The grass is greener now. Or there is grass, anyway. Fewer brown patches. Scott Pioli is no longer this lawn’s gardener, and everyone is a lot happier for it.

There are some of you, I’m sure, who don’t want to re-hash Pioli’s tenure. You needn’t worry, I won’t be holding up any mirrors today. This isn’t about the people Pioli fooled, it’s about the mistakes he made. Those mistakes can be constructive. More so for us than for the new leadership, even. We were here to see it; it means more to us.

As strange as the candy wrapper/curtains/color copies stories are, they’re not what caused Pioli’s downfall. An unhealthy office environment doesn’t translate to a total meltdown on the field. I just took those stories as useful insight into our GM’s personality.

The office stuff is easier for us to interpret than the football dealings. Many of us have worked in offices, and seen people handle that kind of power poorly. Seeing Pioli do the same…..it humanizes him, in a weird way. He obviously wasn’t ready for leadership. He probably never will be. You could almost feel sorry for office-Pioli, in the same way you kinda feel sorry for the boss you dislike, because his annoying qualities reveal his deep insecurities.

In terms of moves made before the disastrous 2012 season, Pioli definitely deserves some blame. Peyton Hillis was an obviously bad signing, and letting Brandon Carr go in favor of Stanford Routt could not have worked out worse. He again didn’t bring in a legit QB, and he let a tired old man stay on as head coach. The draft class drew criticism, although obviously we can’t judge them fully yet.*

*You need to wait 12-15 years before you can even THINK about passing judgement on a draft class. Every smart fan knows that. I’m just now ready to render my verdict on the Trezelle Jenkins pick. And that verdict is……inconclusive. Need more time. 

Still, taking all that into account, was this an offseason that caused a 2-14 finish? That wasn’t the consensus opinion at the time. Although his efforts look worse in hindsight, I still don’t think the 2012 offseason was the main cause of this team’s downfall.

The root of Pioli’s problem lies all the way back in 2009. And no, this isn’t me setting up Tin Man cheap shots. The fault, I think, was with Pioli’s entire approach. The fact that he felt comfortable picking a role player at #3 overall is just one piece of evidence.

Let’s take a look at the moves:

• Hires Todd Haley as head coach

• Trades high second-round pick for Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel

• Signs Cassel to $63 million deal

• Drafts Tyson Jackson #3 overall

• Drafts Alex Magee, Donnie Wash, Colin “The Prototype” Brown, Quinten “Core” Lawrence, Javarris Williams and Jake O’Connell before finally hitting on a pick with Ryan Succop in the seventh round.

• Cuts Bernard Pollard, replaces with Mike Brown

• Signs Mike Goff and Eric Ghiaciuc to shore up the offensive line

• Gives the receiving corps a hilarious facelift, bringing in Bobby Engram, Amani Toomer, Bobby Wade, Terry Copper and Ashley Lelie

• Linebacking corps gets an equally effective facelift, adding Zach Thomas, Corey Mays and Monty Beisel to the aforementioned Vrabel

• Trades Tony Gonzalez for 2010 second-round pick (Javier Arenas)

I could probably go on. Maybe it would be more telling to try to think of some good moves.

The spin after the season was that they knew 2009 would be bad, and they just wanted to “get through it.” Pioli and Haley were both quoted as saying that, so it can be taken as company line, rather than slip-of-tongue. As soon as Pioli was signed, he began cautioning patience. These guys clearly did not expect to be good right away.

They probably shouldn’t have; not realistically. Herm was an idiot, and he left a mess behind him. Pioli’s reaction to that mess is what sealed his fate, though we didn’t know it at the time.

What does it mean, really, to “lay the foundation” of a football team? Some would say that means making good draft picks. It was obvious from the start that Pioli didn’t do that in 2009, and yet, it was still considered a “lay the foundations” year. What that meant to him was installing his way of doing things. Changing the culture was at the front of his mind. The roster, clearly, was not. He thought that could wait.

I’ve clowned on the term “rebuilding” for years now, because often I think it’s another word for inactivity. Herm Edwards stressed the draft, but at the expense of everything else. Rebuilding, for him, meant not participating in free agency. For Pioli, that first year especially, it amounted to the same thing. Only with him, it was worse, because he also had a historically bad draft.

Here’s the lesson: you have got to hit the ground running. Other teams aren’t going to wait for you to lay your foundations. They’re going to be focused on getting the best players. If you’re not focused on that, even for one year, it’s already too late. 

The table was set perfectly for Pioli. High draft picks, tons of cap space, and a fan base that wasn’t expecting playoffs, and was desperate to find the positive in every move he made. He was in prime position to come out swinging, and he did the opposite. The effects weren’t felt in the short-term. We were bad that year, sure, but we’d already been bad. It’s not like we regressed. And since nobody was expecting to contend that year anyway, nobody really made a stink. Bad offseason? Who cares! 2009 was a mulligan.

Fast forward three years, to when the 2009 draft class should’ve been coming into its own. A league-average kicker and an overpaid block eater were all that remained.

Every team is a collection of acquisitions from previous offseasons, both free agent and draft. People often say a draft class affects a team most three or four years down the road. The same can be said of free agents, to a slightly lesser extent. A good free agent signing will be with a team for several years, they aren’t all reckless quick-fixes like some misled Herm/Pioli apologists would have us believe.

Priest Holmes broke the NFL touchdown record in his third year as a Chief. James Hasty made the Pro Bowl in his third and fifth years as a Chief. Brian Waters made the Pro Bowl in his fifth and sixth years as a Chief. Shoot, Sweet Ron Edwards was our starting nose tackle is his fifth year. Free agents affect your future nearly as much as draft picks. Take a year off from the free agent market, and that will be felt in the long-term, almost as much as the short-term.

Pioli took a year off from bringing in good players, period. When the time came for the 2009 class (free agent and draft) to be relied upon, they were nowhere to be found.

Even those who defended Pioli’s roster construction admitted quarterback was a glaring hole. In fact, that was used as an excuse of sorts. The roster was great…..except quarterback. Even for fans of this perspective, that one crucial flaw dates back to a decision made in the 2009 offseason. A mistake that came back to sink this team three years later.

I don’t think you can blame Pioli’s historic failure entirely on one offseason. Still, what is a GM’s tenure, but a collection of offseasons? Of Pioli’s four, 2009 was by far the worst. That year, more than any of the others, doomed his tenure. His decision to take things slow was fatal.

Thankfully, John Dorsey and Andy Reid have not made this same mistake. They’ve come out swinging, or “trying” as it’s known in some circles. Scott Pioli’s time in Kansas City, if nothing else, proved that is a must. 

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Chiefs GM turned in his first ever mock draft this morning on NFL Network.

Pioli has been involved in personnel for over 20 years so engaging in mock drafts, especially before the combine in free agency, is a pretty foreign exercise. Pioli’s co-hosts on the show even mentioned that revealing his mock was a moment he had been “dreading.”

Here is Pioli’s mock draft, in all its glory.

1. Kansas City Chiefs: Luke Joeckel, LT, Texas A&M

I think the Chiefs need to take the best player available and you add a position of need, which following free agency, I think that might be without Branden Albert. I think Dwayne Bowe’s going to get the franchise tag and I think that’s their player.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars: Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama

3. Oakland Raiders: Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida

4. Philadelphia Eagles: Chance Warmack, G, Alabama

5. Detroit Lions: Damontre Moore Defensive End, Texas A&M

6. Cleveland Browns: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia

7. Arizona Cardinals: Eric Ficher, LT CMU

8. Biffalo Bills: Bjoern Werner, Defensive End, Flordida State

9. New York Jets: Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee

10. Tennessee Titans: Kenny Caccaro, Safety, Texas

So Pioli doesn’t have any QBs going in the top ten. He also doesn’t have DT Star Lotulelei going in the top ten, which is a rarity in mocks. In fact, given Pioli’s love of defensive lineman, I think if he was still the Chiefs’ GM, folks would be mocking Lotulelei to the Chiefs more often than they are now.

The interesting thing about Pioli’s mock is that if the top ten shakes out this way, the Chiefs would still have a pretty good shot at QB Geno Smith. After the top ten, the rest of the teams drafting in the first round aren’t particularly QB needy. The Chiefs might be able to trade back into the first round, say in the 20s somewhere to snag their QB. Or, if they are bold enough, they could wait until the second round but the Chiefs would need to be sure the Jaguars, the team picking first in round two, doesn’t want Smith.

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Former Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli is a guest expert on Path To The Draft today on NFL Network,  live from the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine.

Early in the show, Pioli sat down next to the Chiefs’ current head coach, Andy Reid, and the two went on a trip to Awkward Town. Then later, Pioli was finally asked specifically, whether or not he though the Chiefs should be targeting a QB in the 2013 NFL Draft.

First of all, I don’t think I should be telling the Kansas City Chiefs what to do at all, ok. (laughing) I had my time, it didn’t work out. There’s a solid foundation of talent on that football team. They need to get the best player available. You look at their roster, people say that they’re all set. Luke Joeckel, he comes in, hen maybe they don’t get Branden Albert signed. What is Branden Albert demanding? They’ve got three key free agents on their football team this year in Dwayne Bowe, Branden Albert and really, Dustin Colquitt, one of the best punters in the National Football League.

They’ve got to figure out where they’re using that franchise tag. That is going to have an impact on what they do in the draft. They sign Dwayne Bowe and well, maybe there’s a lot of things that they can do. Right now…I think right now the best player is Luke Joeckel. That could change here in the coming weeks.

There it is. Pioli says the Chiefs need to get the best player available and later, he says that he thinks Luke Joeckel is the best player available.

To be fair, Pioli says that could change but still, this is the first time we’ve gotten a look into which player Pioli thinks is the best in this year’s class. Had he not been fired, Pioli would be the one making the decisions for the Chiefs this year.

Can you imagine what would have happened in KC if Pioli was retained, then didn’t re-sign Branden Albert and then drafted Luke Joeckel?

Riots?

The thing is, the same situation, minus Pioli, could still happen.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid joined NFL Path to the Draft today on NFL Network live from the 2013 NFL Combine. One of the experts on the Path to the Draft panel was former Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.

Reid was seated right next to Scott and as you can imagine, it was a trip to Awkward Town. Population 2.

Pioli helped get things going by touching Reid on the arm while making a weird joke about his (Pioli’s) daughter toilet-papering Reid’s new house in KC.

Then Reid was asked about his initial press conference in KC. Shortly after being introduced to the KC media, Reid was asked about the QB position.

Well, we’re in the process. That’s the key to that question. We’ve looked at the QBs that are in house. I like a couple of those guys. I know that you can win with a couple of those guys. We’re in the process of going through the free agents and looking at them and these kids that are in the draft. Any trade possibilities, we keep all that wide open. It is a process. It is a process. A very important position.

Reid went on to relive his “we need to find the next Len Dawson” joke before our boy Scott Pioli jumped in.

I’ll tell you, regardless of whether that QBs in-house or that QB comes from outside of work? that QB position is going to be better because Andy’s there. Andy and his staff, they’ve done a great job. You look back, you had Donovan but they’ve had other QBs that were good players that became better. He and his staff and his people have developed QBs, they just do a great job with it. So whether that guy’s in-house or out, that doesn’t matter They’re going to do a great job with it. They really are.

Translation: PLEASE KEEP MY BOY MATT CASSEL AND MAKE HIM LOOK AMAAAAAAZING.

Reid ignored that and instead fielded a question about how much he likes the current Chiefs roster.

I like the guys. Scotty did a great job of bringing in guys that can play and help you win football games.

Nice! Scotty Pioli. We’re rolling with that from now on.

Reid went on.

Listen the guys that we have I now are good football players. So what you do is you go in and evaluate the whole picture and it’s important that you do that. That’s what we’re doing now. Thank goodness we have time to do that. That’s what this whole process is about. We’re sitting here at the Combine in Indianapolis and this is part of the whole. And so you go through this process and you have a chance to meet these kids and talk to them, like we did at the Senior Bowl and you take the next step when you have the individual interviews with them and so on. So it’s kind of a neat deal.

Next one of the hosts droned on for a while about how Andy Reid knows everything about every high school football program in California. Then, finally, we got to Geno Smith.

Here is Reid:

I haven’t met him so I’ll have an opportunity do do that down here. I’ve had a chance to look at his tape and he’s a heck of a football player. Now I have this opportunity down here to look at him eye to eye and introduce ourselves to each other and get our ten minutes of talk with one another.

Next Reid was asked if there were some specific things Reid wanted to learn about Smith. Reid took the opportunity to use the word “process” again for the 300th time, which of course had Scotty Pioli, who has an “It’s A Process” tramp-stamp tattoo on his lower back, just beaming with pride.

Again, there’s a process that you go through so really, out of that 15 minute period or whatever it is, what is it Scott? 15 minutes, by the time the scout gets done with the and the position coach gets done with them and your General Manager, you’ve got maybe five minutes with them. So you keep your ears open and you listen. You like to hear some background on him, where he came from, what he’s about, what went on during his season this past year at West Virginia. And then see how he would see himself fitting in to our program.

The Scotty dropped some more knowledge on all us fools.

Andy’s right. That 15-minute window (Here Pioli snapped his fingers) closes quickly. I mean it’s, from the time you, you never get the full 15 minutes. I mean we used to train our scouts to make sure they got the guys in quick, get them out quick, get out of the room, get settled. We don’t let them shake hands with one or two guys because you gotta get down. That’s one of their tricks, too. They try to shake hands with as many of these guys as they can to cut down the interview time.

Then Scotty puckered up.

I know this, you’ve got a heck of a staff there. John (Dorsey) is great and the rest of the staff that’s there, great people that are going to do a very thorough job.

Then, then Scotty Pioli said something that made the collective heads of every Chiefs fan watching live, explode.

So whatever ends up happening, don’t be so locked in the QB. We were talking about it, he’s (Pioli’s co-host Paul Burmeister) so locked in on this QB thinkg. There’s a whole lot of other football players out there, Paul.

Then Reid said:

There are Paul. But it’s…it is an important position. I understand where he’s coming from. I got it. We’ve just got to go through this whole process.

Sure, Pioli appeared to be joking about the whole QB thing but just to see him actually say the words “don’t worry about the QB” was probably enough to drive even the most light-hearted Chiefs fan temporarily insane with rage.

Not a whole ton of useful information here but it was high comedy (for me at least) to see Pioli sitting there with Reid while Reid talked about trying to clean up the mess Pioli left in KC.

Former Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli has found a new gig.

But don’t worry, it isn’t as the GM of a football team.

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports is reporting that Pioli has been hired by SiriusXM NFL Radio:

Scott Pioli has a new job.

The former Kansas City Chiefs general manager has signed to work with SiriusXM NFL Radio, FOXSports.com has learned. Pioli will begin providing analysis Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

We got the feeling Pioli was angling to find a roll somewhere as an analyst. He appeared on NFL Network to talk about the offseason talent evaluation process on Friday, January 25th, as noted by the awesome Pioli graphic above, created for us by AA’s Art Director Tony Rangel.

We didn’t hear any reports of Pioli interviewing with NFL teams this offseason. While that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, Pioli may want to take some time off following the disastrous end to his tenure in Kansas City. Taking a job as an analyst would enable Pioli to stay involved in the NFL talent evaluation process while not actually working as a GM.

If Pioli is covering the Scouting Combine, then you can bet he’ll be covering the NFL Draft and that means he will get the opportunity to weigh in on what the Chiefs do in April.

That will be very interesting to hear.

Will you guys turn to Scott Pioli for all your draft analysis needs?

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Former Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli may be gone but he is back in the headlines as he is testifying in an age discrimination suit concerning the team.

The Chiefs are being sued by former a former employee by the name of Steve Cox. Mr. Cox claims he was the victim of age discrimination and wants the Chiefs to pay him damages. He was the maintenance manager for the Chiefs.

Here is some video of day one of the trial:

On day two, Pioli took the stand. He was asked about the now infamous candy wrapper and the report also mentions Pioli testifying about some detailed demands that Mr. Cox had to deal with, including in an incident concerning a ball of hair found on the floor and doors slamming to hard. The video also shows an email that mentions Pioli pointing out stains on the ceiling in the practice facility.

Brenda Sniezek, another former employee that is suing the Chiefs, also testified yesterday and claimed that she felt Pioli was always asking her age.

I am ind of sad that we are just finding out about Pioli and the hairball now. As hilarious as the whole candy wrapper thing is, this stuff about him worrying about a ball of hair is even funnier.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Scott Pioli regime didn’t work out. (sarcasm font)

Former Kansas City GM Scott Pioli made his first NFL-related appearance since parting way with the Chiefs when he was a guest analyst on NFL Total Access last evening.

Pioli was not asked about his departure from KC or about his pans for the future. He was there to strictly provide an expert point of view into the offseason talent evaluation process. Pioli was on for two segments. We jotted down some quotes.

What to NFL teams look for?

This is the first piece of the puzzle where NFL teams get an opp to see the players in a new environment, see them where their uncomfortable, see the where they know they’re under the microscope. And truly the timing of this event is great because not all of them have had time to spend with their agents and be coached up just yet. So what you’re getting in terms of interviews, and there’s a lot of interview time spent, you have to see how players react to a new set of circumstances an unfamiliar environment, pressure and again they don’t know the questions that they’re going to be getting during the interview process. So it’s a good time to jump them early where you’re not going to be getting canned answers or even have or even have the good excuses that are in place for the players who may have had a little bit of trouble.

What is the next step for teams after the Senior Bowl, heading toward the combine?

Most teams have December meetings and then the Senior Bowl comes along and the East-West. What’s happened is the scouts that were area scouts talked about the players in their area and then what happens at this point and time is generally, each scout has a position that they’re specifically trained to know how to evaluate so this is called a crosscheck procedure and at the end of these crosschecks, as most teams have meetings right before the combine, and before you get to the combine, you have your board pretty much lined up as to what you think the players are because again, you want to be careful before the combine, that you don’t let, as Mike Mayock calls it “The Underwear Olympics,” you don’t want to let too much influence how your gonna set your board. So what you want to do before you get to the combine, in this time, is do the crosscheck evaluations, get your board set by position, have the players evaluated and hope your board doesn’t change a whole lot before you get into your individual workouts because you get to see them playing football and a lot of tape time spent int he months in the time between December, the Senior Bowl, East-West and actually the combine.

I couldn’t help but wonder if we are going to see more of Pioli as an analyst this offseason. He is very well spoken and comes off pretty well on TV. If he is interested in perhaps taking a break from football and getting into TV, this may be his first step toward that.

Pioli strikes me as the kind of guy who would want to get back into the NFL quickly but considering how poorly his time in KC ended, he may need a year or two to let some of the heat from his mistakes with the Chiefs die down. Being an analyst could help him stay on the NFL radar while he waits for that to happen.

I have to say, I’d be interested to see Pioli as an analyst during the draft. My ears still perk up whenever former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards is asked to talk about what the Chiefs are doing. I’d be fascinated to hear Pioli’s analysis of the Chiefs’ picks this April.

What do you think, Addicts? Do you want to see Scott Pioli as a regular NFL draft analyst?

Remember in Friday the 13th part VI when Jason is supposedly dead but then some kids dig him up an his corpse gets stuck by lightening and then he rises from the grave bigger and stronger than ever before? Jason is so strong that then Tommy Jarvis’ friend hits him in the back of the head with a shovel, Jason doesn’t even move but the shovel breaks?

Well, former Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli’s NFL corpse is about to get struck by lightening.

This, from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport:

Ex-#Chiefs GM Scott Pioli will appear on @nflnetwork‘s Total Access as a guest tonight. That’s cool. He’s been quiet since he exited KC

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 25, 2013

This Friday the 25th, on the eve of the Senior Bowl, after all the vacant GM jobs have been filled, Scott Pioli returns to the nightmares of Kansas City Chiefs fans.

I will be taping it tonight and we will bring you commentary on what Pioli says in his first public appearance since “parting ways” with the Chiefs.

If you are going out tonight, just be careful. You never know when there is going to be an NFL GM accompanied by a large former LSU defensive lineman, waiting for you.

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

It appears as though Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt could be going after some very big fish in his search for a new head coach.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Hunt’s choice for head coach will help determine Pioli’s fate.

Chiefs new HC will help determine fate of GM Scott Pioli like Jaguars new GM will help determine fate of HC Mike Mularkey.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2012

Hunt said earlier in a statement that Pioli’s fate had not yet been decided. He also said that he, Hunt, would begin searching for a new head coach, indicating that Pioli would not be involved.

It is hard to foresee a situation where a new head coach would want Pioli involved. Unless Hunt decides to hire Josh McDaniels or someone else with Patriots roots, I’d imagine the new coach would want to work with his own people.

This also could indicate that Hunt is interested in some head coaching candidates that could want final say in personnel decisions. Think guys like Bill Cowher and John Gruden.

Hunt reportedly thinks highly of Pioli. By keeping him around for now, he gives the new coach the opportunity to work with Pioli or discard him. At the same time, Hunt keeps Pioli off the market, potentially from going to one of his competitors.

Looks like we could be in for an interesting couple of days.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Pro Football Talk is reporting that though the Kansas City Chiefs have yet to announce the fate of GM Scott Pioli, Pioli has not yet been notified of his fate.

Here is the quote:

Per a league source, Pioli has yet to hear from owner Clark Hunt regarding Pioli’s future.

Interesting. I wouldn’t be shocked if Hunt is waiting to make a move so that he can gauge the initial field of potential GM candidates. It is “Black Monday” after all. Men are losing their jobs left and right. It may be that Hunt is keeping Pioli around as a backup plan in case his real target is not fired or not interested.

It might not be out of the realm of possibility that Hunt is working the phones right now, seeing who is available/interested.

Or he may just be having his interns prepare a press release announcing Crennel’s firing and his commitment to Pioli.

Stay tuned.

As the final seconds of the Chiefs 38-3 stomping at the hands of the Denver Broncos came to a close, it brought with it the merciful end to what was the worst season in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs. It was horrible from start to finish. There weren’t enough highlights to even fill a paragraph, let alone a post. The only real solace that fans of this team can take is that change is coming. That change should start today. The question of the day is, will the general manager be part of that change?

By the time the Chiefs and Broncos kicked off Sunday it had already been reported by Jason Cole, Jason LaCanfora, and Jay Glazer that Romeo Crennel would be fired after the season was over. I consider Glazer a safe source to trust, and when you add the others to it I feel confident that Romeo is gone.

Scott Pioli is another story. There were conflicting reports all day Sunday about wether or not Pioli will be retained. Hopefully, by the time some of you are reading this it will have been announced that he is being fired, but one way or another we should know sometime today. Even if we hear nothing, I would take that as a bad sign that Pioli may be staying.

If Pioli is fired then KC fans can enjoy the only upside to being the worst team in the NFL: hope for a new start. A new GM, a new coaching staff, the first overall pick in the NFL draft, and a new franchise QB to lead the team.

If Pioli is retained then all that hope is tainted. The new coach, draft picks, and franchise QB will all be selected by a man that we have no faith in. If Clark Hunt thinks that fans will flock to buy tickets to see a new coach and new QB and forget about all the “Fire Pioli” uproar from this season, I think he is sorely mistaken.

If you are among the few that think retaining Pioli is a good idea, then I encourage you to check out this document of Scott Pioli Facts put together by SaveOurChiefs. Here are a few highlights:

The Chiefs’ record under Scott Pioli (23-42) is the worst of any GM in Chiefs history.

The Chiefs’ record against winning teams under Pioli is just 3-18.

The Chiefs are 0-27 when their opponent scores more than 24 points under Pioli.

There are plenty more, but you get the idea. The Chiefs are not headed in the right direction under Scott Pioli, and keeping him would be a huge mistake. I hope that this post is soon followed by reports that Clark Hunt is cleaning house. Firing Romeo Crennel is a start, but Scott Pioli needs to follow him out the door.

Fingers crossed, at least we’ll know soon!

Thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

We have another report stating that Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli will be retained.

This one comes from Steve Wyche:

According to NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to retain general manager Scott Pioli despite a disastrous season, according to a source briefed on the situation. Coach Romeo Crennel won’t be as fortunate. The source said Crennel likely will be fired, although no final decision has been made on the coach’s future.

The prevailing thought seems to be that if Pioli does return, he will go after Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz as a possible head coaching candidate, as it is widely believed Rome Crennel will be canned.

If Ferentz is brought in, that could be good news for Chiefs QB Ricky Stanzi, who played under Frentz at Iowa.

Stay tuned. The rumors are likely to continue flying.

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

As the Chiefs approach their final game this afternoon against the Denver Broncos, conflicting reports about the future of GM Scott Pioli continue to swirl.

Earlier we told you that Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that he is hearing Pioli will be given another chance. Later, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posted something similar. 

But then, ESPN’s Adam Schefter came to the rescue and reported that the Chiefs are leaning toward firing Pioli.

As for head coach Romeo Crennel, there are multiple reports out there that he will be fired, likely as soon as tomorrow.

So what are we to make of the rumors about Pioli?

If I had to guess (and I do) I’d say nobody really has a good handle on what Clark Hunt is going to do, which is why we are seeing these conflicting reports.

Whatever Hunt decides, he needs to make up his mind quickly. There are going to be a lot of jobs opening and if Hunt wants a shot at the best GM and coaching candidates, he’ll need to move fast. If there is going to be a new GM, that person would be responsible for hiring the new head coach. With so many candidates about to flood the market, the advantage would go to the teams that already have GMs in place.

There are even reports that coaches that have yet to be fired are already assembling coaching staffs in preparation for their next move. Some have suggested that Eagles coach Andy Reid could have a new job as soon as tomorrow.

There is going to be an offseason feeding frenzy unlike anything we’ve seen in quite some time. If Clark Hunt isn’t prepared, he will be left with the scraps.

Nov 18, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs fans brought a sign to show their disappointment with general manager Scott Pioli (not shown) during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium. Cincinnati won the game 28-6. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

There are reports surfacing this morning that GM Scott Pioli will not be fired after the season comes to a close following today’s game against the Denver Broncos. Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole tweeted out that he had heard this from “a league source” that Pioli would stay but with “significant changes” (meaning Crennel would be gone, and they’ll be getting a new QB) and Pro Football Talk has a piece up this morning saying that Pioli staying and Romeo leaving is “the prevailing rumor in league circles.” I don’t know how much credit to give a “league source” and “league circles,” but if they are correct it sounds like many KC fans won’t be getting what they really wanted for Christmas (a complete turnover in the organization).

Also making the morning rumor rounds is speculation that if Pioli stays he will hire Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz as Romeo’s replacement.

So what do you think, Addicts? Do you place any weight in these reports? Has anyone’s head exploded yet? Would you be able to get behind Pioli staying if there was a new coach and a new QB? Regardless of what happens we’ll keep you posted here at AA during what should be an interesting offseason that is only hours away.

Coming back from my home abroad in the Republic of Georgia for the holidays, the only thing I really wanted for Christmas was to be able to witness a competitive Chiefs game in person.

Statistically, the team’s past performances and the overall matchup with the Colts made it pretty unlikely I was going to get my wish. But, despite Brady Quinn’s and Brian Daboll’s best efforts I was able to stand a few dozen rows back and watch my beloved team play a dignified game against a better opponent.

I even got to see the team make history. The 2012 Chiefs are the only NFL team to rush for more than 350 yards and still lose the game. Let that soak in a little.

I’m preaching to the choir here on Arrowhead Addict, but if there are any readers who have not been watching the Chiefs all season, this game is your indisputable proof that the Chiefs have been sunk singlehandedly by horrendous quarterback play and worst offensive coaching and play-calling in the league. It is very difficult to have 507 total yards and score only 13 points without doing it on purpose. If that was Daboll’s intent, well done, sir.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

If not, well …

Matt Cassel would have won this game.

Mark Sanchez would have won this game.

Heck, Chad Henne would have won this game by two touchdowns.

Andy Reid, who is about to be fired, would have never called for a draw play on 3^rd and 8 with the game tied in the last three minutes against a team that already had six wins in which they came back in the fourth quarter. Norv Turner, who is also about to be fired, wouldn’t even have this dumb play in his binder.

In fact, any offensive coordinator who decides to hand off to his power back in a clutch situation from the shotgun formation (!) on 3^rd and 8 in what is likely your last possession of a tied game needs to be taken in for a round of electroshock treatment. I’m not trying to be crass, it’s for their health.

The fact that Jamaal’s historic performance was wasted because his quarterback not only couldn’t score at the end of drives, but actually killed one drive and gave up an easy pick six, is criminal.

Quinn needs to find himself a nice spot in the UFL or CFL and I don’t say that out of spite or malice. I believe him when he said he’s not interested in the glory, but rather an opportunity to play the game he loves. Through five seasons in the NFL, he has shown that he is a low-end backup quarterback at this level, and even at that, I’m not sure I’d want him to try and carry my team if my starter gets hurt. He’s made his money; if he really wants to play this game I think he’ll find it’s a lot more fun in the minor leagues. There it won’t matter that he can’t hit a single deep throw – the Colts’ coverage was nothing special on Sunday; he wouldn’t have completed those throws even if the receivers were wide open.

It also struck me at this game how much we have lowered our expectations as Chiefs fans. A lot of the post-game talk was about the fact that Jon Baldwin had one of his best games with two (!) catches for 64 yards on six targets. The fact that this is considered to be a noteworthy performance is among the best evidence I can summon for just how much this team has played like garbage this year. In fact, it feels like we have undergone a slow slide in our expectations over the last few years towards saying, “Well, we didn’t get totally embarrassed. Good day.”

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

That bears out in the stats dug up by the Star’s Sam Mellinger: the Chiefs current point differential is a league-worst  -179 and is also the worst in team history. For our sanity’s sake, our brains have prepared us for such an outcome as the four worst seasons in terms of point differential in the 52-year history of team were 2011, 2009, 2008, and 2012.

We have grown accustomed to being blown out or barely scraping by for a win. The only reason Sunday’s game was even watchable was due to Charles’ herculean efforts along with Peyton Hillis, who decided he was in the mood to run, apparently.

Before the game, I was at the Chiefs VIP tailgate, which was near empty like Arrowhead’s stands. On the plus side, it meant no line for food, beer and autographs from Chiefs Hall-of-Fame safety Deron Cherry. Cherry, who racked up six Pro-Bowl seasons from 1981-1991 with 15 recovered fumbles and 50 interceptions, was a quarterback hunter for a decade. So, I took the time to ask him what he thought about the incoming QB class.

As everyone else has said, he agreed that this year’s crop is less than awe-inspiring, but he was more interested in what the Chiefs would do in the front office. I found it very interesting that he brought that up unsolicited because he was presumably brought in by Chiefs PR for the event. The fact that he said he thinks Crennel should go and it doesn’t make sense to trust Pioli to pick his third head coach in five years  speaks volumes because it was Pioli’s office that hired him for the appearance.

For his part, he said he thinks the Chiefs should bring in Bruce Arians, who has ties to the team as a running backs coach in the late 80’s when Cherry was playing. We’ll be pouring over head coaching options over the next few weeks, but I respectfully disagree with the choice of Arians.

Although he has been an accomplished coordinator for several teams, Arians has never distinguished himself as anything more than that and had a disastrous tenure coaching Temple in the 70’s. He should be highly commended for how he has steered the Colts from afterthought to playoffs in one season, but it’s difficult to tell how much of that was his own efforts and how much came from the team’s wunderkind quarterback and emotional drive to win for their official head coach who has been battling leukemia.

It’s a great story, but so was Romeo Crennel last year, and there are too many parallels there for me to get excited about him.

I’m open to other possibilities, but for now, the rest of my Christmas list reads: Bill Polian, Geno Smith and the ability to hold lofty expectations for this team without subjecting myself to inevitable psychological trauma when they take the field.

And, yes, I am willing to share these presents with others.

This is the first time since joining the AA staff that I am writing a piece that I hope is completely irrelevant by the time most of you read it. I hope more than anything that shortly after this post hits the sight that news breaks that Scott Pioli has been fired and you can just stop reading this post right now. I hope that by mid-afternoon this post is pushed down the sight into obscurity.

Sadly, I don’t think that will be the case.

Most of Chiefs Nation seems confident that owner Clark Hunt will fire Scott Pioli. This season has been such a complete and total disaster that it almost seems impossible for there not to be wide spread changes in the organization. You add to that the fan unrest and protests by the SaveOurChiefs group and it would seem that Hunt will be forced to make a move, right? Maybe, I guess we’ll all find out in the coming hours, days, or weeks. The common thought seems to be that Pioli will be fired once this dumpster fire of a season is over.

Well here’s the problem. The time for making that move, at least effectively, is running out. If today comes and goes with no news of Scott Pioli’s firing it most likely means that he will keep his job for another week. If that is the case, then one of two things will happen. Either Scott Pioli will keep his job for another season or the Chiefs will be so behind schedule in getting their new regime in place that they will be playing catch up with the rest of the NFL and setting themselves up for failure.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the timeline of how things went down the last time Clark Hunt replaced his general manager.

Carl Peterson resigned (not that he had much choice) on Monday, December 15th. That was the Monday after the Chiefs week 15 game. In other words, today is the equivalent of that day. So if Scott Pioli isn’t fired today, the Chiefs will be operating behind the timeline that happened four years ago.

Clark Hunt hired Scott Pioli on Tuesday, January 13th. So it took Hunt just over four weeks to get his new GM hired. Perhaps he would move faster this time around, but I don’t think we should assume that. Some may suggest that he is possibly already talking to candidates behind the scenes, but in today’s age of news breaking tweets that seems awfully risky. I think that a four week turnaround from firing Pioli to hiring a new GM is probably a fair estimate. Putting that off another week would be very costly, in my opinion.

Scott Pioli then took 10 days to fire Herm Edwards on Friday, January 23rd. Hopefully a new GM would be sensible enough to fire Romeo Crennel immediately upon taking the job, but even then, if the new GM wasn’t hired until the second week of January, many of the top coaching candidates would already be off the market.

It then took Pioli two weeks to hire his new coach Todd Haley on February 6th. By that point, all the top assistants were off the market and Haley ended up with Clancy Pendergast as his defensive coordinator and holdover Chan Gailey staying on (although just temporarily) as his offensive coordinator because there simply wasn’t anyone else available.

UPDATE: Here is a list of recent coaching hires in the NFL by the date they were hired.

Mike Shanahan – January 6th
Jim Harbaugh – January 7th
Mike Mularky – January 10th
Ron Rivera – January 11th
Jeff Fisher – January 13th
John Fox – January 13th
Pat Shurmur – January 13th
Chan Gailey – January 19th
Joe Philbin – January 20th
Chuck Pagano – January 25th
Dennis Allen – January 25th
Greg Schiano – January 26th
Mike Munchak – February 7th

If you asked me to pick the five coaches on that list that I would most want to coach the Chiefs I would pick (in no particular order) Shanahan, Harbaugh, Fisher, Fox, and Pagano. Of those five, four of them were hired on January 13th (the date Hunt hired Pioli) or earlier. If you divide that list into two and look at the coaches hired after January 13th compared to the coaches hired before that date, I like the early list a lot better. That is why Clark Hunt can’t afford to wait any longer to start this process.

Now perhaps things will be different this time around. Perhaps Hunt will fire Pioli the day after the season ends and hire his new GM the very next day. Perhaps that GM will make firing Crennel his first act upon taking the job and will then be in on any and every good coaching candidate available. Perhaps, but I don’t know that we should be holding our breath on that one. I think if we want to have realistic hope of the kind of changes that most of us want to see that the ball needs to get rolling, and fast.

Hopefully that ball is already rolling. Hopefully you stopped reading this post after the first paragraph because Pioli’s firing has already been announced. Hopefully this post has already been pushed down the sight by rumors of Pioli’s firing, news of his official firing, a statement from Clark Hunt, and a post on the rumored replacements for Pioli. I’ve never hoped for my weekly post to be irrelevant before today, but boy I hope it is. Because if the game on Sunday taught me one thing, it’s that this team as it is currently constructed is an embarrassment. It’s a bad group of players that are poorly coached and give their fans very little to get excited about.

The thought of watching another two weeks of this without any hope of real change on the horizon is painful.

Hopefully those fears will be made irrelevant when Pioli is fired. If that’s the case, then most of you already stopped reading. If it’s not the case and Scott Pioli still has his job, then I’ve never been so bummed so say this…….

Thanks for reading (sigh) and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The basic truth is that this Monday is just like every other Monday: we wake up, go to work, the Chiefs lost again, still no one has been fired.

Nothing else really matters right now, but as I was watching last night’s predictably loathsome outing, I was surprised by one thing – Pioli’s draft picks are starting to make a difference.

Up until this point, all the bright spots on this squad had all been drafted by the Herm Edwards regime or earlier – RB Jamaal Charles (3^rd, 2008), OLB Tamba Hali (1^st, 2006), ILB Derrick Johnson (1^st, 2005), CB Brandon Flowers (2nd, 2008), LT Brandon Albert (1^st, 2008), WR Dwayne Bowe (1^st, 2007). It was looking like four years of drafts manned by Scott Pioli and company had been a total waste and the team had overall moved backwards.

Furthermore, looking at injuries and the past performance of both of these teams, this matchup looked brutal. The left side of the Chiefs’ O-line was to be run by two rookies against one of the league’s best pass rushes. With CB Stanford Routt cut, the Chiefs would be defending Peyton Manning’s passes at the flanker and slot positions with CB Javier Arenas and CB Jallil Brown. Four and five receiver sets would put Travis Daniels and Abram Elam on the field. With Jonathan Baldwin out and Bowe nicked up, Terrance Copper and Jeremy Newsome were to see significant action as number-two receivers.

I was mentally preparing myself for watching the blowout of the season. Maybe the century.

To my surprise, due to a valiant defensive effort, Charles, and some uncharacteristic miscues on the part of the Broncos, this was a close, competitive game. Basically, the only reason this game wasn’t a massacre was because Pioli’s draft picks — hitherto invisible and ineffective — finally came to play.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Let’s start with the aforementioned rookie linemen – LT Donald Stephenson (3rd, 2012) and LG Jeff Allen (2^nd, 2012). Along with RG Jon Asamoah (3^rd, 2010), both blocked extremely well in the run game and held their own in pass protection. Allen had already shown flashes this year. This was Stephenson’s coming-out party. With the exception of a dumb clipping penalty that stalled a drive, the ex-Sooner had a good game and looks to be a valuable situational tackle and reserve and for Albert down the road.

The cornerbacks not named Brandon Flowers that I was terrified about actually played head’s up all day. This was easily Arenas’ (2^nd, 2010) most solid all-around game. He covered very well and put the offense in good field position several times in the return game (not that they did anything with it).  While he still has his struggles, Brown (4^th, 2011) also looked like a pro and stuck with his receivers all day.

S Eric Berry (1^st, 2010) had a decent comeback game. Despite allowing one of the two touchdowns, he seems to be finding his way back to playing like a quality starter with a tackle-for-loss and two passes defended.

WR Dexter McCluster (2^nd, 2010) caught every ball thrown his way and had a key 19-yard run on one of the Chiefs better drives. TE Tony Moeaki (3^rd, 2010) is also showing he’s finally healthy after his preseason knee-tear last year.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

As a unit, this was the D-line’s best game this year. While he hasn’t been racking up stats (as expected), NT Dontari Poe (1^st, 2012) is coming into his own and had his name called a lot yesterday with four tackles, a tackle-for-loss and a pass batted down. DE Tyson Jackson (1^st, 2009) is finally looking like a dynamic lineman in several consecutive games and was good following the ball and quarterback, getting to Manning twice for a QB hit and a tackle right on the line of scrimmage that otherwise would have been recorded as a sack.

But, of course, the star of the show (and clearly the best value pick of Pioli’s tenure) was OLB Justin Houston (3^rd, 2011). Amazingly, Houston is outplaying even Hali – the Beast himself. He was a constant terror for Manning and finished the day with four solo tackles, two sacks and four QB hits. He now has nine sacks, one forced fumble, an interception, and four passes defended in 2012.

However, as much as this game would seem to compliment Pioli’s drafting acumen, it was also an indictment of his free agency wheeling-and-dealing. Aside from the obvious failure of the Routt signing, RT Eric Winston has played well but not outstanding and has a tendency to pick up a couple of penalties per game.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Most glaring of course is the quarterback position. Trading the 34^th overall pick in 2009 netted the Chiefs: QB Matt Cassel and LB Mike Vrabel. Vrabel played just a couple of years for the team and was questionably effective. I don’t need to explain to you how the Cassel experience has been, but suffice to day he was riding the pine this game. Starting in his stead was another free agent acquisition who appears to be a low-end backup. None of QB Brady Quinn’s deep balls were even remotely on target. And while he was efficient in picking up short passes, he was too timid to stretch the field and was dreadfully inaccurate all second half.

WR Steve Breston, who got a five-year deal with $9.5 million guaranteed last year was inactive again behind two practice squad bodies. He has three catches since Week 5. I see absolutely no reason to give the ball to RB Peyton Hillis anymore, who was signed for $3 million this year. He’s slow, accident-prone and just doesn’t give the Chiefs anything they can’t get from RB Shaun Draughn.

Still, the fact that several of the Chiefs’ recent draft picks in the defense and O-line are starting to come to life is unambiguously positive for the team long-term. Hopefully, if these guys can maintain consistency, the next coach/GM won’t feel the need to blow the team up and start over with new young players.

No matter how well these guys play down the stretch, however, I just can’t see a scenario in which it saves Pioli’s job. Even if we do somehow look back at his drafts as being effective a year or two from now, he will still be on the books for constant coaching disarray. We’ve had five offensive coordinators in four years. He fired and denied pay to one head coach after two and a half years, and replaced him with his absolutely hapless friends who turned the brand into a laughing stock. He totally ignored the development of the most important position on the field, and inspired at least one character for the film Horrible Bosses (guess which one).

So, on his way out the door, I’d like to thank Pioli for not drafting totally uselessly. We’ll keep some of these guys as you move on to destroy a different team. Much appreciated.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

The Kansas City Chiefs players and their clueless head coach sound defeated.

Can you blame them?

The 2012 Kansas City Chiefs are so bad that when they aren’t getting blown out by better teams, which is most every week by the way, they’re getting in their own way.

In short, if the opponent can’t beat the Chiefs, the Chiefs will beat the Chiefs.

After yesterday’s latest loss, head coach Romeo Crennel has the guts to say he thought his team played well.

“I thought our guys played a good football game,” Crennel told reporters.

I’m sorry, coach, while your players, at times, did some things well, scoring nine points is not playing well. Players jumping offsides in key moments, is not playing well.

And having your second-string running back try to throw a pass to your second-string QB on third down in the red zone , when you only need three yards and your first string running back’s name is Jamaal Charles, is terrible, terrible coaching.

If the head coach doesn’t have any answers, how can we expect the players to figure things out? Heck, SS Eric Berry is already talking about next season.

“A lot of people expect a lot of things out of life and they don’t go their way,” safety Eric Berry told the media. “This is a game. If you fight back in life, it’s easy to fight back in a game. Nobody’s dying or anything like that. It’s just a bad season. So we gotta finish this out strong and, I hate to say build for next year, but we need to build that momentum going into next year. It just is what it is.”

Sheesh.

Not only does Berry’s quote show that the players are already checking out of the 2012 season, it also shows he doesn’t think what is happening in KC is that big of a deal. After all, “nobody’s dying or anything like that”.

No wonder these guys are getting curb-stomped by their opponents every week.

Yet after dropping to an NFL-worst 1-10, the only thing Chiefs fans have to look forward to is when the firings are going to start.

There is no longer any question that Crennel annd his coaching staff and likely GM Scott Pioli, have to go.

But when will they?

For most fans, it seems like the departure of everyone responsible for the dumpster fire that is the 2012 Chiefs season, can’t come soon enough.

So when will rock bottom hit for the Chiefs? When will things finally be so bad that Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt will start cleaning house? Will he force his fans to endure the rest of this terrible season with the three-ring circus of Scott Pioli, Romeo Crennel and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll running the show?

Or will he throw them a bone when they could most use a bone?

I’d argue that now is the time to make a move. Pioli fired former head coach Todd Haley when the team was 5-8 last season. Currently, Haley is looking like Vince Lombardi and the 5-8, Tyler Palko-led Chiefs are looking like the Joe Montana-led 49ers.

There is a chance Hunt could wait until the season ends to make changes. Still, if the heads don’t roll today, I think there are a few games this season that could force Hunt’s hand.

1. Monday, December 3rd

Carolina is 2-8 and will be coming to Arrowhead on Sunday. I pitiful performance, at home, against an equally pitiful team, could just be the final straw for the “3 Ring Circus.”

2. Monday December 10th

If the “Circus” somehow endures a loss to the Panthers or, heaven forbid, the team actually wins, then a road trip to Cleveland could be just what the doctor ordered if you are suffering from Pioli fever.

The 3-8 Browns actually look like a team on the rise. The Browns’ defense, in particular, can be problematic. Dropping to 1-12 against the Browns could make December 10th spring cleaning day at Arrowhead.

3. Monday, December 31st

If Pioli and co. somehow survive until the final game of the season then you’ve got to believe the GM is a goner come New Years Eve. Hunt may not even wait until the clock strikes midnight on the 30th to do the deed.

The day after the last day of the season is traditionally D-Day around the NFL. If Hunt is going to let the season play out then you have to believe that December 31st is the day.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. As the season nears its end there is a chance more and more of the KC players will check out and start looking toward the offseason. If you’re listening to Eric Berry then that process may have already begun.

If so, things could get even uglier in KC and that could force Clark Hunt to make a move even if he does want to wait until after the season.

What do you think, Addicts? On what date will the “3 Ring Circus” leave town for good?

Monday, December 3rd

Monday December 10th

Monday December 31st

I was never on the bandwagon for firing Todd Haley last year.

Of course, this all sounds like “I told ya so” talk now, but I enjoyed going back and reading my articles defending Haley and expressing skepticism about Crennel for an entirely different reason: It was a simpler time.

Looking at the old AA pieces I wrote, I realized it was like re-reading diary entries from childhood in the days of innocence before some traumatic event. Back then, we had excuses for our poor play and it seemed like good football was on the horizon. Our coach and quarterback had been disappointing but were still winning some games. The team had an architect that we could still give the benefit of the doubt.

Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Now that innocence is gone and we recognize our parents are not paragons of virtue and strength but flawed mortals. The world is full of people who lie and mean people don’t always get punished. This team is off the rails. The last four years have been basically wasted. We have no coach, no QB, no GM and an owner who seems to be conducting a social experiment to determine how long before fans burn Arrowhead to the ground in rage at his inaction.

Back then, we could still say that we had a QB on the roster good enough to get us through games, that we were full of young talent and we were growing a dynasty. Just add water. Today, nothing looks good and people in Chiefs country are dying of anguish and frustration.

It really cannot be overstated. At 1-9, the Chiefs have matched their worst opening to a season in the history of the franchise. I will be honestly stunned if we win another game this year. By every major metric other than rushing production the Chiefs are a disgrace. At this point, both Haley and even Herm Edwards look attractive.

But, it’s really not just because of how bad we are right now. I’ve always thought Haley got a raw deal.

In 2009, Haley was one of 11 head coaches hired. Like Todd, most were successful coordinators somewhere else. Of those 11, only two still have their jobs — Jim Schwartz in Detroit and Rex Ryan in New York, and they’re both 4-6 right now, by the way. By the time Haley was fired only four of those other coaches from the class of 2009 had a better win-loss record – Ryan, Jim Caldwell, Mike Singletary and Jim Mora Jr..

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

So, while that was an admittedly uninspiring crop, Haley was among the most successful coaches hired that year. Also, statistically speaking, it was nearly certain that the Chiefs would have a bad season.

Thirty NFL teams between 2002 and 2009 increased their season-to-season records by five or more games like the Chiefs did between 2009 and 2010. Of them, 24 (80 percent) had worse seasons following their surge – with 13 (43 percent) of them losing at least four more games after their surprising season. There are lots of reasons for this of course, the main one: changes in the strength of schedule. Also, the NFL is just a hard place to maintain success. Let down years are inevitable.

But even Haley somehow won five of 13 games without the ACL crew. He even got a win with Tyler Palko at quarterback while the team this year has only even had a lead in two games so far.

It’s also not as if Haley had a whole lot to work with. In addition to the fact that Pioli was diametrically opposed to putting a quarterback on the field not named Matt Cassel, KC’s defenses were nearly always inconsistent, showing up big in some games and melting away in others. He also had to deal with a sociopathic boss who collects candy wrappers, wiretaps his employees and in the end essentially fired him because he didn’t shave or wear a new hat. (Seriously, I’m quite certain that when Pioli gets off work he goes to sit and stare quizzically at an array of severed heads in jars).

But mostly, I just realized that I honestly liked our team that year. I’m finding it very hard to say the same in 2012. In 2011, we were a team ravaged by injuries playing above our level of talent and clawing for every win. Now, we’re just a bundle of undisciplined players making dumb mistakes and barely giving opponents any resistance as they march up and down the field.

Haley was known for being overly brash on the sidelines, which is something I would love to see these days. Someone needs to yell at these guys. When I heard the criticism about him being verbally aggressive, I always thought it was way overblown. These players are grown men and this is an emotional game – or at least it is unless your name is Romeo. If so, then game day is a time when the bad people make you stand outside for three hours and all you have to read is a laminated sheet of paper while you stare blankly at the field while repeating soup recipes in your head. Or at least that’s what I think he’s doing. Your guess is as good as mine. All I can tell you is that it is not inspiring.

So here we are. Refreshing football news websites over and over hoping to see that someone has been fired. This is what it has come to. We have come of age and discovered that the adults running things are even more screwed up than us little people down below and there’s nothing to do about it.

But, family is family. So, next Sunday and the Sunday after that, I will tune in to watch the Chiefs play. I will cringe and guffaw, and write another piece, although I’m running out of things to say.

Maybe next week this column will be about soup.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

The Todd Haley Revenge Bowl is fast approaching and it appears the stakes could be significantly higher than we originally though.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has got to be getting a little but hot under the collar as the humiliating losses keep piling up. GM Scott Pioli has assembled a team that is bumbling its way into the history books. The Chiefs have failed to hold a lead this season, a feat no other NFL team has accomplished through as many games since the Pony Express was still delivering packages.

When the schedule came out, we all circled Monday the 12th, not just because it was a primetime game for our favorite team but because we knew the whole Haley vs. the Chiefs storyline would be compelling.

With Pioli’s job in clear jeopardy, the game becomes even more important. There is no telling what Hunt is thinking. He has been largely silent while his team descends into the depths of football hell.

Monday has the chance to be the final straw for Hunt. It is a nationally televised game. Monday Night Football. The whole world will get to see what a horrendous mess the 2012 Chiefs are. A loss will knock KC to a 1-8 record, effectively pulling the plug on their already critically injured season. If Haley is able to use the Pittsburgh offense to run up the score, thus adding to what will likely already be an embarrassing situation, he could force Hunt’s hand.

Clark strikes me as the kind of guy who would like to wait until the end of the season to fire Pioli. Whatever Hunt does, it is likely to be well thought out and planned. But with the evidence mounting against keeping Pioli, even for the rest of the season, we may see Hunt pull the plug.

After all the bad blood that supposedly passed between Haley and Pioli, you have to believe that Todd wants to stick it to his former boss. Like, really stick it to him.

If he does, it may be Haley who has the last laugh.

The spin is in: our expectations were too high.

You might’ve thought this latest debacle was Scott Pioli’s fault, but you were wrong. This is, once again, our fault. Just like when we were too dense to understand the difference between cap space and cash spending, or when we weren’t smart enough to realize how good Tyson Jackson was. Or when we believed the sensationalist media’s rampant speculation about an unhealthy work environment at 1 Arrowhead Drive. This year, to top it all off, we had the nerve to expect to contend for a playoff spot.

We just can’t seem to get this right, Chiefs fans. It’s like we’ve never heard the word “process” before.

It could take 10 more years to right this ship. Or even 20. We won’t really know what we have in Matt Cassel til 2015, and Dontari Poe, being a defensive tackle, won’t be entering his prime til about 2020. I think by 2025 we’ll pretty much have this division on lockdown though. Then another 10-12 years and we’ll get a sweet taste of that AFC Championship game. We won’t win, of course. Not yet. That’s more of a 2050 project.

You’ve all seen or heard parts of Pioli’s recent “media blitz,” I’m sure. The standard, boring non-answers. No urgency, per usual. He did that thing he does where he says he’s taking responsibility but doesn’t take any responsibility. You know the one, usually something like “hey, we all need to do a better job, and that includes me.” A statement like that always sounds pretty hollow when followed up with a claim that Tyson Jackson is playing well or there weren’t any good QBs to draft. He “takes responsibility” and then explains why he hasn’t done anything wrong. And then his apologists get some talking points to parrot, we lose a bunch more games, rinse, repeat. Nothing new here, we’ve seen all this before.

The one nugget that caught my eye was when he said to Petro, “we talked over the summer about managing expectations.” Indicating that he had been warning people before the preseason even started not to get their hopes up. I certainly didn’t remember him doing that, in fact I remembered the opposite. I remembered him saying that expectations should be high. As it turns out, my memory was correct.

This doesn’t mean Pioli is lying. He very well might have talked with Petro about the need to manage expectations. Let’s assume he did. Is that not the most pathetic thing you’ve ever heard? That a GM in his FOURTH YEAR with a team would be cautioning against modest playoff hopes?

Only in Kansas City would someone even attempt this. After so many years of hearing nothing but excuses, KC fans have been thoroughly desensitized. Excuses no longer disgust us, like they do most people. It’s like we’ve been driving around with that puke smell in our car for so long, we don’t even notice it anymore.

We actually create excuses for the Chiefs now. Sometimes before they even get here. Fans were scrambling for ways to dismiss Brian Daboll’s past failures before his plane even touched down. The Daboll-Hillis reunion was something Chiefs fans were touting! Even at the time, I laughed at that.

After first hearing Pioli mention expectation-management to Petro, I tweeted some sarcastic remark and moved on with my day. It was a lame thing to say, sure, but Pioli is a lame guy. And since he obviously doesn’t communicate well, I assumed this was just some minor foot-in-mouth. Then I heard him trying to soft-sell the same idea two weeks later in an interview with Len Dawson. That tells me this is more party line than slip of tongue. And that just drives me crazy.

Is this seriously what this bunch of hacks is going with? That we were expecting too much? All joking aside, I’m surprised they’re willing to sink that low. Professional football executives essentially admitting that after four years on the job they still didn’t expect to contend. Why is Pioli not embarrassed by this? Why does he think this tactic can save him?

Dayton Moore is doing the same thing across the parking lot. It’s year six over there, and he’s talking about contending in 2014 (year eight) as if that’s a totally reasonable timetable. He actually says anyone who thinks otherwise “doesn’t do their own research” as if losing for many years is the only known path to winning.

Moore is a clown, but at least he actually is at a disadvantage payroll-wise. Pioli has no such excuse. The salary cap has made it so fortunes can rise and fall in the NFL every year…..as long as you’re not the Chiefs. Instead of our regular turn at contention, we get assurances that after a few more years of being bad, we’ll be good forever! The future, people! Consistent championships! What, are you one of those idiots who cares about the present? So shortsighted.

Then the future gets here, and we’re still bad and still being told to wait for the future. This is the reality of being a Kansas City sports fan. Your teams will be bad, and the men in charge will try to save their jobs by selling this ridiculous fantasy to the most gullible fans. “Patience, o ye Cananites, suffer five years of calamity, plague and pestilence and I shall deliver endless Super Bowls unto thee…….at a later, unnamed date.”

Someone on this very site recently told me he wouldn’t be satisfied to “just make the Super Bowl once, if it meant we had to suck for three years afterwards.” Are you f*#king kidding me?! We last made a Super Bowl in the 1960s. Pioli somehow hoodwinked half the city into thinking he’d take us there regularly if we just gave him enough time and looked the other way on enough losing seasons. It’s embarrassing. Kansas City is Springfield and he’s the monorail salesman.

Teams that talk about patience and processes are teams that lose. We know this better than anyone. Did Dick Vermeil tell us to be patient? Did Marty Schottenheimer and Carl Peterson?

I’ll field that one: no, they did not. They quickly turned bad teams into good ones. Herm Edwards, Allard Baird, Dayton Moore, Scott Pioli, these are the guys who talk about plans and processes, and how long everything is going to take. That’s loser talk, and we should recognize it by now. We’ve been hearing it from losers, and watching them lose, for the better part of a decade.

This assault on expectations will probably be Pioli and Co.’s final spin attempt. Not their best effort. I suppose I should’ve been managing my expectations for the front office spin as well.

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Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt needs to fire Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel before they can do any further damage to his football team.

The calls for Pioli and Crennel to be canned have been coming from fans for a while now but after yesterday’s unconscionable decision to cut CB Stanford Routt, it is clear the guys in charge of running the Chiefs are so clueless that allowing their incompetence to continue is downright irresponsible.

The cutting of Routt was a feeble attempt to add to the ever-growing list of Pioli fall-guys. At this point, Pioli and Crennel are not all that different than two men locked in a dark room flailing their arms around looking for the light switch.

Only there is no switch.

Routt wasn’t the best player on the Chiefs’ defense but he sure as heck wasn’t the worst. In fact, there is pretty strong evidence that despite some of his struggles, he was still the second best CB on the roster. How, in any way, does cutting Routt now make the Kansas City Chiefs a better football team?

Surprisingly, I’ve actually seen some folks arguing that Routt being cut isn’t that big of a deal. Some suggested (without any evidence I might add) that Routt may have character issues or that he is a team cancer. Statements like this are irresponsible and unfair. There hasn’t, to my knowledge, been a single report of Routt acting up in the KC locker room. The lack of a report on Routt misbehaving doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s been a model citizen but if there were some internal problems with Routt and the Chiefs, do you think Scott Pioli, master of media manipulation, would not have leaked something by now?

Another argument for cutting Routt is that he is due a $10 million option bonus due and since he hasn’t played all that well this season, he wasn’t going to be retained next season anyway. There are multiple problems with this argument. For starters, the Chiefs are paying, and have paid, millions of dollars to a number of under-performing players during the Scott Pioli regime. Matt Cassel, Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson, to name a few, have stolen so much money from Clark Hunt’s wallet that criminal chargers should be filed.

Scott Pioli’s job is to win football games, not save Hunt a few million bucks by cutting struggling players so he can replace them with worse players. Pioli’s frugal ways have already saved Hunt plenty of money. It also makes things more difficult for the Chiefs in the future. Since Pioli allowed Carr to leave and has failed on multiple occasions to draft a CB capable of starting alongside Brandon Flowers, losing Routt just adds another hole to the roster for the future.

The move simply highlights yet another one of Pioli’s flaws. He thought he was being so smart by allowing Brandon Carr to leave in free agency. You can see his line of thinking so clearly that his repeated instances that signing Carr was still possible after the Routt deal was done seem even more insulting in hindsight. This man actually looked fans in the eye after giving Routt a big deal and told them that he was still trying to work out a deal with Brandon Carr.

So much crap, they had to start a new pile.

And so after just eight games on a new team and in a new defense, Crennel and Pioli are cutting ties with the man they brought in to replace Carr. If Routt is due a $10 million option bonus and he is under-performing, all that does is place two more strikes on the side of the ledger that says Pioli is in over his head.

For all Routt’s flaws, he is also one of the players responsible for Kansas City’s lone victory this season. That’s right, late in the third quarter with the Chiefs trailing 13 to 24, Drew Brees and the Saints were on the KC 29, Routt intercepted a Drew Brees pass and returned it 32 yards. On the subsequent drive, Ryan Succop drilled a 34-yard field goal that pulled the Chiefs within a eight.

If the Saints score even a FG on that drive, the Chiefs don’t win the game. Remember, following Routt’s pick, it took three Ryan Succop field goals and a safety for the Chiefs to even tie the game to force overtime.

Routt is no world-beater but he can and has made a difference for the Chiefs this season.

The Kansas City Chiefs defense is worse without Routt than they were with him. Nothing we have seen from Javier Arenas, Jalil Brown or Travis Daniels should inspire any confidence that any one of them can play even half as good as Stanford Routt.

In short, Scott Pioli traded Tony Gonzalez for Javier Arenas and Brandon Carr for Standford Routt…who he then cut almost immediately.

For all his talk about “process” and “consistency” Pioli has run one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL. Unless you count losing as consistent in which case he has nearly hit the mark in that area.

The Chiefs aren’t bad because Stanford Routt struggled at times this season. They’re bad because Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel haven’t done their jobs well enough. Crennel’s Chiefs are one of the most undisciplined teams in the history of the NFL. Todd Haley, who also probably has no business holding a head coaching position in the NFL, got more out of this team with Tyler Palko starting at QB than Crennel has been able to with superior talent.

Hunt should relieve Pioli and Crennel of their duties immediately, not just because they are almost certainly dead men walking, but because are showing now they could actually continue to do harm to the organization, thus making things more difficult on their eventual successors.

It is time for Hunt to protect his team and to announce to Chiefs fans and the rest of the NFL that he isn’t the type of man to stand by while two buffoons try to turn his father’s once proud football club into the NFL’s new version of the new Cleveland Browns or worse, the post glory days Oakland Raiders.

Firing Pioli and Crennel now likely won’t stop the ship from sinking but it will certainly stop the duo from shooting more holes into the deck. And for Chiefs fans desperate for proof that Hunt cares more about winning than he does about money and soccer, that could make a big difference.

Photo courtesy of @danloving

The “Save Our Chiefs” group isn’t the only KC fan group letting it be known that they want GM Scott Pioli to be fired.

Sports Time, a store in Wichita, Kansas, is currently offering 50 percent off all Chiefs merchandise until the team either wins another game, or Scott Pioli is fired.

The store posted the following message on its website:

Sports Time Fan Shop is frustrated with the Chiefs just like all the fans are. So, until the Chiefs win another game or Pioli is fired this year, all Chiefs apparel is 50% OFF each and every day!

You have to hand it to the folks at Sports Time. This is a pretty brilliant marketing move. You’ve got to believe that sales on Chiefs gear are way down, perhaps even non-existent. How many people out there are running to the store to get Matt Cassel jerseys? If someone gave you a Peyton Hillis jersey for Christmas, would you slap them?

Probably.

Sports Time is not only finding a way to move some unmovable merchandise, but they are also taking advantage of the growing swell of fan anger.

It’s the American way, folks.

For Pioli’s sake, he better hope the sale ends soon. Thanks to a win, of course.

(h/t Bleacher Report)

Hello, Addicts, I have to say that a Sunday with no depressing Chiefs loss was pretty nice. With the embarrassment of the San Diego loss in the rearview mirror and the ensuing loss to the Steelers still a week away, I have a chance to vent some general Chiefs-related thoughts at you. I’ve once again decided to “borrow” my format from Sports Illustrated’s Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback (which is a must-read) and present you with a variety of topics.

Here we go……

* I now believe that Clark Hunt will wait to fire anyone until the end of the season. Friday or Saturday was the perfect time to make a move since it would have given the Chiefs extra time to get their new coach/GM up and running with almost a week and a half between games. If Clark wouldn’t make a move after a nationally televised embarrassment like we saw on Thursday night, I don’t think it will happen any time soon. I just hope that he doesn’t wait too long on the new GM. Clark needs to fire Pioli before the season is over so that the new GM can hire his coach before all the best candidates are scooped up. That’s what happened when Pioli was hired.

* I think Scott Pioli is a coward for not firing Romeo Crennel after the Chargers game. It’s clear that Romeo doesn’t have the Chiefs ready to play from an emotional or strategic standpoint. With Pioli’s job on the line he doesn’t want to have to admit that he screwed up again with his coaching hire only eight games into Romeo’s official tenure. Much like his insistence on sticking with Cassel, his decision to keep Romeo has more to do with him not wanting to admit he made a mistake than it does with doing what is best for the Chiefs. This is absolutely a fireable offense.

* If I was ranking the Chiefs head coaches since Marty left, I think I would go Vermeil, Haley, Edwards, Cunningham, and then Romeo. It’s a pretty pathetic group overall, but here’s my thinking. Vermeil had the best overall record and the Chiefs had a 13-3 season under him. His offense was amazing. Haley was absolutely crazy, his preseason plan last year was a disaster, and his offensive coordinator situation was even worse. That having been said, it’s clear that his ability to push players and hold them accountable is sorely missed this season. If he’s learned his lesson on not going “off his rocker” quite so much I think he could still be a good NFL head coach if given another chance. Edwards was a mess but I respect his ability to spot talent. At least he left the roster with a lot of future Pro Bowlers. Cunningham was just as crazy as Haley, but without the results. Then we have Romeo, who has shown no ability to motivate, lead, or devise a winning game plan whatsoever. At this point I can’t think of one positive quality that he brings to the Chiefs as a head coach.

* Question: If Clark Hunt had backed Todd Haley in the Haley/Pioli feud and fired Pioli last season instead, would the Chiefs be better off right now?

* I’m not a diehard K-State fan, but I have watched a few of their games this year and I’ve come away very jealous of how well coached they are. That team never comes out not ready to play. Even more impressive is how the coaching staff makes adjustments as the game goes on. K-State rarely blows a team out early on, instead they feel the other team out. They see what they are doing well and what they are struggling with and then the coaching staff adjusts what they are doing to stop them and take advantage of their holes. The result is a team that usually dominates in the second half. The KC coaches haven’t figured out how to do this. I REALLY hope that the staff next year can motivate, game plan, and make adjustments in-game. This year’s staff is 0 for 3 in those departments.

* I’ve begun turning my attention to the first round QB prospects for next year’s NFL draft as a way to get my mind off this year’s team. As excited about Geno Smith as I was a month ago, I am equally concerned now. I’ve mentioned before that I felt like he just accepted defeat in the K-State game and sulked around on the sideline. What really worries me though is his numbers the last three games. He started the year against a Division II school and four Division I teams that had an average defensive ranking of 82.5. In those games he averaged 399 yards, 81.4 percent completion percentage, 9.8 YPA, with 24 TDs and zero INTs. However, since then he’s played three teams that have an average defensive ranking of 25.3 and has averaged 227 yards, 58.5 percent completion percentage, 4.8 YPA, with five TDs and three INTs. 227 yards/game, 58.5 percent, and 4.8 YPA in a pass-heavy college spread offense with two NFL caliber WRs is REALLY bad. If he can’t put up better numbers than that against good college defenses, then what is he going to do against NFL caliber ones?

* Finally, after spending some time on YouTube looking at the college QBs, I stumbled across some post game interviews that got me thinking. The Chiefs are a HORRIBLE football team. Assuming the Chiefs do draft a first-round QB, they are probably going to go through some struggles as this team tries to break free of its losing ways. So KC is going to need a QB that can handle losing, handle adversity, and really lead this team. So I’ll leave you with a video I put together showing all three first-round QB prospects after key losses this season. You can judge for yourself who you would like leading your favorite team.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

The Kansas City Chiefs turned in yet another underwhelming performance Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers, dropping them to 1-7 on the season.

Does the new low spell the end for Chiefs GM Scott Pioli?

Some might tell you that it doesn’t make sense to fire a GM in the middle of the season but I vehemently disagree. I think it can be very advantageous to cut ties, especially if Clark Hunt already knows who his replacement is going to be. It makes even more sense if the replacement is available to start work immediately.

The Carolina Panthers just fired their GM after a 1-5 start so cutting ties mid-season isn’t unheard of. The Cleveland Browns have also begun making major changes, inserting their new president before Mike Holmgren was officially off the job.

I’ve no doubt that if Clark Hunt is going to make a move that he is going to do it carefully. He will likely have a solid game plan in place if and when he decides to pill the plug on Pioli.

If Hunt decide he wants to make a move mid-season, this would be the week to do it. The Chiefs don’t play another game for ten days when they travel to Pittsburgh for the Todd Haley Revenge Bowl.

In the end, Hunt may have no choice. Chiefs fans are livid and have been for some time. They want Pioli out and they want to know that Hunt is committed to winning. If anything, removing Pioli now would at least let fans know that change is on the way, even if more wins this season are not.

What do you think, Addicts? Should Clark fire Pioli now or wait until the end of this miserable season?

Scott Pioli’s Chiefs are now breaking 70-year-old records for futility.

I’m not going to say I told you so. To do that, you have to correctly predict something. I didn’t predict this. I have always disliked Scott Pioli personally, and I thought he was mediocre-to-bad at his job, but I never considered him the worst GM in the league. Bottom half, sure, but I thought his “play-it-safe” approach would probably keep us right in that 6-10 to 10-6 range for the rest of his tenure in Kansas City. And I’ve always assumed that tenure would be at least 10 years long. Wrong on both counts. So no, an “I told you so” would most definitely not be appropriate here. Pioli has done worse than I ever thought possible.

I’ll be interested to see how long his supporters will continue making excuses for him. Most of the blame so far seems to have been placed on Romeo Crennel and Matt Cassel, with opinion more divided on Pioli. “He’s put together a good roster,” and “this team has talent,” are phrases oft-repeated. What more can we ask of our GM, right?

Here’s the problem with that line of thinking: this latest collapse could only be a result of a franchise in total disarray. “Changing the culture” is something Pioli has focused on from day one. He cleaned house, brought in “his guys,” put up signs, heightened security, drafted captains, repeatedly changed PR directors, picked up candy wrappers, etc, etc. One might argue he focused more on the culture than the roster. “The Patriot Way” was his blueprint. He was going to install that culture here.

How’s that working out for us? This roster, that is supposedly full of talent, is the worst in the league. When good players play bad, when coaches don’t have them prepared to play, what is that if not a cultural breakdown?

There is no longer any way to shield Pioli from this mess. He hand-picked the QB, he refused to bring in real competition AGAIN, he promoted his NE buddy to head coach, and he signed or drafted most of these players (just not the good ones). After four offseasons, I think we can safely say this culture is of his own creation. And it has failed miserably. Either that, or this roster has far less talent than we thought. Either way, Pioli is the architect of this team’s misery.

It’s been clear to me for some time that our general manager learned all the wrong lessons from his time in New England. He thought he could import that way of doing things and the rest would take care of itself, even without Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. He also thought he had earned the right to take things slow, and that we shouldn’t expect too much yet. Serious misjudgements there. They have set this franchise back even further, and will cost him and many of his underlings their jobs (#fireMarkDonovan).

I usually roll my eyes when people talk about changing a team’s culture. The way to create a culture of winning is to, you know, win. And the way to win is to have better players and coaches than your opponents. Not Matt Cassel, not Tyson Jackson, not Brian Daboll. What you need is people who are better than their counterparts on the opposing sidelines.

Jason Whitlock and Kent Babb did a hilarious podcast on Pioli recently. Babb has no reason to stay mum any longer, so they really went to town. Whitlock had a great line, to the effect of “If you don’t have a quarterback, and your defensive and offensive lines are bad, what do you really have?”

That got me thinking about this roster, and how talented it really is. I’m torn here. All three QBs Pioli has brought in are total duds, and his first-round draft picks are contributing very little. Having said that, I was in favor of three of those picks when they were made, and am still interested in those three players (Tin Man being the odd man out, of course).

Our defensive line is one-dimensional at best. We have good linebackers, but Jovan Belcher is well below average as a starter. Brandon Flowers is the only above average defensive back.* Can we seriously say this defense has above average talent? I count four, above-average starters (Hali, Houston, Flowers, DJ). I think most teams could claim as many.

*There are some straight-up clowns in that secondary, ya’ll. You know who I miss? Jerome Woods. There was a safety you could set your watch to.

I would like to believe there is some talent on the offensive line. I don’t think we need major changes there, anyway. But it would be hard for me to call any of those guys significantly above average. Some fine players, no world-beaters. Bowe is good, Charles is good. That’s pretty much it, right? When your QBs are this bad, and you only have two good skill position players, is that above-average talent?

I realize this team should be better than 1-6, but anyone thinking about playoff victories this season was kidding himself all along. We don’t have top 10 talent, and we never did.

I’m not saying I saw this meltdown coming. I’m just saying, maybe we could have? There were certainly signs. Both Romeo Crennel and Brian Daboll had done their current jobs before and been bad at them. Is borrowing heavily from the Browns ever going to lead to success? I mean seriously, why don’t we just start a basketball team and bring in the late ’90s Clippers?

We knew Cassel wasn’t good; we knew Quinn wasn’t good; we knew D-Bowe was unhappy; we knew the rookies were unlikely to contribute much this season; we knew Berry, Moeaki and Charles might not be the same; we knew we had no defensive coordinator; we knew our defense was geared toward stopping the run despite this being a pass-heavy league; we knew Brian Daboll had failed twice; we knew Peyton Hillis had averaged a Thom Jones-esque YPC his last three years; and, perhaps most importantly, we knew this very team had been bad last year. A sub-.500 record this season was always a distinct possibility, whether we wanted to see that or not.

Of course, there were reasons to be optimistic about the roster if you were willing to ignore the quarterback position. The aforementioned good linebackers, replacing Barry Richardson with Pioli’s first-ever, big-ticket free agent, a seeming plethora of offensive weapons.* You didn’t have to squint too hard to see a solid team there. Again, minus the quarterback position.

*You guys should’ve seen Jon Baldwin in camp. So amazing! And the Chiefs were so happy to tell us about it, too. Definitely didn’t have anything to do with that Bowe holdout though. Why would you even think that? What, just because this player you were repeatedly told was incredible has 14 catches in seven games? Come on, guys, it’s a coincidence. Jeez, you act like this team has a history of deceit or something.

So what is this team’s real talent level? I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter at this point. However talented or untalented they are, Scott Pioli’s culture has turned them into the worst team in the league. Sweet irony. The one thing he thought he had a perfect handle on is actually his greatest weakness, and will be his undoing.

The Pioli Way: a culture of winning minus the wins.

I’d like to start this piece by making two statements. First, I believe Scott Pioli deserves to be fired. Second, I don’t believe Scott Pioli will be fired this season. Without going into a big debate about why I believe these two things, I’ll just say this: Pioli should be fired because the overall product he has put on the field four years into his tenure as GM of the Kansas City Chiefs is not good enough. However, I think because of his relationship with Clark Hunt and how much money he saved Clark over the past four years, he will be given a chance to finish out his contract and will go into the 2013 season as the Chiefs GM once again. I’m not happy about this, but if I had to guess, that’s my prediction. If I’m wrong, and Pioli is fired before the season is over, I will be a\one happy fan/blogger.

But that is not what I want to debate today.

IF I am correct that Pioli will be back for another season as the KC general manager, how worried should Chiefs fans be about Pioli calling the shots this offseason? The absolute #1 objective for this offseason is to find a franchise QB, so what should KC fans think about Pioli being the guy to make that decision?

Obviously, since 99 percent of us want the guy run out of town, the answer is probably that we want Pioli to have no part of that decision. I agree, I do. However, let’s set aside the Pioli torches and pitchforks and the “every decision that Pioli has ever made SUCKS!!” mentality and see if, when it comes to drafting QBs, Pioli has earned that reputation.

Now, again let me say that I’m not trying to be a Pioli apologist. The Chiefs QB situation is indefensible. I think it’s impossible to argue that Pioli has done enough at that position during his time in KC. Would it have helped if he had brought in some better QBs via free agency? Sure, but I don’t think that’s what most of us that want Pioli gone are really wanting. We don’t want another FA stop gap, we want the Chiefs to draft and develop their own franchise QB. So I’m not going to waste any time looking at what free agents Pioli could have brought in to challenge Matt Cassel. I will focus on the Draft.

During the four seasons that Pioli has been drafting for the Kansas City Chiefs, 14 current starting QBs have been selected in the Draft. That’s about 44 percent of teams in the NFL that have found a starting QB via the Draft since Pioli came to KC. When you hear that number by itself, it seems ridiculous that Pioli couldn’t have selected one of those players or the Chiefs. However, in his interview with sports radio 810 last week, Pioli implied that the Chiefs haven’t been in great position to draft a first round QB. Does he have a point? It sure seems like the Chiefs have had enough early first-round picks to make it happen. However, when I went back and looked, nine of those 14 current starting QBs that have been selected since Pioli came to KC were taken before KC had their first pick. Those players are:

2009: Matthew Stafford
2010: Sam Bradford
2011: Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder
2012: Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill

Now, I think it’s reasonable to take Stafford, Bradford, Newton, Luck, and RG3 off the table and say that KC had little to no shot at landing any of those QBs regardless of what Pioli may have wanted. The only one of those that would have even been up for discussion was the RG3 pick and with Washington forking over three #1 picks and a second to move up just a couple spots, it’s hard to imagine what KC would have had to give up to beat them out while moving up nine spots. So the question is, should Pioli have moved up to take Locker, Gabbert, Ponder, or Tannehill?

Looking at the situation in 2011, KC was coming off a 10-6 division championship where Cassel made the Pro Bowl with 27 TDs and only 7 INTs. Yes, he was horrible against the Ravens in the playoffs and many fans had their doubts about him long term, but with their other holes, was anyone clamoring for Pioli to move up and take Locker, Gabbert, or Ponder? If so, I don’t remember that.

In hindsight, would KC have been better off if they had? Sure, but I don’t know that Pioli should be ripped for not moving up to take one of those guys considering where they were at, what they would have had to give up, and what kind of season the team and Matt Cassel were coming off. So that leaves us with Ryan Tannehill. The overwhelming majority of KC fans seemed nervous about the Chiefs taking Tannehill at #11 if he was still there. Tannehill was a prospect that scouts said had NFL “tools” but didn’t win a lot of games or put up huge numbers while at Texas A&M.

The Chiefs did have Tannehill in for a private workout, so Pioli did at least look into it. Tannehill has looked like a good pick thus far, so it appears that the Chiefs may have been well-served to move up and get him. Maybe they looked into it, maybe not. Who knows what the Dolphins (or one of the teams in front of them) would have been asking for. I think there is more room to criticize Pioli on this one than the 2011 draft, but if not trading multiple picks to move up for Ryan Tannehill is Pioli’s biggest mistake in terms of moving UP for a QB, I don’t know if that is all that bad.

So now let’s look at the QBs that KC could have drafted since Pioli took over as GM. Here is a list of Pioli picks over the past four years and the QBs that they could have had with those picks in the first three rounds. The QBs in BOLD are current NFL starters.

2009:
#3 – Tyson Jackson – Mark Sanchez (#5), Josh Freeman (#17)
#34 – (Traded for Cassel) – Pat White (#44)
#67 – Alex Magee – Stephen McGee (#101)

2010:
#5 – Eric Berry – Tim Tebow (#25)
#36 – Dexter McCluster – Jimmy Clausen (#48)
#68 – Jon Asamoah – Colt McCoy (#85)

2011:
#21/26 – Jonathon Baldwin – Andy Dalton (#35), Colin Kaepernick (#36)
#70 – Justin Houston – Ryan Mallet (#74)

2012:
#11 – Dontari Poe – Brandon Weeden (#22)
#44 – Jeff Allen – Brock Osweiler (#57)
#74 – Donald Stephenson – Russell Wilson (#75), Nick Foles (#88), Kirk Cousins (#102)

So let’s look at these one year at a time. In Pioli’s first year in KC he traded our second round pick for Matt Cassel (and Mike Vrabel) who was coming off a pretty solid season filling in for Tom Brady. In hindsight, would Josh Freeman have been a better pick than Tyson Jackson? Yes, but Freeman was seen as a bit of a risk at #17 that season, let alone at #3. The only QB even considered in the top 10 after Stafford was Sanchez and he has struggled as much as Cassel has. I don’t think Pioli deserves a bad rap for not drafting our QB in his first year here. You can criticize him for signing Cassel to his long term deal, but I think the draft (QB wise) was justifiable.

Next up is the 2010 draft. Does anybody want Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen, or Colt McCoy to be the future of the QB position in KC? I don’t, so I don’t think we can hold it against Pioli for not drafting our franchise QB in the 2010 draft.

The 2011 draft is interesting to debate. In hindsight, Andy Dalton looks like he would have been a MUCH better pick for the Chiefs than Jon Baldwin. I don’t think anybody can argue that KC is better off for having Baldwin over Dalton. However, as I mentioned before, the Chiefs were coming off a division win and Cassel going to the Pro Bowl. Plus, the WR position was so bad that the Chiefs started Kevin Curtis who they had just signed off the street at WR in the playoffs. As much as we as fans can now look back at this draft pick and go “What was he thinking?” it’s hard to argue that Pioli was wrong to take a WR given the previous season. You can make an argument for Dalton, but much like the Tannehill discussion above, I’m not sure that it shows Pioli to be incompetent when it comes to drafting QBs because of this choice. Kaepernick and Mallet may prove to be great QBs, but its hard to judge that until they start multiple regular season games in the NFL. I’m pretty happy with the Justin Houston pick anyway.

That leaves us with the 2012 draft. This one (in my opinion) contains Pioli’s biggest mistake. I’m not upset that the Chiefs didn’t take Weeden. His age made taking him at #11 too big of a risk (in my opinion). I’m still not sold on him as a long-term franchise QB. He may end up being a solid starting QB, but I’m not upset that Pioli didn’t reach for him at #11 (or trade back, etc). Osweiler is still an unknown. He’s supposedly very raw and I don’t think any scouts thought he was ready to walk in and start as a rookie. So again, I’m not upset that we didn’t take him in the second round.

However, the third-round selection of backup tackle Donald Stephenson instead of either Russell Wilson, Nick Foles or Kirk Cousins looks like a huge mistake by Pioli. Foles and Cousins are both unknowns both showed some real upside in training camp and preseason action.

Russell Wilson has walked in as a 5’11″ rookie and already looks better than Matt Cassel in his fifth season as a NFL starter. Pioli could have picked Wilson in the third, signed another OT in free agency, and been MUCH better off than the team is now. Plus, drafting Wilson in the third would have allowed Cassel to still enter camp as the starter, there wouldn’t have been expectations to play a third-rounder right out of the gate, plus if Wilson never materialized, no big deal, it was just a third-rounder. It was a no-lose situation and Pioli blew it. I think if you look at his KC draft history, that was his biggest miss when it comes to drafting QBs.

So if I’m ranking Pioli’s biggest QB draft mistakes in KC, I would go:

1. Not drafting a QB in the third round this year instead of a backup OT.

2. Not trading up for Ryan Tannehill.

3. Not being able to admit that Cassel’s Pro Bowl was probably a fluke and drafting Andy Dalton instead of filling the hole at WR with Jon Baldwin.

Other than that, I don’t know that you can complain about much else in terms of Pioli and drafting QBs. I suppose you could add passing on Brandon Weeden, not reaching for Josh Freeman, or not trading every draft pick for the rest of time for RG3, but that seems like reaching for the sake of bashing someone we all want gone. Are those three mistakes listed above enough to make you objectively say that Pioli could not draft a franchise QB? It’s not like he has let Pro Bowler after Pro Bowler slip through his fingers. On the other hand, if he’s so good at evaluating talent, why didn’t he recognize sooner that Cassel wasn’t good enough? I think that is actually the biggest strike against him, as opposed to anything specific he has done or not done in the draft when it comes to QBs.

There will be no doubt about it this time around. The Chiefs will go into the 2013 offseason needing to find their new QB. Even if Scott Pioli is still around, he won’t be able to put it off anymore. There will be no sticking with Matt Cassel this time. So if the Chiefs stay on their current course and end up with a top 5 pick, Scott Pioli will be in uncharted waters. He’ll be in the market for a new QB while sitting in position to draft one of the elite prospects. If that happens, does his track record leave you with no confidence for him to choose correctly? Has the overall failure of Pioli to build a consistent winner unfairly branded him as unable to find a good QB in the draft or is that reputation deserved?

For once, I’m not sure what I think.

I still think Pioli should be fired.

I still think Hunt will probably keep him around for at least one more year.

I’m just not sure what Pioli will do with a high draft pick and QB at the top of his wish list. As much as I don’t want Pioli to be around to answer this question, if I’m honest with myself, I don’t feel as bad about Pioli’s track record of drafting QBs now that I’ve looked at the actual picks and the situation he was in at the time. I’m not excusing the state of this franchise overall, it’s pitiful. I’m sure some will choose to label me a Pioli apologist just for suggesting this is up for discussion. I’m just trying to be objective. I’d love to hear what you all think about this in the comments. Has Pioli proven he can’t find a QB in the Draft or has he simply not been in a good position to land one? Sound off, Addicts!

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

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.

But anger isn’t going to fix the mess that is the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs. Only action will do that.

Unfortunately, other than flying banners and making signs, there isn’t a whole lot fans can do to help their favorite team get its act together. Still, allowing our voices to be heard can’t be a bad thing.

The most vocal of Chiefs fans seem to want Pioli out immediately. Having run this site for a number of years now, I can tell you that you hear more from people that are unhappy than you do from those who are pleased with the job you are doing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there that enjoy the site. Quite to the contrary, actually. It just seems that people are more motivated to speak out when they are angry or disagree than when they are happy.

I thought it would be fun to get a poll going to see just where Chiefs Nation stands on Scott Pioli.

So let us know what you think? Should Pioli be canned immediately? Or should he be given more time?

On the team’s performance so far vs. the preseason expectations:

-I think a number of us felt we were heading in the right direction, put together a solid roster.

On the criticism he’s been facing:

-You understand when you take these jobs on there is criticism that comes with the territory.

-When there’s success, you’re never as smart as people say. When there’s failure, you’re never as bad.

-I’ve been a firm believer in criticizing the performance, not the performer.

-Ultimately I was brought in here to do a job and we’re still trying to get it done.

-It’s unhealthy to spend too much time wallowing and processing negativity.

-It’s a bottom line business. Whatever it is it isn’t good enough.

On whether or not fans know the real Scott Pioli and if he is too reserved:

-Part of that’s my fault from the standpoint that I’m a private person. I’m a lifelong lineman. I don’t like the spotlight. I don’t like to go out and try to sell who I am.

-This job isn’t about me. It’s about the coaches and the players. Mostly about the players.

-I’m Mia’s dad, that’s who I am. And I happen to be the general manager of the Chiefs.

-This is a passionate fanbase. The people before me were more visible.

-I’ve got to do a better job of that (being visible and accessible). It’s something that we’re working on.

On Romeo Crennel:

-I think Romeo’s doing a good job. Romeo came into this job last year with three games left. There’s been some dramatic change since then.

-This truthfully is a first-year coaching staff.

-He’s the last one in this office every single night. Nobody’s working harder than Romeo Crennel. He’s going to do everything he can to get this right.

-Romeo knows what the problems are. He knows exactly what they are and I think he’s being a good leader in shouldering them.

Perception/Reality:

Romeo doesn’t choose who plays QB: Perception

-100 percent coaching decisions.

Chiefs don’t spend to the salary cap:

The reality is that we spend quite a bit of cash. That we spend cash and will continue to spend cash.

Geno Smith, Tyler Wilson or Matt Barkley:

I haven’t seen them all yet (seemed annoyed).

Well, the damage control tour is over. I’m not sure if today changes much in the eyes of the angry fanbase. I think we need to give Pioli credit for coming out and shouldering the blame.

What do you think, Addicts? Has your opinion of Pioli changed after today?

Dear Clark Hunt,

As I hope you know by now, fans of your team are fed up. Many believe that you don’t care as long as you are making a profit. That may or may not be true. Time will tell and your actions (or lack there of) over the coming weeks will speak volumes to those of us that live and die by this team.

If you do truly care about the product you are putting out and the feelings of the fans that support your team with their time, money, and passion you won’t need any more motivation to make some changes. However, if you are only driven by the almighty dollar, as your detractors say, here is a little added incentive for you.

While you may always have the big fat check from the NFL TV contracts, my guess is that a successful business man like yourself understands that in order to make as much money as possible on a product, that product must have a positive public perception. Otherwise, not only will local ticket sales tail off, but the money that comes in via merchandising, advertising, sponsorships, etc. will also suffer.

With that in mind I’d like to draw your attention to what the national perception of your team is. Here is a collection of comments, rankings, and observations from various national media members that have all come out in the past few days. This is what the country now thinks of your multi-million dollar company.

Gregg Rosenthal – NFL.com
“Seventy-nine teams have started 1-5 since the NFL’s new playoff format began in 1990. None of them have made the playoffs. The 2012 Kansas City Chiefs are not the team that is going to break this streak………..It’s not just about the 1-5 record. It’s how the Chiefs have lost, by 28 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 18 points to the Buffalo Bills and 17 points to the San Diego Chargers. They aren’t competitive against mediocre teams…………Pioli is highly unlikely to change head coaches again if he sticks around. So this is more about chairman Clark Hunt. The Chiefs want to be a stable franchise. We sense Hunt would like to show patience with Pioli. The rest of this season is about Pioli’s future. If the Chiefs remain a dumpster fire and finish with just a few wins, it will be hard to keep Pioli around.”

NFL.com Power Rankings:
Ranked #32
“This is getting ugly very, very fast. Brady Quinn continued the underwhelming quarterback play, which isn’t surprising. What is surprising is how the defense has been getting torched this season. Tampa Bay produced 463 yards of offense despite only having the ball for 26 minutes. That speaks to lots of big plays or “chunk” yardage, like Mike Williams’ 62-yard touchdown catch. Or another 62-yard grab by Tiquan Underwood (Tiquan Underwood?!). Or Doug Martin’s 42-yard catch-and-run. Take your pick. Oh, and on the subject of picks, the Chiefs aren’t getting enough of those, either — at least not enough to make up for all the yards allowed.”

ESPN Power Rankings:
Ranked #32
“The wheels have come off, and it doesn’t matter who the starting quarterback is.”

ESPN’s Bill Williamson (AFC West Blogger) reacting to Power Rankings:
His range for KC (31-32)
“The film doesn’t lie. The Chiefs are awful right now. This ranking won’t make the team’s beleaguered fans any happier.”

Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings:
Ranked #31
“The banner people got their wish, and you’re not going to believe this, but Brady Quinn playing in place of Matt Cassel did not magically solve all the Chiefs problems. I know, I was surprised, too. The Chiefs are off this coming week, and then come back to the face the Raiders, renewing a rivalry every bit as exciting as the one between Jacksonville and Tennessee.”

Yahoo’s Michael Silver:
“While Pioli has failed at building a strong organization, he has succeeded in helping Hunt save tens of millions of dollars over the past few seasons by taking advantage of the uncapped year (and other CBA-related nuances) to penny-pinch on payroll. If and when Pioli does sign an extension, that will be the real reason why.”

Pro Football Talk Power Rankings (done by alleged Pioli buddy Mike Florio)
Ranked #32
“With the first pick in the 2013 draft . . . .”

Doug Tucker, AP and Yahoo! Sports:
“Six weeks after launching the season with quiet hopes of winning the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs have staggered into their bye week 1-5. It’s not just any old 1-5. It’s an ugly 1-5. Every loss but one has been a blowout. The offense has not scored a touchdown in the last eight quarters. Their lone victory came on an overtime field goal in New Orleans. Not once has Kansas City been ahead on the scoreboard when the ball was snapped.”

Clark Judge, CBSSports.com:
“Romeo, Romeo, where aren’t thou? At the bottom of the heap, that’s where.”

Jen Floyd Engel, Fox Sports:
“As it turns out, Brady is that good. He and coach Bill Belichick are why the Patriots have been so good for so long. This does not qualify as earth-shattering or soul-crushing news unless, of course, you are the Kansas City Chiefs (or more succinctly, their fans) and you bought into this idea that Scott Pioli was really why New England won, was the genius behind the genius and was going to bring “The Patriot Way” to KC once he was hired as general manager………This is how Pioli ended up in KC, where he has proven himself not to be a genius or really even very good at his job. This is his fault, kind of, insomuch as he has been unable to land himself another Brady. Nothing can take away from Pioli’s obvious role in all of those Super Bowl rings and years of success in New England. He played a part for sure. As we watch this ugly train wreck go down in Kansas City, let us also remember the absurd amount of luck that came in finding Brady.”

Are you getting the picture, Clark? These aren’t just comments about a team losing, many of them are actually mocking your team for how bad they are.

Do you see what has happened to the national perception of your business? You have a bigger problem than just some fans cheering your injured QB or griping about the team on a blog. The value of your franchise is starting to decline because EVERYONE now sees that the quality of this organization is suffering. Not just a little, but so much that the Kansas City Chiefs are becoming a national punch line.

Sadly, the bad perception of your organization may run even deeper than the fans and the national media. Ask yourself this, Clark, why wouldn’t Peyton Manning even consider talking to your team about coming to KC? Why wouldn’t Jeff Fisher even interview for a coaching position with the Chiefs? It seems that the NFL’s best and brightest don’t think much of this business that you are running either.

It’s time to step up, Clark. I don’t care if you do it for fans like me who live and die with every win and loss, for your own bottom line, or just because you have a big ego and don’t want to be associated with losing and made fun of. The point is that there is NO sensible reason to just stay the course right now. This course is one that is running your biggest money maker into the ground.

It’s time to fire Scott Pioli and get this team headed in a new direction.

That’s not just fan rhetoric, Clark, it’s also good business.

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

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Scott Pioli stopped by 810 Sports Radio today to be tossed a bunch of softball questions with little to no followup by host Soren Petro.

I jotted down as many quotes as I could live. Here is what we’ve got.

To start with:

-At the end of the day, I’m responsible for the football operations and right now things aren’t going well.

-The bottom line is, the buck stops with me.

On Romeo:

-I am as confident in Romeo today as I was the day we hired him.

-It’s not just Romeo wearing himself out wearing the two hats.

On what has gone wrong:

-Expectations are an interesting thing. When you and I talked this summer I said we need to manage expectations.

-Some if it has been turnovers, some of it has been sloppy play. There is a long list of things we’ve got to get corrected.

-It’s been the timing of the penalties. The timing of the turnovers.

-At the end of the day I have to get better at doing my job before this team can get better.

-Everyone has a hand in this right now and at the end of the day I have the largest hand. I will get this corrected.

On the QB position:

-In my four years here I have never, ever made a decision on what players are active…

-There’s never been a time in my four years here or anywhere else where I made a demand or a suggestion over who should play which position.

On the lack of a first-round QB:

-It’s about making the right decision. It’s not about being right it’s about getting it right.

-It’s opportunity. Based on where we’ve been out in the first round each year or subsequent rounds, trust me for as much criticism as I get, I look at everything.

-This summer I was going back to the ’09 and ’10 drafts to review those drafts.

-If you look at the top QBs picked after we had picks, I’m not sure how many of those guys are performing well*

*This is paraphrased because I am a slow-ass typer and he was talking fast. Essentially Pioli was saying he went back and looked at all the QBs taken after the Chiefs have picked and that none of them are all that great. His point was that he just hasn’t had the opportunity to draft a franchise QB.

-Getting a QB and building the right team. I still believe in that.

-You can do it a lot of ways (building a winner).

On Eric Winston:

-I think when we’re in a situation like we’re in right now, there’s a lot of emotion.

-This guy still loves it here. He still wants to be a part of this.

-I love being here.

-Winning will take care of everything.

Unsatisfying interview to say the least. Pioli will be on 610 Sports later today. Let’s hope they do a better job.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pili avoided the carnage of firing that took place across the NFL yesterday and if his press schedule is any indication, he’ll survive today as well.

Things have gotten so bad in Kansas City that the man in charge is being forced to come out and address the public. The Chiefs are 1-5 when they were expected to contend for the AFC West championship. Now, it appears the only thing the team is competing for is the #1 pick in the 2013 NFL draft.

Pioli has explaining to do. He has essentially failed in three really important areas.

1. QB
2. Head coach
3. Performance

Regardless of how much talent Pioli has packed on to the Chiefs roster, the talent isn’t performing. Whether that is because of the environment at Arrowhead, poor coaching, the lack of a leader/franchise QB or a combination of the three, the fact of the matter is that it is Pioli’s job to make sure the team wins.

And they aren’t winning.

A vocal group of fans are calling for Pioli’s head. Crennel’s too. There are even rumors that the Chiefs already have a list of potential candidates to replace Pioli. Things have gotten about as bad as they can get.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has evidently decided to give Pioli a little more time.

And so Pioli will make the media rounds today to face what will likely be a barrage of questions about his job security and failures.

Around lunch time the KC star will run an interview with Pioli. Around the same time he will appear live on 810 Sports and then later, he’ll be on The Big Show on 610 Sports between 3-6 p.m. Central.

Be sure to read/listen in and we’ll have notes and reaction right here on AA.

What do you think Pioli will say?

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Could Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli be unemployed by the end of the day?

The NFL Grim Reaper is making the rounds today and so far it has been a bloodbath.

The Philadelphia Eagles kicked things off by firing their defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.

Next, just about an hour after the news broke that his purchase of the Cleveland Brows was approved, new owner Jimmy Haslam canned team president Mike Holmgren and hired a new CEO/president by the name of Joe Banner.

Will Pioli be next?

The Chiefs are on their Bye Week and the season is clearly lost. If Clark Hunt decides he wants to make a move during the season, now is the time for him to do it.

And the rumors are beginning to fly:

Yesterday former Chief Bill Mass told Bob Fescore of 610 Sports Radio that he expected Pioli to be fired this week.

Then we got this:

Despite rumors over weekend of Scott Pioli getting an extension, sources say KC already has a list of potential people to replace him as GM.

— Russell Lande (@RUSSLANDE) October 16, 2012

@thewalka1 – Can’t say for sure, but my source told me Haley would be gone during season in 2011 & says the same thing about Pioli now.

— Russell Lande (@RUSSLANDE) October 16, 2012

To be fair, these could be nothing more than guesses. It doesn’t take an inside source to realize that Pioli’s job could be in danger.

Still, is Clark Hunt the type of owner who would pull the trigger mid-season?

We may find out by the end of the day. Stay tuned.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

There were rumors all week (none of them especially credible) that Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli was offered a 2-year contract extension by Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

Now, there’s a credible source.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports is reporting that Hunt did indeed offer Pioli an extension. The deal has apparently not yet been signed by Pioli because of some of the language in the new deal.

From La Canfora:

According to my sources, he was offered a 2-year extension earlier this season by owner Clark Hunt. Nothing has been signed yet. Nothing has been agreed to. There’s some issues with language in there so we’ll see where that goes. But that in itself is a strong statement of loyalty from Clark Hunt at a time when the fans and the local media have been calling for the GM’s ouster. Both Pioli and the Chiefs declined to comment on this report.

Given how bad the Chiefs are at playing football this season, it is kind of mind-boggling that Pioli would be offered an extension. Still, Hunt has publicly been a big supporter of Pioli’s.

After today’s game, Pioli might want to hurry up and sign that deal before Hunt changes his mind.

It’s been a rough week for the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans. That is also probably the understatement of the week. Negative attitudes are at a high, and there are so many things at work that it’s difficult to sort things through and address things equally and/or fairly. But here’s my perspective on the varying issues, maybe you’ll agree, maybe you’ll disagree, but hopefully I can bring a few things to light which may have previously gone unconsidered. Some of what I say will be supported by facts, some by speculation in the absence of publicly available facts (such as Pioli’s “master plan”, assuming he has one), but the main intent is to present information or perspective that may not be currently represented (or is, at least, underrepresented). As some (if not most… if not all) of these views are likely to be unpopular or underrepresented, I’m prepared for a hailstorm of comments to the contrary. In the interests of perpetuating a well-reasoned, well-thought-out discourse, I kindly request such comments remain cordial.

Chiefs Ownership

Though owned by the Lamar Hunt family, through Hunt Sports Group, through Unity Hunt LLC, when one thinks of Kansas City Chiefs ownership, one thinks of the family-elected CEO and Chairman Clark Hunt. Simply saying the name “Clark Hunt” will send chills down a large number of Chiefs’ fans spines.

Clark Hunt has been associated with cheapness, caring more about the bottom dollar than team success/glory, and caring less about the Kansas City fanbase and community. That he lives in Dallas, TX is usually a shot taken by fans and media as indication of his lack of caring for the fanbase and community, and that cap availability numbers inaccurately represent how much a team is spending on its players have given him the label of being cheap.

I do not agree with a lot of the negativity surrounding Clark Hunt. For those of you who read my  article two weeks ago, you should know by now that the Kansas City Chiefs have not been cheap in their player spending, having amassed the highest paid team in the NFL this season according to salary cap figures. If you did not read that article, it may be more conducive to your fair assessment of Clark Hunt to do so now. The article provides insight into team spending for all NFL teams and how certain aspects of salary cap management function. To summarize the article for the sake of expedience, Clark Hunt isn’t being cheap on the player spending. This also feeds into how much Clark Hunt cares about the bottom dollar. Though I’m sure the Hunt family’s business interests in the Chiefs would keep them from wanting the organization to start functioning in the red, the same could be said of any business’s or organization’s owner(s) ever. Something can only be supported for so long when it’s not earning revenues equal to or greater than its expenses. That’s just basic economics.

In regards to his consideration for the fanbase and for the Kansas City community, more consideration is being given than the Hunt family has been commonly assessed. One of the chief complaints is that the on-the-field product is not equating to what a lot of Chiefs fans consider to be fair prices for stadium attendance. They don’t feel they’re getting the bang for their buck; a sentiment that is amplified in rough economic times where how one spends what money one has is greatly scrutinized by the spender. So, how does the Chiefs’ gameday experience stack up against the 31 NFL teams? Every year Team Marketing Report in Chicago, IL researches this very question. Here is a chart of the average ticket prices for a fan to attend a game at each of the NFL stadiums; it should be noted the cost and quantity of premium seating is not included in these averages:

The average NFL ticket price is reported as $78.38, well above what the average ticket price to Arrowhead costs. Even factoring out the five highest ticket prices (all above $100) the average ticket price for the 27 lowest price teams is $71.84, still firmly above the Arrowhead average. What may be of additional interest is that Team Marketing Report also tracks the percentage changes in ticket prices for each NFL team. TMR determined that the average NFL ticket price has increased by 2.5% compared to last season. Fifteen NFL teams saw no change in their ticket prices. Of the remaining seventeen teams nine increased ticket prices [the lowest being the Seahawks by 1%, the highest being the Bears by 9.2%], and six lowered ticket prices. The Kansas City Chiefs are not only counted among the six NFL teams that lowered ticket prices, but KC decided to decrease their prices by the second-most percentage* [2.6%]. As part of their report, TMR provided the NFL average cost dating back to the 2007 season; even going back that far, the current Chiefs’ pricing does not meet or exceed the league average.

*Only the Bengals decreased their ticket prices by a greater percentage[4.2%]; however TMR’s research showed that, of the six clubs that decided to decrease ticket prices, the Bengals were one of two clubs that decided to lower ticket prices following lower fan attendance during the 2011 season; the second team being the Bills.

TMR also researched the average premium ticket costs and the cost of beer, soft drinks, hot dogs, parking, programs and caps as part of their study. Their figures on beer and soft drinks are based on the smallest sizes available at each stadium, and their figures on caps are based on the least expensive, adult-size adjustable caps at each stadium. In these categories, the Kansas City Chiefs exceed the league average in only two of them: 1) Hot Dogs – in excess of 66 cents, and 2) Average Premium Ticket costs in excess of $26.30.

As part of their report TMR created a cost index comprised of the costs of four average-price tickets, two small beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two of the least expensive, adult-size adjustable caps. The reported cost index for such a gameday experience for each team is as follows:

As can be seen, the Chiefs rank as the fourth cheapest team in terms of the cost index. TMR determined that the average NFL cost index has increased by 3.9% compared to last season. Only two NFL teams saw no change in their cost index. Of the remaining thirty teams twenty-six saw an increase in cost index [the lowest increase being the Cardinals by 0.3%, the highest being the Bears by 16.3%], and four saw decreases in their cost index. The Kansas City Chiefs are not only counted among the four NFL teams that lowered the overall cost of an average gameday experience, but KC decreased their prices by the second-most percentage [1.6%] with only the Jets showing a greater decrease [1.9%].

So though some, including The Arrowhead Adventurer, may not care for certain organization initiatives, such as the switch to paperless tickets (thereby depriving fans of the memento of ticket stubs), savings are being passed onto the fans by making such changes (I, for one, always tended to rip/disfigure ticket stubs from any events I’ve attended and, as a result, do not partake in that particular keepsake practice… as such, I’d personally prefer more efficient line movement).

Does this forgive the disparity between on-the-field product and the associated costs? Not incredibly. We’d still all like to see the Chiefs be more competitive and in championship contention; an increase in quality without an increase in cost. But at least you’ve been afforded the opportunity to see what other teams’ fans are paying out on gameday, and I think we can all agree that being a Jets fan has to suck considerably more by a quality to cost comparison.

As for the Hunt family living in Dallas, this is the way it’s always been. Lamar Hunt’s ability to finance a football team came from the wealth earned by his father, H.L. Hunt, in conjunction with Hunt Oil. Though Lamar Hunt’s branch of the Hunt family tree no longer holds a stake in Hunt Oil, there are many other business ventures they do own a stake in which are, for the most part, based in Dallas. In the early days, when the Dallas Cowboys (who at the time were much less successful than the Dallas Texans) started taking attention away from Lamar Hunt’s beloved football team, and he resigned to the fact that sentiment was not enough to continue functioning in Dallas when the previous three seasons found the organization in the red, he sought to move that team to a city that would give a damn. The speculated options at the time were for a move to be made to either Oakland or Kansas City. After what was described as a “cloak-and-dagger” affair,  Kansas City’s mayor and Hunt agreed to stage a season ticket run to determine if the new city would be devoted enough to the sport to garner the team with the attention Lamar felt it deserved. Obviously Kansas City met Lamar Hunt’s expectations as we know that he moved the team there; however, what may not be known is that Kansas City fell far short of the set season ticket goal (25,000 tickets) in that they only sold tickets in the 13,000-14,000 tickets by the given deadline. Lamar still felt that the city showed enough devotion and passion (despite not meeting the ticket sales threshold) that he decided to move the Texans to Kansas City.

Nowhere is it mentioned or even suggested that Lamar Hunt agreed to pull up his family’s stakes to move to Kansas City. A lot of tradition and business interests already existed in Dallas for that to have been part of the deal. That same family tradition continues to this day. The Chiefs are but a part of Hunt Sports Inc., and Hunt Sports Inc. is but a part of Unity Hunt LLC. To expect numerous businesses, and a family’s tradition, to be uprooted for the sake of one of those business ventures (though the Kansas City Chiefs are the most recognizable) is asking a lot, and probably too much

Does this mean that the Hunts and the Chiefs don’t care about Kansas City? Not in the least. By my count the Hunts through the Kansas City Chiefs have 15 steady community service programs devoted to helping various aspects of the Greater Kansas City Community. Players are encouraged to actively participate in giving back to the community. And new initiatives such as the Chiefs partnership with the University of Kansas Medical School are geared towards ultimately helping the Kansas City community as a whole. These are not the actions of an ownership that doesn’t care about its fans or its team’s city’s citizens. In fact, their devotion to the community is a large part of why I am of a fan of the organization and have remained a fan through the tougher years; they may not always win (or even be competitive) but the organization’s devotion to contribute beyond what the game dictates is, by my estimation, admirable and should not be diminished by how they play 16 days a year.

Also, when it was obvious things were not progressing under Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards, Clark Hunt made a move to obtain one of the most decorated executives in the football industry, and spared no expense to bring him in to help the franchise (something an owner that doesn’t care wouldn’t do), which brings us to:

Chiefs Management

I don’t know what to think about Pioli. On the one hand Kent Babb has painted a pretty bad picture of Pioli. On the other hand, Babb also neglected to look into team finances and painted the Hunts as cheap on players though they appear to be anything but*, and generated negativity on that front where negativity wasn’t due.

Aside: I’m still astounded by that one. I’m a legal assistant in Pennsylvania, devoting nearly 60 hours a week towards my day job with a wife and 2-year-old daughter also garnering my attention, and I was still able to do more thorough research on that front (cross-checking my findings across many independent sources with no team affiliation for slant) and reported this as part of my contribution to this website. It was Kent Babb’s day job to do such things for which I’m sure he got amply paid, and he couldn’t do that much??? I guess I’m saying I’ve re-read Babb’s articles with a grain of salt as I am not satisfied with his research abilities (or lack thereof).

In Michael Holley’s book “War Room”, it is indicated (and I’m paraphrasing here) that when Pioli arrived in Kansas City, the Chiefs staff and scouts were complacent and unmotivated, which (by that point in the book) were distinguished as work habits in conflict with Pioli’s own work ethic. Holley (in juxtaposition to Babb) painted Pioli as a hard worker who would sooner have his work product exceed his paycheck than his paycheck exceed his work product.

If that is his work ethic, and the incumbent staff did not put their hearts into their jobs and strive towards the goal of making the Chiefs organization a championship product, I can understand the turnover ratio. There are no salary cap concerns in the front office; severance packages maybe (and they could be pillaging Hunt’s pockets for all we know), but not a set number that the organization may not exceed in accounting terms. If these people were not earning their paychecks (admittedly by Pioli’s standards), then I can understand Pioli taking swift action in terminating them and bringing in new people. I can even understand him bringing in people he knew from his time with the Patriots (as he likely had previous knowledge of these individuals’ work ethics, knowledge and talents).

The desire to have people who work for you do their damnedest and take more pride in doing their work in excess of expectations rather than taking the mentality of “I’m doing just as much as I think my pay warrants” (such people usually overestimating how much pay they’ve ‘earned’ through the work they’ve actually done) is also something I can understand, and would explain the so-called “wire-tapping”. I work for government, we have the same systems in check. E-mail, phone logs, etc. are monitored to determine how much company time the worker is spending on personal business (i.e. how much non-work they’re performing during hours they’re getting paid for). It isn’t incredibly shocking that a multi-million dollar business would partake in such monitoring. Again, if the workers were as complacent as Michael Holley indicated, it may be of utmost importance to changing the culture of football operations from people who care more for how much they could soak the organization for than how much they could contribute to the organization’s success.

If Pioli (or any other GM that could’ve been, or could still be, brought in) wanted to change a complacent culture satisfied with doing the bare minimum and having little interest in a championship that was gained by more than luck (if hard work was the alternative), I think we’d all be supportive of that change.

That being said, I doubt the candy wrapper story was made up, to which I can only say this: I can understand wondering why the hell you’re paying maintenance to do a job they’re obviously not doing (the wrapper was sitting for about a week after all… which by my count is at least 4 days too long, even if they were understaffed or only cleaned two to three days a week), but the taking of the wrapper as evidence makes the whole incident automatically extreme (and sounds on par with Mitch Hedberg’s “donut receipt” joke). That definitely could’ve been handled a lot better.

As far as his plans for rebuilding and his apparent secrecy of these plans are concerned, it’s frustrating as hell only being able to speculate what his intentions are/were. I, for one, believe (or maybe just really hope) that the plan was/is to build up the supporting cast first and drop in the intended franchise QB last. This would help prevent “David Carr Syndrome” or other 1^st round busts such as Brady Quinn was in Cleveland. Instead of custom building an entire team to one guy’s talents (thereby making it more difficult should that one guy go down), it would entail building a talented team and allowing the last guy (QB) to adjust to the talents around him (thereby making it less disastrous should that one guy go down temporarily). To get the QB first and build the team around him is akin to making the QB the entire foundation’s cornerstone. If it’s later learned that that cornerstone is not of the quality it was believed to be, the building stands to get irreparably damaged. To get the QB last is akin to building a quality structure first and using the QB as the capstone. If the capstone is of lesser quality than was expected, so what? It’s less damaging to the structure to replace a damaged capstone than to replace a damaged cornerstone. The downside is that, as fans, we don’t know if this is the plan until it happens. It could very well be. It could very well be that Cassel was perceived to be the guy for real (rather than a QB deemed adequate to man the helm while the rebuilding took place… I guess in my metaphor “the scaffolding”). Will Pioli say? No.

Which brings us to the secrecy. I can understand this to an extent. Part of the existence of a salary cap in the NFL is to promote competition and to provide no team with an unfair competitive advantage due to finances. But each team wants a competitive edge to build the strongest team possible within the restrictions of these limited resources. Kansas City is not a large market, so the competitive edge of “come here, we’ll make you famous” isn’t much of one for Chiefs execs (past, current or foreseeable future). Fan loyalty can help lure talent, but that’s more our thing than a FO thing. The Chiefs don’t have overwhelming, modern day championship prestige (yet). So what competitive edges can there be? I would reason that not letting your competition know your goals heading into deals would prove to be a great advantage. If everyone expected KC to draft a QB in the first round of next year’s draft (let’s say they finished with a pick lower than No. 1 Overall), and a move was made to jockey the team in the position to draft the QB of their choice, how much greater would the trade cost be knowing that the team’s intent is to draft a team’s most valuable asset (QB)? If, however, you lowered your trade partner’s expectations to believe that your intent is in the interest of drafting a lesser position player, that deal will likely become less costly (meaning that your own team can hold onto more assets, be it player, asset, or money to re-invest in another portion of the team). It’s a competitive edge built on manipulating others’ speculation of your intents, and there may be considerable success in doing so; unfortunately, the decision to put your competitor’s speculation in doubt also casts doubt within your fanbase’s speculation.

As for owning up to his mistakes, I’ll go back to Babb and the salary cap situation: Babb (local media) fabricated a negative misconception of something the Chiefs were actually doing well and it spread like a fire causing a wave of damage in its wake. That was with bad knowledge of a situation the team was actually doing pretty well. What could be expected of this same local media if Pioli admitted to an actual error? Holy bejeezus, that would not end well.

Overall, I can appreciate wanting personnel dedicated to making the franchise a perennial contender, and I can understand building the supportive components of a team up first before dropping in the franchise QB. It’s not the broad goals behind (what I think is) Pioli’s rebuilding plan I question, so much as Pioli’s execution of this plan. Keep the ideology, but do better at enacting the plan (or, Clark, find someone else who can).

Eric Winston

Spoke in a moment of passion. While morally justified in sentiment, he lacked the censorship to scope his claims down to only indicate the fans that partook in the behavior. CBA dictates that players are open to media. He spoke to media in conjunction with this clause. So, I really can’t begrudge him the action of speaking with the media.

I’ve been saying for weeks that negativity from fans affects the players more than fans might think. After weeks of negativity, and the greetings of a negative banner on Sunday, he construed some cheers as being in the morally negative bent. Looking through comments on various sites pertaining to this issue, it’s easy to find people admittedly partaking in this deplorable behavior (cheering a player getting injured), so Winston’s perception of the intent behind some of these cheers does hold some merit.

There is some understandable and justifiable betrayal felt on behalf of the fans (at least the portions whom, in a moment of passion, Winston lumped in with the bad ones), but attempting to look at thing empathetically from Winston’s point of view, the portion of fans that cheered Cassel’s injury are a part of the same fanbase whose overwhelming response to his FA visit convinced him to stop seeking potentially greater fortune, and a greater media market, elsewhere and to settle for less money if it meant great fans. He made a major life choice based on how great the fanbase presented itself to him, and in short time saw just how negative the fanbase/local media could get [the local media is crawling with negativity, fans (though not all) have been acting out in negative fashions for weeks (even if just verbally), and it culminated with a portion of those fans doing something so deplorable and anti-supportive of the players]. Given that consideration, I wouldn’t be surprised if Winston felt a little bit of betrayal, too.

Ultimately my point on this is that fan attitude does affect player attitude, and this whole fiasco is a case in point.

Fans who cheered Cassel’s injury

Winston was correct in stating that this is not the Roman Coliseum and the players are not gladiators.

For those that use the flawed logic that NFL stadiums are constructed in the image of the Roman Coliseum so football is like the modern equivalent, you should probably know that the architectural design of NFL stadiums is not intended as an allegory to ancient Rome. The Romans designed the Coliseum as they did because it architecturally allowed for greater seating capacity. The properties of such design haven’t changed, and this is why stadiums are made in such a fashion. Incidentally, uncomfortable-as-all-get-out bleacher seating may also be used to accommodate more people. It’s an attendance maximization thing, not a throwback to days of yore.

For those that use the logic that “it’s okay to cheer MMA and boxing, so why not a football player’s injury?”, you should probably know that the rules are different going into each contest. Beating the crap out of each other is an integral part of MMA and boxing matches, and the participants willingly submit themselves to such punishment. Incidentally, it’s not unheard of for professionals in these sports to schedule matches several months apart to accommodate for the fact that they’re going to get brutalized and need copious amounts of time to recover in between bouts. Injuries in football, on the other hand, are incidental to the sport (not integral) and any action done by a player to intentionally injure another (or even that increase the odds of injury, such as helmet-to-helmet shots) are generally frowned upon. Remember that whole Bounty scandal thing? Yeah, the main part of that was the targeting of players for the purpose of injury (that money may or may not have been put towards these goals is secondary). Remember all those fines players accrue for helmet-to-helmet hits? Yeah, that’s what those are about, too.

There’s no denying that big hits or hard hits get a viewer’s adrenaline going, or that it is pants-crappingly awesome to see a player pop back up from such hits like they’re no big deal. But sometimes those players don’t bounce back up, and that’s when it’s time for humanity to kick back in. Maybe if the injury is a more minor one (ankle sprain, broken finger, etc.) to an opponent’s superstar, you can thank your lucky stars that your team got a reprieve from his awesomeness for the rest of the game, but when you get into potentially life-altering injuries such as concussions, ACL tears and the ilk, it’s time to dial it down.

To those of you convinced that Cassel’s injury is the only thing that would take him out of the line-up and that your voice isn’t being heard, you may be right, you may not be right. Maybe Cassel really was the best QB on the squad (I just vomited in my mouth a little). That being said, I personally didn’t care for the public display of discord by use of a banner flying over Arrowhead; such displays have the potential to place the fanbase as a whole in a bad light. That being said, I respect that you care so much about your team to spend extra money for such a display,

I would suggest and alternative: it may go against younger generations’ grain to not make public statements (ala Facebook or Twitter), but there’s a thing called letter writing that involves a pen and paper which would be more low key (as in less inflammatory to the fanbase) and cheaper, too. I’m in no way condoning sending threatening letters to One Arrowhead Drive (that’s kind of illegal), but sending letters highlighting your devotion to the team and expressing your disapproval of certain things that are being done which you don’t agree with (preferably with well-reasoned arguments, as you’d be taken more seriously) might be much more effective. As I write this, it occurs to me that Lamar Hunt was fond of conducting business via letter writing (even as technology advanced into allowing more instant communications), so to do so as a fanbase may very well strike a personal chord within the Hunt family as it pertains to fan concerns. The least that could be expected? Solid evidence of fans’ concerns that can’t be as easily discarded and ignored as pressing a “Trash” button in e-mail. Pioli flipped over a candy wrapper, how much attention do you think will be paid to stacks of letters filling up the joint?

Hopefully some of what I said has shed new light on certain things. Again, some of it is speculation, so my guess is as good as yours, but hopefully you have gotten to considering alternative intents. Tune in next week when I’ll be looking forward to 2013’s expected cap hits/player personnel moves. As always, Go Chiefs!!!

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Well, Chiefs fans, for those of you who read my article last week, you should’ve walked away knowing a little bit more about salary cap management. You may or may not have jumped to my rallying cry to show the player and team some love, and let the NFL world know that when they go up against the Chiefs they’re not just going up against the players and coaches, they’re going up against every Chiefs fan that bleeds red and gold.

Whether you did or not certainly depends on the individual. Some of you may be too disgusted by Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli’s management of your beloved Chiefs to look past your perception of them and root for the players. After all, Hunt and Pioli are cheapskates (to use the nicer term), right?

Well, according to Spotrac.com, it appears that, of the 32 NFL teams, the Kansas City Chiefs are spending the most cap dollars of any team on active player contracts in 2012.

I’ll wait for you to seek medical attention for your broken jaw; mine slammed pretty hard off of my desk, too…

That was not a misprint: the Kansas City Chiefs, owned by Clark Hunt and family, managed by Scott Pioli, appear to be paying the most of any team on active player contracts this season. Take a look for yourself:

Now, I want to be clear. Spending “the most cap dollars… on active player contracts” does not necessarily mean that the Kansas City Chiefs are using/accounting-for the most cap dollars overall, it means that they’re paying the most cap money towards players currently on the team.

What does that mean?

Though most news outlets will report cap space availability for teams, this is a new day and age, and comes with it a new CBA, wherein available cap space money can be rolled into the next year without the need for teams to exploit loopholes*. This will affect how much cap dollars a team can spend on its players in a given season. This can really alter each team’s cap room which, in turn, will make cap space availability numbers a little less useful without context.

*It used to be that NLTBEs were accounted into the cap during the season they were set, and were the only cap dollars that could be rolled over, provided the player the NLTBE was assigned to didn’t earn it. So to rollover remaining cap monies, teams could make a ridiculous NLTBE late in the season that had no way of happening, say setting an NLTBE in Week 15 that would have your 3^rd string QB receiving all remaining cap dollars if he could throw 10 TDs by the end of the season. He, of course, wouldn’t, but since the NLTBE was accounted for, but not met, the money could be rolled over into the next season. The new CBA made adjustments to this by just letting teams rollover cap dollars without the need for trickery, and having NLTBEs count against the next season’s cap should they be met.

Ex: Let’s say Team A rolls over $1 million from last year’s season into this year’s season, and Team B rolls over $20 million. If after spending, both teams find themselves with a cap availability of $1 million, it won’t be because both teams spent the same amount of money. Rather, Team B would’ve spent more money as it spent both the league defined cap, plus $19 million of the $20 million it rolled over; whereas Team A would’ve only spent the league defined cap, and just didn’t touch its rollover.

But even that is only a portion of how people can confuse salary cap availability with money spent by the club on its active players’ contracts. In the NFL’s salary accounting policies and procedures, there is a certain thing that negatively impacts a team’s salary cap, that doesn’t seem to get a lot of media attention: dead money.

What is dead money? (you ask because you don’t use contractions)

Dead money is generated when a player leaves a team (usually by being cut, but sometimes through retirement or a trade*) and certain parts of their contracts were either guaranteed or solely within the club’s responsibility to pay (e.g. signing bonus). It gets its name because, even though the player is no longer with the team, and therefore doing the team no good, the money must be absorbed and paid for by the club, and it does cause a cap hit. So any dead money that exists keeps a club from spending that much more money on players who are (or can be) signed to the 53-man roster.

*For those left wondering, whether you thought to ask yourself or not, players willfully leaving, or willfully being allowed to leave,  via FA don’t generate dead money, as their contract would’ve been fully satisfied, and there’d be no money left unpaid for a team to absorb.

Ex: Team A and Team B each have a salary cap of $100 million (for the purposes of this example there were no rollovers). Team A has dead money to the tune of $10 million. Team B has dead money to the tune of $2 million. After spending the money on this year’s team, it’s reported that Team A has $1 million in cap availability and Team B has $5 million in camp availability. At face value, and since availability gets reported much more heavily than dead money figures, it appears that Team A is spending more money on their current team than Team B. This is an incorrect assumption. After deducting each team’s dead money from their initial cap, Team A had $90 million to spend for the year, and Team B had $98 million. So though Team A appears on the surface to have spent more money on current player contracts (what with $1 million left compared to Team B’s $5 million left) doing the math shows that Team A has actually only spent $89 million on this year’s roster [$100 million (cap) - $10 million (dead money) - $1 million (available money)]; whereas Team B has actually spent the greater sum having devoted $93 million cap dollars on this year’s roster [$100 million - $2 million - $5 million].

Let’s take a look at each team’s dead money figures:

It should be noted that $460,000-520,000 in dead money is pretty well par for the course for any team in a given year, just due to cuts to fringe players. Here you’ll see the Chiefs have the 7^th least amount of dead money affecting this season’s cap with $2,117,187. Interestingly enough, Demorrio Williams accounts for $1.6 million of this figure, with the remaining $517,187 being spread between 7 different (former) players with Gabe Miller accounting for the second highest figure ($148,875) and Brandon Bair, the least ($4,666).

Another pitfall in using cap availability in judging how much a team is spending on its players’ contracts is, as I touched on last week, that LTBE goals will, for accounting purposes, appear as cap hits on the current season’s salary cap, but whether or not players will earn this/these goal(s) is, of course, not a guarantee until it happens.

So to a common observer who a) doesn’t consider how rollovers affect the cap, b) doesn’t consider dead money and c) doesn’t consider how things such as LTBEs must be taken into account, it’s a quick and easy jump to assume that the more cap space a team has available, the less money that team is spending on its current team. This is the Kansas City Chiefs’ current plight. Fans see that $14.5 million in cap space is remaining, the third most in the league, and assume that Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli are cheap bastards (to use the less nice term). Many Chiefs fans are furious that they’re not spending more. However, as stated at the beginning, of all 32 teams, the Kansas City Chiefs appear to be spending the most cap money this season towards active player contracts.

But how can that be? Wasn’t it just reported back in February that the Chiefs had $63 million in cap space remaining?

At the time that that report was released a few things were taken into account that increased that figure, while several things were not taken into account that would lower that number. Basically, the reported figure was artificially larger than it actually was.

Namely, the $63 million figure included the $24 million (approx.) that the Chiefs rolled over from last season*, but it did not include contract escalators (which, by the way, tend to be non-negotiable devices built into contracts) which amounted to approximately $18 million. Nor did this figure include the money the team was required to pay out to players for NLTBEs offered to them and achieved during the 2011 season and estimated to be about $5 million. Nor did it include money for RFA Tenders (which really wound up just being Jovan Belcher’s for $1.9 million).

*The Chiefs announced through their official team site that they were rolling over $20 million; however sites such as NFL.com, ESPN & Spotrac reported the rollover as approximately $24 million. Given these sites reputability and independence from the organization, we’ll assume the higher number

After deducting the values that were not deducted prior to the report’s release, the Chiefs’ so-called available funds dip to about $38 million (a much more believable figure). Now deduct for Routt’s signing, Dwayne Bowe’s franchise tag and Jovan Belcher’s RFA Tender and we’re down to about $22 million, which is what was reported just before free agency.

Now deduct for the signings of Winston, Boss, Hillis, Quinn, and the rookie class, deduct for the re-signing of Travis Daniels, add money that was freed up through the restructuring of Tyson Jackson’s contract, deduct for Abram Elam and Edgar Jones, and we’re down to $16.5 million. As suggested in last week’s article, it is likely that the $2 million differential between this $16.5 million and the current $14.5 million is due to LTBEs being set for this season.

Okay, so now I see how they went from $63 million to $14.5 million, but if how much the Chiefs are paying on active player contracts is correct, it only appears to be about $8 million over the league defined cap… Pioli just did an interview a week or so ago where he said the Chiefs were spending about $20 million cash over the cap this season.

You are correct in your observation that the contracts amount to about $8 million over the league’s defined base cap. That being said, Scott Pioli is correct that the team is spending about $20 million cash over this same cap.

Alright, now you’re just $*%#@!# with me.

There is a difference between how much cap dollars a team spends in a given season, and how much “committed cash” it spends in a given season. While some things, such as base salary, workout bonuses, roster bonuses, etc., count equally towards both cap dollars and committed cash [Ex: $1 million base salary accounts for $1 million towards the cap and $1 million towards the cash], other things, such as signing bonuses and option bonuses, are accounted for differently.

Ex: Eric Winston signed a 4 year deal that comes with an $8.4 million signing bonus. The entirety of this signing bonus was given to him right away; however, it’s prorated over the course of the 4 year deal so that it hits the cap equally each contract year. So this particular deal is hitting the cap by $2.1 million this year, but hits the committed cash by $8.4 million this year.

Obviously, Winston’s contract isn’t the only contract lending to the difference in cap dollars and committed cash, but at least you can see how the difference comes about.

__________

So, are Pioli and Hunt cheap bastards? Looking at cap availability alone one would think “yes”; however, everything else seems to indicate otherwise. When the Chiefs announced the rollover of last year’s cap space into this season, Clark Hunt stated that the rollover money would be put to use in continuing to re-sign the Chiefs free agents, as well as to go out and sign some free agents from other teams.

The FO lived up to Clark’s word.

Beginning the 2011 season, the Chiefs had 27 players set to hit FA this past offseason. By controlling the player budget enough that Pioli had some idea of how much money could be rolled over, he was able to re-sign Hali and Flowers to extensions early on in the season, and re-signed Succop to an extension in December (and look how huge that turned out being this past weekend). The team also brought back Brandon Siler, Cory Greenwood, Jake O’Connell, Travis Daniels and Amon Gordon (with only Gordon not working out… by the way, no dead money was generated by Gordon’s short-lived contract). Bowe received the Franchise Tag and Jovan Belcher an RFA Tender which, though not as good as extensions, were at least enough to assure their return to the team (and had some other team picked up Bowe at the cost of 2- 1^st Round Picks, or Belcher for the cost of 1- 2^nd Round Pick, something tells me us fans could’ve lived with it). Of the 17 players that hit FA but were not retained, Carr and Orton are likely the only two to complain about. Six were contemplating retirement, four were just terrible, one couldn’t stay healthy with the Chiefs, and four were still perceived as desirable enough to be picked up. The Chiefs, in turn, picked up Routt, Winston, Boss, Hillis, Quinn, Abram Elam, and Edgar Jones as far as players on roster and hitting the cap go. They also picked up Kyle McCarthy, Martin Rucker and Jacques Reeves who all find themselves on IR and don’t count against the cap.

That’s a pretty good offseason. To be where they’re currently at cap-wise, but to have retained Carr, likely would’ve meant no Routt, no Boss and no Winston. To use more of the cap than is currently available (say by re-signing Carr but still signing Routt, Boss & Winston) means making a tougher time of re-signing the Chiefs pick of next seasons 17 scheduled free agents, and not having much money available to take advantage of other teams’ cap casualty cuts (i.e. next year’s Routts, Boss’s & Winstons).

Some of you might not like to hear it, or even want to accept it (even after all the work I just put in showing how they’re spending money and spending it wisely), but it appears the money isn’t being pocketed, and the current regime isn’t likely to end anytime soon. In fact, it looks like things are getting in order (non-Pioli-negotiated contracts are on the way out) and Pioli & Co. are just hitting their stride. But it should be a positive to know that Clark Hunt does care about the team’s success more than he cares about pocketing the money. Now if only the coaches and players can maximize their talents and do it on a consistent basis, we might just have ourselves a team worthy of championships…

Well, Addicts, if nothing else you’ve come away from this knowing more about your favorite NFL team. Maybe you’ve already given up too much hope to reverse the lynch mob, but the management seems to be giving all they can to the team and the fans; looks like it’s time for the team and the fans to reciprocate. While the team leaves it all out on the field on Sunday, why don’t we be there to back their efforts, and give Philip “Cry Me A” River(s) another miserable Arrowhead experience. GO CHIEFS!!!

This upcoming Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs head down to New Orleans to give the Saints a time of it. Given that the Saints have been in the national limelight for years (for both good and bad reasons), and that I haven’t been the only staff writer inspecting the upcoming opponent, I’ve decided to take a hiatus on Know Your Enemy this week and address another issue.

It has come to my attention that there are Chiefs fans out there complaining about the Chiefs cap. I don’t see a problem with it. I mean, scroll up and take a look at that bad boy.

Isn’t it great?

What human being could resist the urge to pounce on the debonair gentleman or courtly lady enlightened enough to don this sexy piece of Chiefs apparel? The wearer instantaneously lets others know that they’re not only intelligent, loyal and a humanitarian, but also that they have a keen fashion sense, all by sporting such an adornment on their crown. Heck, it might as well be a crown.

As for the complaints about cap room, unless your Mr. Moneybags and got a fitted cap, there should be a strap in the back you can adjust to tighten it up… Hold on a sec…

They meant salary cap?…

Are you sure???

Okayyyy. Luckily I know a thing or two about how that works.

Following the Falcons Week 1 aerial assault against the Chiefs’ lacking defense, it was clear to all that Kansas City’s CB depth, or lack thereof, should be an area of great concern (and after Sunday’s whomping by the Bills that concern probably extends to the entire defense). This observation was shortly followed by the announcement that the Chiefs still have $14.5 million in available salary cap space (misconstrued by some as being as high as $30 million). An ugly incident occurred through Twitter and Reddit, and even parties not directly involved in this exchange took to the Web to express their own displeasure over KC’s secondary issues and why it shouldn’t exist given the Chiefs’ available cap room; the common consensus being that Clark Hunt (and family) and Scott Pioli must be cheap bastards.

I can’t deny the Chiefs’ secondary concerns, and even wrote about this concern myself during the preseason. But I’m not sold on the salary cap being what it is as a matter of cheapness. No, I’m much more inclined to believe that the cap will be spent on players, just a little bit down the road and in such a way that the cap room currently looks deceptively large. I’ve already pondered that Pioli and the FO may want to roll the available cap into next season to help retain players such as Bowe, Albert and/or Dorsey and/or have cap space remaining to sign some bigger names entering free agency.

But another option exists. One that would pay the Chiefs’ current players more, but only if they can produce on the field. That option is the incentive bonus.

But isn’t that accounted for in the salary cap?

Glad you asked. There are two types of incentive bonuses: those Likely To Be Earned (LTBE), and those Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE). Only LTBEs are accounted for in the salary cap during the season they are expected to be earned. NLTBEs being what they are, not likely to be achieved, are not deducted from the cap in the season they are earned, but rather from the following season’s salary cap. This is where it might pay the Chiefs organization to carry extra money into the 2013 season.

Why take that precaution if the goals are not likely to be earned?

While the goals that are set are determined by the team, the nomenclature of whether such goal is likely or not likely to be earned is determined by league definition. Simplistically, an LTBE goal is one that was attained during the previous season and is therefore expected to be duplicated, whereas an NLTBE goal is a higher goal than was achieved in the previous season and is not considered to be expected to be met. Example: Dwayne Bowe had 5 TDs during the 2011 season. An LTBE goal for him this season would be to get 3 TDs; whereas an NLTBE goal would be 8 TDs (even though Bowe exceeded this goal in 2010).

So what happens if an LTBE goal or an NLTBE goal isn’t met?

If an LTBE goal isn’t met by season’s end, the money that was earmarked for that player/unit is released into the available cap space and may be rolled over into the next season. If an NLTBE goal isn’t met, it just doesn’t have an impact on the current, or next, season’s salary cap.

What kind of goals may these be?

The CBA identifies three categories of incentive goals: (1) Team Incentives, (2) Individual Incentives & (3) Honors and Recognized Media Incentives. Team Incentives and Individual Incentives can be made in most every major statistical category you can think of. Honors and Recognized Media Incentives pertain to the larger honors (Pro Bowl Selection, All-Pro Selection, etc.).

__________

On September 7^th, Pro Football Talk reported that the Chiefs had approx. $14.5 million in available cap space. The latest report prior to this indicated that the Chiefs had approx. $16.5 million in available cap space. No player additions that would’ve affected the team’s accounting were made in the interim, so the safe bet is that the approx. $2 million differential comes from the making of LTBE goal(s). It should be noted that “win the division” is always considered, by definition, to be an LTBE, and it’s likely that such a goal accounts for some of this differential.

What isn’t known is how much of the remaining cap space is earmarked for the potential earning of NTLBEs. Again, the team’s or player’s performance from the previous season determines whether a goal is likely or not likely, and we can all agree that the 2011 season was disappointing. It wouldn’t take setting goals too high for them to be considered Not Likely To Be Earned. But such goals could include finishing with a winning record, making a deep playoff run, etc.

These are things that both the Chiefs organization as well as its fans want, and are within the potential of the team to earn. But paying the money upfront does not guarantee the player/unit/team will fulfill their potential. In fact, by setting things up so that the players only receive the money by earning it makes perfect sense. If the players earn the money, then great, it’ll mean the team has succeeded to a desirable level, the players will get the money they deserve, and, thanks to the cap management, the money can be paid out without putting the team in a compromising position that would require “cap casualty cuts” next season. If the players don’t produce, that’ll suck, but at least significant rollover cap funds will be available next season to help pull in free agents that may stand a greater chance of helping this team get to where it wants to be.

I know not having Brandon Carr sucks, especially considering the defensive failures of the first two games. But you know what else sucks? Cutting valuable players because you played fast and loose with your cap, and paying players a lot more than they’ll ever earn for the same reason.

More is going on behind the scene than meets the eye. For as much as Pioli gets demonized for this, that and the other thing, I’m not convinced that he’s deserving of such scorn. The way some people would spin it, every letdown the Chiefs experience, collectively or individually, is squarely on Pioli’s shoulders. But one person can’t control the actions of others. Limit their actions, maybe, but not control them. The coaches are not currently living up to their potential. Same with the players. Oh, they have shown at points in the past that they can perform much better than they have been; they just haven’t gotten a handle on it this season thus far. I’m not going to blame Pioli for these individuals’ failures. Their failures belong to them.

Now, I don’t profess to know what exactly is causing these failures. But I do know that I still love the Chiefs. And like with any loved one that makes a mistake, I’m not gonna go into a rage, verbally berate them and tell them to do better or else. I have been appalled at the amount of people that so quickly jumped to that reaction. Such actions have a way of demoralizing any person, and a lack of morale is the last thing this team needs right now. No, I’m gonna support my beloved Chiefs and encourage them to start performing at the level I know they’re capable of, and I appeal to all of you to do the same. A while back, one commenter made the statement that the home crowd shouldn’t make a difference in how well a team performs, and if that’s the case, why is homefield advantage such a huge deal come playoff time? I’ll tell you why: it’s because fan support does matter, it matters a lot more than you might think.

The sky doesn’t have to fall, but the less support there is, the more likely that baby will come crashing down. It took a flurry of Twitter messages conveying fan loyalty to the Chiefs, and respect for his individual abilities, to convince Eric Winston to come to a smaller market in Kansas City, even though he likely could’ve landed a big contract at a dozen other places. I’m curious as to how much drive and motivation could be stirred up in exploding your current Chiefs players’ Twitter accounts with positive, morale-boosting messages. We’re looking for someone to light a spark; what if we could be that spark? Idle support begets idle response. Chiefs fans were once undeniably the best fans in football, let’s embrace that legacy and kick it up a notch. Let the boys hear some noise! Let ‘em know that we not only want to see them kick some ass in New Orleans, but that it’s time to put the women and children to bed and go looking for @#$%#$% dinner… GO CHIEFS!!!!

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel find themselves in an uncommon predicament in Kansas City. The Chiefs have more depth than they’ve had in years, and it’s time to start pruning back the roster. While Pioli has more notable experience at this task due to his time in New England, RAC’s experience as HC in Cleveland was probably less “which player is better” and more “which player sucks less”.

Further, the CBA explicitly leaves it to each team to determine its own cutdown schedule, which for Pioli, at least, tasks him with determining what moves are best for the team that’ll play the regular season and what moves are best for the ledger. You see, while the Chiefs could hold, in theory, hold all players until the end of the preseason, making all cuts and practice squad assignments in one fell swoop, they also have to pay each player each week they remain on roster (plus housing, meals and other costs). For players that have not yet accrued one NFL season the rate is $850 per week. For the remaining players, who are considered veterans with at least one season under belt, the sum is $1,600 per week.

Being in a position not so concerned about the business aspect of the NFL, Crennel will obviously be interested in getting the best players for his team on the 53-man roster.

A few position groups look a little tighter than others and will warrant longer looks. The Chiefs’ RB/FB group, DL & OL look particularly tight. Their LB corps also looks tight outside of DJ, Hali, Houston & Belcher/Siler, but the talent dropoff is a little bit more noticeable for the remainders (which is bound to happen when compared to DJ, Hali and the emerging Houston). The WRs and DBs are overcrowded, but a few names are clearly improving and impressing over others so it might not be as tight as it looks on paper. QBs look pretty straightforward (Cassel, Quinn & Stanzi on roster and Tanney on the practice squad), as does TE (Boss, Moeaki & Maneri on roster for sure; maybe Biere or O’Connell if they decide to keep a fourth).

A couple important things to note is that, while it is a 53-man roster, the practice squad is allowed up to 8 players (9 if the team puts an international player on the squad as the 9th person, which doesn’t look to be pertinent to the Chiefs this year). So realistically, of the 90 men on roster, only 29 must be cut from the team completely. Also an interesting point to note is that, while any team can sign a player from another team’s practice squad, they may only do so in the interest of adding the player to the second team’s own 53-man roster; the CBA prohibits teams from taking a player off another team’s practice squad just to turn around and put the player on their own practice squad.

Following Preseason Week 1, here are a few observations and predictions concerning how Pioli & Co. may handle the cuts this season:

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

1. Shaun Draughn and Cyrus Gray both look like they could be solid contributors in the regular season. Putting one of these players on the practice squad could be synonymous with cutting them, as I think another team would be likely to clear a spot on their 53-man roster to take a chance on them. Inversely, I don’t see the Chiefs carrying more than 4 players in the backfield, which means they might have to do without a fulltime FB. Hillis can provide these services, if needed, and the team’s decision to crosstrain a few TEs in the role may make Shane Bannon expendable. Notice I said “expendable” rather than “relegated to the practice squad for another year”. The Steelers starting FB went down to an ACL tear during the Steelers preseason opener against the Eagles, and is likely to be out for the entire season.* The Steelers have a way of making good use of their FB on roster and may be looking to replace him for the season. Todd Haley might look no further than KC in recommending a replacement to HC Mike Tomlin, and Haley’s eyes may be on the waiver wire or KC’s practice squad (as the case may be). Now the Steelers have shown a tendency to prefer FBs that are more in the FB/TE hybrid vein, so maybe this circumstance won’t arise, but it bears keeping an eye on.

* Been there, right? Hey, maybe the injury bug followed Haley to Pittsburgh. Wouldn’t that be nice?

2. In limited punting opportunities, K/P Matt Szymanski put up numbers comparable to Colquitt’s. Additionally, Szymanski did consistently great during his opportunities on placekicking duties. While it’s likely that Colquitt will remain the Chiefs’ punter this season, and that the Chiefs won’t carry more than one kicker and one punter on the 53-man roster (other position groups are too crowded and the additional spot could be better used elsewhere), more importance has been placed on STs this year, and the future prospect of only needing to use one roster slot for a K and P is enticing (and we all know Pioli loves versatility). I expect Szymanski to get a practice squad slot and to receive a lot of focus on punting this season. If it looks like he could suitably replace Colquitt, Pioli may just let Dustin’s contract expire at the end of the season and move forward with the player that may potentially develop into a suitable K as well a few years down the line.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

3. The DL looks thicker. Just a few months ago a lot of fans were taking it for granted that players like Powe and Amon Gordon would make the roster, myself included; now, I’m not too sure. Toribio has progressed more than any of us probably anticipated and will likely remain in the Top 2 in the depth chart at NT. Gordon does have an edge on Powe, as he can handle either DE or NT duties, but even there depth at DE looks just as thick and may not accommodate Gordon. Besides Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey, the Chiefs have Allen Bailey who looks to provide the team with a better pass rush from the DL, the solidly built veteran Ropati Pitoitua, and Brandon Bair has started to make a little bit of noise on the field. Eight players for the DL seems like a little much, especially if Poe can prove his stamina before the preseason is over and be a three-down player. Powe may have a shot of making the roster, if RAC determines that Dontari can provide DE services consistently enough to go with the anticipated NT services (thereby rendering Gordon as aged and obsolete a’la Kelly Gregg). But as of right now, I expect 7 men to carry over to the 53-man roster with the last spot going to either Bair or Gordon.

4. My fourth and final prediction following Week 1 concerns the WR situation. I can reasonably see 7 WRs making it to the 53-man roster. Bowe, Baldwin, Breaston, McCluster & Wylie are almost sure to be locks with the remaining WRs duking it out for the last two slots. I think Terrence Copper’s proven effectiveness on special teams and his veteran presence might give him an edge for the sixth slot. The real battle will be over the final slot, and I think the top contenders will be Josh Bellamy, Zeke Markhausen and Junior Hemingway. Markhausen has more experience (though ever so slightly) over the other two, Bellamy has been turning heads in practice (though his play was a little lackluster against the Cards), and Pioli and the KC scouts obviously saw something they liked in Hemingway (though injuries have plagued his training thus far). Hemingway’s injuries haven’t just deterred the Chiefs from getting a good read on him, but the other NFL teams likely won’t risk a roster slot on him, plus his upside looks better than Markhausen, so Junior might be a prime candidate for the practice squad. This leaves Bellamy and Markhausen vying for the last slot. Zeke having enough experience to be a little more used to the speed of the game at the NFL level is reassuring; however, Bellamy has created buzz and may not stay around long if relegated to the practice squad. Additionally, Bellamy has a certain kind of experience that no other KC WR has: Bellamy played double duty, as needed, in college as both a WR and a CB. While ultimately going undrafted and getting signed by the Chiefs as a WR, Bellamy may have future stock in being crosstrained for defense. But for the here and now, Bellamy could earn a roster spot for his ST ability as his time playing D in college likely means that his tackling technique is noticeably more refined than his competitions’ at WR in KC. I expect Bellamy to continue to work hard in practice and to earn a spot on this year’s roster.

So there’s my take following Preseason Week 1. What’s your take, Addicts? Sound off…

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Unless you have been living under a rock these last few months, you know that expectations for the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs are quite high among fans.

Apparently, they’re high in the front office as well.

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli appeared on NFL AM this morning and said he expects more from his team in 2012.

“Expectations should be higher than what they’ve been in the past,” said Pioli. “I mean, it’s only right. We’re in our fourth season in this program. We’ve done a lot of work to retain very good players in the Derrick Johnsons, the Tamba Halis, the Jamaal Charles and some other players, but we’ve also added some other good players. I feel we have a really good coaching staff intact, so expectations should be high.

“And when I say that, I don’t just mean for the coaches and players, for me, as well. We’re all in this together and I don’t know how high they should be, but they should certainly increase. Pressure’s a good thing. Pressure makes everybody respond to the way that they truly are and I think the pressure of increased expectations isn’t a bad thing necessarily.”

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. If the goal for every team isn’t to win the Super Bowl every season then something is wrong.

Still, regardless of the goal, everyone knows that some years a team’s chances are much better than others.

Pioli is right to confirm the high expectations. The team has done a good job of locking up most of their star players as well as adding talent. The core of this Chiefs team may be made up of guys Herm Edwards drafted but Pioli has added guys like Eric Berry, Stanford Routt, Peyton Hillis, Jonathan Baldwin, Justin Houston, Eric Winston, Kendrick Lewis, Jon Asamoah, Tony Moeaki, Kevin Boss and Ryan Lilja. All of those guys are going to key contributors in 2012.

The sky is certainly the limit for the 2012 Chiefs and they know it.

Hopefully they are up to the task.

July 29, 2012; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli leaves the field after training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Everyone wants to know when the situation with Dwayne Bowe staying away from training camp will resolve itself, but if they’re looking to get answers from Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, they’ve got another thing coming.

Pioli was on both 610 Sports Radio and 810 WHB and though he was asked about the Bowe situation, he wasn’t talking.

“This is one of those questions, and I understand you asking,”Pioli told Jay Binkley on 610. “It has to come up. But out of respect to Dwayne, the process, the Chiefs and everybody involved, I just don’t think it’s healthy to talk about it, Jay, because I could say something seemingly innocuous about where things are or where I hope things to be and it be, not twisted by you, but just maybe taken the wrong way by someone. Everyone knows what the circumstances are, what the deadlines are, and those things tend to work themselves out. I don’t ever want Dwayne or anyone else to think we’re trying to leverage him, or he’s trying to leverage us. Right way the way things are it’s being handed professionally by both sides.”

Pioli said pretty much the same thing on 810.

We can’t really blame for Pioli here. There is nothing to gain by him going into details. He’s right; we know the score. The deadline is passed. There is nothing to be done now except for Bowe to show up and play for $9 million. Or not.

I would say that Bowe will definitely show up at some point but I am not so sure. I thought he’d be there for the start of camp and he proved me wrong. I’m finished trying to predict what Bowe will do next.

What do you think Addicts? Will Bowe show? Or will he drag this into the season?

After the selection of Dontari Poe with the 11th overall pick, Scott Pioli surprised Chiefs Nation further by taking not one, but two more linemen with the next picks, this time on the offensive side of the ball.

It’s hard to surmise which pick was more surprising. Illinois OT Jeff Allen didn’t get much media coverage before the draft, but do you know who did? C Peter Konz and OT Mike Adams, both of whom were still available. “C’MON, PIOLI! Who is this guy?” cried Chiefs Nation. And the internet exploded killing hundreds and severely injuring thousands as Chiefs fans scoured the message boards everywhere lamenting the passing of Konz and Adams, and trying to find out just who Jeff Allen is (true story).

But then Pioli goes and drafts Donald Stephenson in Round 3. Okay; he’s a home boy and was invited to the Chiefs’ local pro day, at least we know who he is. But didn’t most pundits predict him to go in the 5th Round, some as early as round 4 to be fair, but more than that as late as Round 6?!?

With the exception of the pass rushing variety and the automatic-upgrade-to-any-team variety, linemen are not sexy draft picks. They’re just not. Linemen are like most businesses’ support staffs: if they do their job well, they run the risk of going unnoticed and their talents taken for granted, so only when they falter are they guaranteed to get attention. But also like support staffs, their success is vital in keeping things running like a well-oiled machine.

As we learned shortly after the pick, Jeff Allen played throughout his entire college career, starting at RT and making the move to LT shortly thereafter, and earning awards, honors and mentions all along his way. Allen is projected to ultimately supplant Ryan Lilja at LG, a move not uncommon when college players turn pro (just this year the League even saw a veteran make the move when PIT moved Willie Colon, formerly a T, to G for the upcoming season). A move like this tends to be less mentally taxing on a player than you might think. Whereas D-Linemen can succeed well knowing their own individual assignment and trusting their teammates to know theirs, O-Linemen succeed best when they know not just their individual blocking assignment, but also the assignments of the guys beside them… Oh! Also their mirror counterparts at the other end of the line.

Whether you’ve only played football in video games or played physically at some level in your life, you should probably know that when a play is added to the offensive playbook it’s actually added twice: one the way the play was originally drawn up, and the other, the mirror image of that play. Usually something minute in the play call tells the players which way the play’s going. [Ex: Say a run play’s called the “25 Pitch”. The play calling system we’re using might be that the “5” in “25” means the pitch is going to the left. If the play’s called as “26 Pitch”, the “6” would mean it’s going to the right.] When looking at the play in its original and in its reverse, the change in WR routes and/or RB assignments is usually pretty noticeable between the two versions. What might be overlooked, or not even considered without thinking, is that blocking assignments change between the two as well. It’s beneficial to an OL to not just know what they’re doing individually on one version of the play, but also what their mirror counterparts are doing on the other side, because they’ll be expected to do the same when the play’s called in the opposite direction. Bear in mind, this is also while knowing what blocking assignments the man next to you in line will be required to make. Ultimately, the best OLs wind up knowing what everyone’s assignments on the line are, because it’s kind of important.

The real consideration when an OL changes position is whether or not they have the physical tools to make the transition.

Cs can be a little bit smaller than their fellow linemen, as their blocking assignments will often involve assisting a G on a block, picking up a smaller blitzer (read: LB or S) or (in runs up the gut) blocking a LB downfield (also called “on the next level”). Plus, the half a moment it takes to snap the ball is a half a moment during which your teammates have already engaged in their blocks (so making a C’s assignment to be to assist a G on a block or pick up a blitzer makes sense, as these things can wait a half moment).

Gs, working between the C and a T, can have a little less side-to-side foot quickness than, say, Ts, but should count forward moving speed as one of their greatest assets as they’ll be required to, often enough, break from the line on a pull or a trap.

Ts, not necessarily having someone to their outer side (if no TE is lined up), benefit most from side-to-side foot quickness as there’s a whole open field on the outer side of them that they absolutely must be able to defend. I hear that the failure to do this is called “Barry the Bullfighter Syndrome” around these parts.

Ok, yes. As some of you may remember, a couple of months ago I posted a piece called “The Top 5 Stories You’ll Be Sick Of By August” and included among them was whether or not Bowe would get an extended deal before preseason. But, since we know that final decision today, there was no way around commenting on it.

The deadline for Bowe to sign a long-term deal has now passed. Unless the Chiefs are holding off on making an announcement, Bowe will be signing the one-year franchise tag and this is the best-case scenario for the team.

Although the signing indicates that there will be no more negotiations on extending Bowe this season, it also makes perfect sense for a number of reasons.

1.) The Chiefs Hold All the Cards

First and foremost, from a business perspective, one simple rule is that you don’t guarantee money deep into the future unless you have to – we’re not the Oakland freakin’ Raiders. Currently, the Chiefs hold all the cards and cannot be pressured to deal. Although we don’t yet know what Bowe is asking, unless it is an amazingly humble offer, the Chiefs have every reason to walk away from it. Although the Chiefs desperately need Bowe’s production on the field, they know that Bowe can’t afford to hold out into the season if he has any hopes of a big free agency payday. Bowe hasn’t totally shaken his reputation as a troublemaker with a bit of a freelancing streak. If Todd Haley did one good thing for this team, it was reining in Bowe’s ego, but if Dwayne starts going all Ochocinco on the Chiefs, his value will plummet. Obviously, the Chiefs know this.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

To get the generous, long-term deal he wants, the best thing that Bowe can do for himself in 2012 is by having the best, most drama-free season of his career. As it happens, that exactly what the Chiefs want out of him too, and they figure it’s best to keep the carrot hanging in front of him. Even if Bowe were to hold out, the Chiefs are stacked enough offensively to be able to handle his absence for a while. Charles and Moeaki are back and Baldwin will have a full offseason to prepare this season. He has similar physical characteristics to Bowe, and could try to play his role in the offense in a pinch.

2.) This Gives the Chiefs More Time to Evaluate Baldwin

As mentioned above, Jon Baldwin has the potential to fill in for Bowe, but so far he has shown very little to indicate he is ready. He made a few beautiful catches throughout the season, but he was nowhere to be found in most games, finishing with just 21 receptions in 2011. However, as many noted, the silver lining of Bowe’s absence at voluntary workouts was that Baldwin was getting lots of experience as the starter. Of course, we have no idea if he’s actually doing anything right at these practices, as this is the part of the offseason with the least transparency and the most hyperbolic positivity. I’ve heard he is working hard, studying hard and showing heart on the field, but, then again, what do you expect them to say?

If Baldwin really comes on this season, it gives the Chiefs even more leverage with Bowe – particularly if Devon Wylie shows something and we get consistent production out of Steve Breaston. Again, we don’t yet know what Bowe is asking, but I imagine it is more than the $9.515 million he is making with the franchise tag this year. The always-insightful Cordell of The Film Room tweeted out today, “Matt Cassel and Flowers new deals paid out nearly 15 mil each in first year…I can see Bowe thinking he is at or above that level.” If that is the case, then the Chiefs will be saving money this year and maybe even next year.

Next year, Bowe’s franchise number would be $11.418 million, which is still less than he would make in the first year of a long-term deal – big first-year bonuses are pro forma with these sorts of things. We should re-franchise Bowe if Baldwin improves, but it is clear that Bowe will remain the starter. If they think that JB can transition into the starter in 2013, then it makes sense to rent Bowe for just one more year. If it looks like Baldwin will remain a complementary piece, then we pay Bowe long-term.

Mandatory Credit: John O

Either way, we still have Breaston for four more years on a relatively cheap deal with only $9.5 million in total guarantees, Baldwin costs us about $7.5 million per year and Devon Wylie, if he is all that he is made out to be, will be a steal for his $2.6 million over four years. This means that, despite the fact this is going to be a run-first team, the Chiefs can easily afford to re-sign Bowe without over-valuing the position group. His deal would likely even out such that we would be paying around $20 million annually for receivers overall. Given the growing importance of the passing game, that’s not too bad. By the way, the Chiefs are currently $16.548 million under the cap.

In short, don’t panic.

Bowe’s not going anywhere unless the Chiefs are prepared to part with him, and we can afford to lock him up long-term without breaking the bank. Pioli played this one smart.

Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

It’s now or next offseason for Dwayne Bowe and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The deadline for franchise players to establish a long-term deal with their teams is today at 4 p.m. Eastern. That means if the Chiefs and Bowe can not reach an agreement, Bowe will have to play the 2012 season under the franchise tender the Chiefs extended him before the start of free agency. The one-year deal will pay Bowe just over $9 million for the season.

We told you three days ago that the reports from NFL insiders Jason La Canfora and Adam Schefter are indicating that the Chiefs and Bowe are not close and are not likely to get a deal done.

Bowe is a talented player and while I am sure most Chiefs fans would like to see him locked up for the remainder of his prime, if a deal doesn’t get done there really isn’t any reason to panic. Unless Bowe intends to sit out the entire season, which he has already said he has no intention of doing, then the Chiefs will have their #1 receiver in 2012.

Playing under a one-year deal is usually a good thing for the players. It give them extra incentive to perform at a high level so they can earn a high contract once they finally do hit the market. The Chiefs have a stacked roster that should enable Bowe to do his best work yet as a Chief, which could mean a second AFC West Championship for the Cassel-Bowe connection.

Whether or not this is Bowe’s last season in KC remains to be seen. Should he have a monster year, the move to have Bowe on the franchise tag this year could come back to bite the Chiefs, as the receiver’s asking price could go even higher next offseason.

If I were a betting man, I’d say Scott Pioli is hoping that Jonathan Baldwin emerges as a top threat this season, giving the Chiefs the option of allowing Bowe to walk. Pioli invested heavily in the wide receiver position this offseason, drafting Devon Wylie and Junior Hemingway. Should one or both of those players develop with Baldwin in 2012, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bowe depart in 2013.

What do you think, Addicts? Is Pioli playing it smart or cheap?

With the clock ticking closer to the franchise tag deadline, I figured I would take this opportunity to address a few aspects that most fans [read: people who don’t get paid for it] may find themselves wondering about these two.

Don’t all teams have the same salary cap?

Yes and no. The league sets a salary cap at the beginning of the league year (usually in late April/early March before free agency begins). This cap is for the season following the offseason and may be greater or lesser than the previous season’s salary cap (rarely is it exactly the same). This year’s salary cap is $120.6 million. Salary caps differ when teams conduct their business in certain ways, whether for better or worse. The new CBA allows for unused salary cap money to rollover between years. So teams may find themselves with more cap space than the league determined salary cap. Inversely, if a team violates any league rules or standards, their salary cap may be lessened for punitive reasons*. In both cases, teams wind up with what is referred to as their own “adjusted salary cap.”

*This most recently occurred with DAL and WAS for allocating large salary/bonus sums into the uncapped 2011 season. As penalty, these teams’ salary caps were artificially lowered for the 2012 and 2013 seasons and has-been/will-be distributed amongst 28 teams. Why 28? OAK & NO conducted their business in a similar manner but to a lesser extent, so rather than proactively punishing these two teams by removing cap space, the League passively punished them by just not including them in the redistribution process.

Who keeps track of adjusted salary caps?

A teams’ management is acutely aware of their cap number; however, the NFL must approve all contracts and bonuses and will reject any such deals that would exceed a team’s adjusted salary cap.

Do only player wages count towards the salary cap?

Yes. Wages paid to coaches, trainers, club staff, etc. do not apply towards the salary cap.

What “player wages” count towards the salary cap?

Simply speaking, wages include the player’s base salary, signing bonus, roster bonuses and any other bonuses or incentives.

What’s a player’s base salary?

It is what it sounds like. A base salary is determined in the negotiation process, and the salary is remitted to the player either weekly or bi-weekly (in equal portions) over the course of the NFL regular season. [Ex: A player has a base salary of $1.7 million and is paid weekly. The regular season consists of 17 weeks; so, the player would receive $100,000 in base salary each week of the regular season.]

There’s a lot of talk about signing bonuses: How do they work?

A signing bonus is at it sounds: a bonus earned by a player for signing a new contract or extension. The player receives the entire sum upfront, but the team may prorate the total over the course of up to five seasons, meaning that, for example, a $10 million signing bonus may be evenly distributed over five seasons so that the team’s salary cap only takes a hit of $2 million per season. Signing bonuses are guaranteed, meaning that if a player is traded or retires after receiving the bonus, the prorated costs stick around* (in talking salary caps, this is what is referred to as “dead money” as the team still has to pay towards a service they are no longer getting).

* A team may file a grievance if they give a player a huge signing bonus and he retires shortly thereafter without good reason. It’s called the “Barry Sanders Rule”, so guess who pulled that stunt?

What about roster bonuses?

Another common bonus, the roster bonus is earned if/when a player makes the 53-man roster in the regular season during the year in which the roster bonus is worked into a contract. The entire roster bonus affects the team’s salary cap for the season it is earned in and may not be spread over the course of several years such as the salary cap.

What other bonuses are there?

Other bonuses may include option bonuses and incentive bonuses. As these are slightly more complex and tougher to explain, and as we’re making “molehills” here, we’ll spare that discussion for another time.

Now, how does this relate to the Chiefs and Bowe?

The Chiefs reportedly have a little over $16.5 million remaining in their cap space. Though he hasn’t signed the tender, the $9.5 million offered to Bowe through the franchise tag has already been counted against the Chiefs’ cap space because it is money that has already been committed to a player (even though the player it’s committed to hasn’t officially accepted the offer yet). If Bowe does not sign a new deal and just signs the tender, the Chiefs’ reported cap of $16.5 million will not be affected. In simpler terms, the $9.5 million offered to Bowe in the form of a franchise tag is considered already spent and is not counted in the $16.5 million that the team reportedly has freely available. So, in theory, if the Chiefs offer Bowe a deal that he’ll accept, part of that deal could allow Bowe to be given as much money for the 2012 season as to cause a $24 million cap hit* for 2012 and it’d be permissible by the NFL for them to do so. It’d be crazy for them to do so (Fitz and Megatron don’t even cause that large of a hit in any given year), but the money’s there.

* Note: Poe remains unsigned… we can intelligently guess he’ll get the rookie minimum of $390,000 in base salary, like the other first-rounders who have been signed thus far, but we’re not sure what he’ll get in terms of signing bonus. Also this time of year, only the highest paid 51 players on the team count towards the cap… eventually the last two to make the 53 man roster will have to have their wages taken into consideration. A good rule of thumb here would be to deduce at least $2 million to cover these things. So, $16.5 million + $9.5 million – $2 million = $24 million.

So, Addicts, knowing what you know now, how do you think Pioli should approach the situation? How much money should Bowe be offered in a new contract, and how much should be counted against this season’s cap specifically? Keep in mind unused cap can be rolled over into next season, and we may have great use for it then, too *cough*QB*cough*.

Scott Pioli is all in on Romeo Crennel. Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

How long will the Romeo Crennel era last in Kansas City?

It may seem like an unfair question for a man who hasn’t even gone through his first training camp as the team’s head coach but given Crennel’s age, it is a question we should consider.

Romeo turned 65 on Monday, and while he may have reached retirement age, Crennel clearly has no intentions of hanging them up any time soon. Still, Romeo is the second oldest head coach in the NFL, only trailing Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants. Coughlin will be 66 in August and he recently signed a new contract with the Giants so that he can pursue his third Super Bowl title.

With people now living well into their 80′s, reaching your 60′s is no longer an ironclad time to ride off into the sunset. In the NFL, however, the high-pressure environment is such that you wonder how long men of an advanced age would want to endure it.

The best thing for the Chiefs is stability. All the best franchises in the NFL have stability. Just look at the Steelers, Patriots and, until recently, the Colts.

Scott Pioli has been in Kansas City for three full seasons and he is already on his second head coach. Given Crennel’s age, it is fair to say that Chiefs fans aren’t in for ten years of the “Romeo Era.” That means there is likely more turnover coming, probably sometime in the next three to five years.

What kind of impact might that have on the consistent organization that Pioli is trying to build?

The key may be Pioli himself. The GM has stated that he wants the Chiefs way of doing things to be the same from top to bottom. He seeks an organizational structure that can change out personnel seamlessly without missing a beat. His thinking seems to be that if he remains and place and continues to set the standard that the rest of the organization will follow suit.

But how do you build that consistency in the locker room when your most important field generals keep changing? Along with the head coaching changes, the Chiefs have also had two different defensive coordinators and five different offensive coordinators. Crennel will be entering his third year as the team’s defensive coordinator this season, but the offense is starting over again. How long will it take them to catch up?

Scott Pioli has done excellent work building KC’s roster. He has a young team with loads of talent and he’s managed to keep nearly all of his star players while also finding a few budding stars along the way. His choice of Romeo Crennel as his team’s new head coach and hiring of Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator, might be the final pieces of the puzzle.

Pioli has been trying to build KC’s version of the Patriots since he arrived in the Midwest. Had Denver not snatched up Josh McDaniels first, Pioli probably would have made him the team’s head coach instead of Todd Haley. Crennel, who was dealing with some health issues at the time, probably would have been Pioli’s second choice. Instead, circumstances were such that Pioi explored the Parcells coaching-tree and took a chance on Todd Haley.

But this time, Pioli has all the pieces in place. If Crennel’s run as head coach ends in a Super Bowl or even a couple of AFC West Championships and some playoff wins, Pioli has a potential replacement already on staff in Daboll, who spent years as an assistant with the Patriots. There is also the possibility that Josh McDaniels, who is reviving his career in New England, once again their offensive coordinator, will finally join Pioli in Kansas City. The Chiefs would then finally have their young coach of the future who could come in and steer the Patriot-way machine that Pioli began assembling upon his arrival.

But the scenario only works if the Crennel era, however long it lasts, ends relatively successfully. If it doesn’t, there is a chance Clark Hunt won’t allow Pioli a third shot at hiring a head coach. If that happens, consistency in Kansas City could still be a long, long way off.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Many KC Chiefs fans have been wondering whether or not DR Wallace Gilberry will re-sign with the team now that the NFL draft has passed. According to Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, who gave an interview on 810 WHB this week, the odds of Gilberry returning are not good.

When asked if Gilberry wasn’t coming back, Pioli said:

I would say probably accurate. We had talked to Wallace a number of times during the season about an extension. We talked to him during the offseason and Wallace wasn’t ready to make a move and wasn’t ready to do anything. He wanted to see what the market was. We hadn’t heard back from him and his people. I think both sides wanted to see what happened after the draft.

Pioli went on to say that the team talked about extending Gilberry during the season but that the DE wanted to test the free agent market. To this point, Gilberry has not signed with another team.

Pioli did add that although Gilberry returning is unlikely, they “never say never.”

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gilberry signed soon. He had a pretty good season in 2010 and looked to be developing into a pass rushing specialist. Given his size, Gilberry would likely be better suited as a DE in a 4-3 defense.

I doubt Gilberry will be back in KC but I think whichever team does sign him, will be very pleased.

(h/t Arrowhead Pride for the Pioli quotes)

A few years ago my wife and I took a class through our church called “Financial Peace University.” It was a series of classes on how to get your finances in order put together by financial “guru” Dave Ramsey. It really helped us get ourselves on track. For those that aren’t familiar with Ramsey, here’s a brief summary. Debt is bad. If you have it, get rid of it. If you don’t have it, don’t get it. He says that the biggest problem with our society is that we have become too obsessed with instant gratification. It seems that anymore if you want a huge flat screen TV, you don’t think about if you can afford it, you just go out and buy it on credit and figure out how to pay for it later. Ramsey’s solution is not that you can’t buy a big flat screen, it’s that if you want one you save up your money until you can afford it and then buy it. That way the happiness you get from the TV doesn’t get replaced with regret when you can’t pay your bills down the road.

“Great financial lesson, Graversen, but this is a Chiefs blog, move it along!”

Alright, but I think you know where I’m going with this. For the last year Scott Pioli and Clark Hunt have been public enemies number 1 and 2 (you pick the order) with most KC fans. They’ve been called cheap, tight, and even evil human beings. The general consensus has been that these two men both care more about filling their own pockets then fielding a winning football team. Now I’m sure some of you that have read my columns before are expecting me to ride the positive vibes coming off the early free agent signings into a 100 percent Pioli and Hunt are great “fluff” piece. Hopefully, that’s not what this is. I’d like to take an honest look back at their tenures and see if there is a fair assessment that most KC fans could agree on.
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Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Now that the initial flurry of activity is over in NFL Free Agency 2012, I thought it would be fun to assign an overall grade for what the Chiefs have done so far.

First, however, a word on Scott Pioli.

I think Pioli did a tremendous job in this free agency period. I am surprised to find myself saying that because at the start of free agency I was very concerned. Two things happened early on in the process that made me nervous. The first was the news that Peyton Manning refused to even visit the Chiefs. This still boggles my mind because for my money, other than the 49ers, the Chiefs have the best roster for Peyton to win now. The fact that Manning wouldn’t even give the Chiefs a whiff made me angry. Was it because the Chiefs have a bad reputation in NFL circles? Is it because of the whole “Arrowhead Anxiety” thing? Is it Scott Pioli? (more…)

It’s pronounced “thermometer.”

-Cosmo Kramer

There is no such thing as an unimportant Chiefs offseason. Every year since Pioli got here, we’ve all talked about how key the current offseason is. And it’s always been true, right? This early in a GM’s career, every year represents such a large percent of his body of work. What are we talking about, when we talk about Pioli? 2009, 2010, 2011. Nothing that came before matters. Not really.

The problem is, those three offseasons don’t paint a clear picture yet. 2009 was god awful, we all know that. Some want to assign Pioli a mulligan, obviously I don’t, but regardless, it was bad.

2010 and 2011 brought interesting drafts and uninteresting free agency. Results we can live with. His gains through free agency have remained modest, as have his goals. You can’t hit a home run while laying down a sac bunt. Although, to be fair, you can move that runner over.

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