Desmond Bishop To Visit Chiefs: Inside Intel On The Former Packer

The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly scheduled to meet with free agent linebacker Desmond Bishop on Thursday. Bishop, if healthy, could help solidify the ILB position next to Derrick Johnson.

To get some more info on Bishop as a player, I went to the experts over at Lombardi Ave, FanSided’s Green Bay Packers site. Ray Rivard, the site’s editor, is a long-time Packers fan and has been covering the Pack for FS for a number of years now. I asked Ray if he could give us Chiefs fans the inside scoop on Bishop.

Here is what he had to say:

"Desmond Bishop was considered one of the top three Packers defenders before he went down last year with a nasty hamstring injury that placed him on IR. Though his replacements, D.J. Smith and later Brad Jones after Smith went down with a knee injury, were adequate, they didn’t seem to have the explosion that Bishop brought to the field. He was known for his speed, lateral movement, and quickness in filling holes and wrapping up. Nobody is really sure why the Packers released Bishop. Some speculate they weren’t convinced he was fully healed, some say it was the money (scheduled to make $3.4 million this year) and some say, in connection with the money that he didn’t want to restructure his deal.If he is fully healed like he has said several times over the past month he would be an excellent signing for a team needing an inside linebacker. He was a solid linebacker for the Packers and came into the limelight in 2010 when he helped lead the Packers defense come alive in the last half of their championship season. He replaced Nick Barnett after he went down with a season-ending wrist injury. You might remember his fumble recovery in Super Bowl XLV after Rashard Mendenhall was creamed by Clay Matthews. That recovery helped turn the tide toward the Packers.I can only hope that the Chiefs or the Raiders sign Bishop and that he doesn’t end up on the scrap heap of former Packers players – the team known as the Minnesota Vikings."

I have to say, the more I heard about Bishop, the more I am hoping the Chiefs can find a way to land him. He seems like he would be the perfect compliment to Derrick Johnson. Bishop excels in stopping the run and has also shown the ability to rush the passer. The new Chiefs defense reportedly will work in a lot of blitzes from a lot of different players. Aside from the constant threat of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, new defensive coordinator Bob Sutton should be able to utilize the athleticism of guys like Eric Berry, Brandon Flowers and Derrick Johnson to send extra rushers to confuse the offense. Adding Bishop to that list of weapons could really round out what could be a disruptive KC defense.

For more on Bishop, check out this post over at Lombardi Ave and give Ray a big thanks for taking the time to give us the scoop.