioli never saw the movie “Blank Check.”

So either Pioli is lying (or how I’m sure he would justify it telling a “half-truth”) or he really doesn’t see any big free agents that are worth the asking price.  At least here the Chiefs are consistent, applying the same mode of thinking that brought the Chiefs Mike Vrabel: Bring in veterans that can play a couple of years to help mentor draft picks until they are ready to take over.  I don’t mind that line of thought other than the fact that it makes for a dull free agent market.

Another interesting piece of information from this press conference was that Haley and Pioli had a so called “comprehensive plan” for dealing with free agency.  I think we can all agree that nothing that they have done so far appears to be all that comprehensive. During the FA threads it was mentioned that weighing all of the gains and losses that the Chiefs were a worse team this year than last year.  Granted that may be true, but the more I think about it the more I think that is not the question we should ask.  I think the real question that should be at the forefront of our Addict brain is:  Are the Chiefs better than the other AFC West teams?

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Showtime Pioli.

It may have seemed like free agency has been going on all week but it didn’t actually start until this evening. The Chiefs can now make their signing of Steve Breaston official.

The question is, do they have any other surprises for us tonight?

We will uses this as an open thread to discuss all the free agency happenings tonight. Chat it up in the comments.

Here is something to get you started. Nnamdi Asomugha is going to the Philadelphia Eagles. Not sorry to see him leave the Raiders.

The first day of free agency (even though technically nobody can sign until Friday evening) came and went without the Kansas City Chiefs making a big splash.

This is usually the case.

Now to be fair, I like Scott Pioli’s approach. There is no reason to jump right in and start throwing money around recklessly. The Chiefs have a lot of young talent and a bright future. They shouldn’t make big moves or sign big names just to make the headlines. It needs to be the right player, at the right time for the right price. Chiefs fans should be glad they have a calm, non-reactive GM.

That being said, it is time for Pioli to at least dip his toe in the free agent waters. If yesterday was the day to start testing the market then today is the day to start making some moves. The Chiefs have some holes that could be filled splendidly by free agents on the market right now. Pioli would be wise to lock up some of these crucial players before they come to terms with other teams.

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The longest work stoppage in NFL history is officially over.  The owners and players can pat themselves on the back (they already did) for biting the bullet and signing a deal that will continue to make all of them very rich.  Must’ve been tough.  What I would really like to see is a “Yes We Did” type press conference with Clark Hunt, DeMaurice Smith, and Roger Goodell all trying to look über cool up on stage with fog machines and lasers.  This would be a great day for DeMaurice Smith, finally making it on stage after being beat out by Doctor Teeth as front man for Electric Mayhem.  They could have an entire hour long narcissistic show about their decision to ratify the new CBA as well (I love they used this term like it was the freaking Constitution on the United States).  It would include what thoughts were going through their mind, where their inspiration to sign the document came from, how they did all of this for the fans, what type of pen they used, what type of shoes they were wearing, how it’s all for sale on eBay…

If I am correct though, you all did not come here to read about the lockout though, right?  Screw the past four months.  Addicts, it is time to talk real football!

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We aren’t sure when the exact announcement will come and, quite frankly, trying to predict that makes about as much sense as trying to predict where lightening will strike.

I don’t want you to worry about when the announcement will come. I feel certain that it will and we can all rejoice when it does.

No, what I want you to worry about are three key dates. While these dates aren’t set in stone, they are a pretty good guess as to what to expect as this whole thing wraps up.

Thursday, July 21: Owners Meeting

On Thursday the owners will meet. The goal is to vote on a new CBA at that meeting. If all goes as planned this week, that will happen.

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If you have read any of my Armchair Addict posts over the last month you know by now that I am in favor of the Chiefs signing free agent nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin. There are some that are on record as being in favor of this move, but there are also some that have voiced several concerns with this move. The main concerns include: he’s too expensive, too small, too old, not good enough/not enough tackles, was only playing hard for a contract, there are better FA options out there, and we’d be better off just using some combination of Ron Edwards, Shaun Smith, and Jerrell Powe. In this post I will debunk ALL of these worries using both material from my previous posts and some new material.

Am I obsessed with the idea of the Chiefs signing Franklin? Yes.

Do I feel I have the information to back up that obsession? Yes.

I’ll address all of your concerns about bringing this big man to KC after the break.

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The Chiefs had a number of players set to be free agents or restricted free agents under the old rules and even though teams didn’t yet know what the new rules will be, they continued to operate under the assumption that the rules would be similar. In an effort to take care of their business before last week’s deadline, the Chiefs made a number of moves to secure the rights of their players. Since the Chiefs are not keen on releasing a ton of information to the media,we’ve tired to piece together which players have been given deals/tags/tenders from various sources.

This news has been trickling out over the last couple of days. I’m on a sort of mini-vacation with Ms. AA this weekend so I have been a little slow getting this together. I’ve got a roundup of the action for you after the jump.

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So I’m sitting here thinking about the Chiefs as I’m stuck here in my house.  Snow-nami 2011 officially struck T-town yesterday leaving us 18-21 inches where I live (depending on which internet site you read).  This has given me plenty of time to think, about the season the Chiefs had last year, about the upcoming Super Bowl, about which of my family members I’d eat first if the snow continued to fall, but mostly about the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

I am not going to pretend that I know all of the forces at play, how they interact, or exactly how much money is involved.  I’m sure I could have spent those hours I wasted on Madden destroying the Ravens over and over again more wisely doing research, but if the previous statement lets you into my psyche at all, right now I’m not in a research mood.  I’m pissed off.

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Source: Yardbarker.com

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of young and improving players but they also have a number of positions that will need to be upgraded in 2011.

I think most of us can agree that the 2010 Chiefs arrived a little bit ahead of schedule. Thanks to excellent coaching, a very good rookie draft class and a soft schedule the Chiefs were able gain valuable confidence and experience. Still, after watching their playoff performance it is clear that the Chiefs have a ways to go before they can compete for 60 minutes with the NFL’s elite.

The offseason is the time to upgrade and the Chiefs will have two chances to do so in the draft and free agency. We know the Chiefs are trying to build a team through the draft but that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to make calculated moves in free agency that can help fill some holes.

There are pros and cons of being an active free agency team. If a team is not careful they can end up overspending on veteran players. Making bad free agent pickups can hamstring a team by getting it locked into long and expensive contracts with aging veterans. However, as we saw with Ryan Lilja and Shaun Smith last year, the Chiefs can get good value pickups without breaking the bank.

After the jump, we’ll talk about which positions the Chiefs may want to target in free agency. (if it happens)

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Got to be talking about T.O., right?

Nope. I’m talking about ex-Raider UFA Ronald Curry. That other Curry.

Yes, Curry has had some injury issues along the way. Yes, his production has been a bit off lately. On this latter point though, I have to attribute much of that to the fact he was relegated to second fiddle behind Javon Walker and even more to the fact that the Raiders are rarely in the redzone — i.e., where Curry creates the most havoc. His speed would also allow us to stretch the field better than our current cadre of receivers do. The fact that he, much like Randy Moss did, has languished within the Raiders organization should not be viewed as any kind of knock on this talent either.

The price? Negligible. No draft picks need to be expended on him and dollar-wise, probably somewhere this side of 1.5 mill per year.

One of the things that hurt us last year was our inability to score once we were inside the 20. Wouldn’t it be nice to have another TD weapon to add to our arsenal? I think so. Those Tarheel basketball hops come in handy down there.

What do you think Addicts, — how good would Ron Curry look in Red and Gold?