The Morning Fix: Playoff Loss, Salary Cap, Jeff Francoeur
By Ben Nielsen
December 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop (6) is congratulated by punter Dustin Colquitt (2) for kicking a point-after-touchdown against the Oakland Raiders during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Many people need their coffee to get up and going in the morning. Here at Arrowhead Addict, we understand that for a Chiefs fan, coffee is simply not enough.
Here’s all that’s happening around Chiefs Kingdom today.
Welcome to The Morning Fix.
Good morning, Addicts. Hope you all are caught up on Game of Thrones and enjoyed the Purple Wedding as much as I did. I’ve basically had this song in my heart since the episode ended.
On to Chiefs things.
Matt Verderame did a wonderful breakdown of the Chiefs’ playoff loss to the Colts. It is an absolute must-read, and may help explain some of the Chiefs’ free agent moves and their plans for the draft.
"Finally, a few weeks ago, I decided it had to be done. Slowly, I went back and watched what began as brilliance turn into blight. After seeing the game from a telecast prospective, I needed to take a walk in the freezing weather that lovely New York serves up this time of year. Throughout my walk, I thought, “Why did Bob Sutton leave Dunta Robinson on T.Y. Hilton? Why didn’t the Chiefs blitz more? Why, why, why?”"
Adam Teicher reminds us that paying for players in free agency is expensive and the old collective bargaining agreement was stupid.
"The Chiefs spend about 67 percent more than the league average at this position, mainly because of Eric Berry and his cap number of $11,619,700. Berry was drafted fifth overall in 2010, the last year before the NFL overhauled rookie contracts, so he’s benefitting from the huge deal he signed then. Berry has the highest salary-cap number for a safety and the only one over $10.1 million."
Herbie Teope estimates which positions the Chiefs will address in the draft.
"As of now, the Chiefs have 73 players on the roster and six draft picks, leaving 11 spots available for undrafted free agents or veteran free agents to reach the offseason roster maximum of 90 players."
This note in Peter King’s MMQB from yesterday both explains the outlook for this year’s draft and how dreadful last year’s draft was in comparison.
"That’s how draft guru Gil Brandt sees it. Four quarterbacks and six wideouts in the top 32 for Brandt, if he had to pick it today. Contrast that to last year, when there was one quarterback, wideout or running back in the top 15—receiver/returner Tavon Austin, who went eighth to St. Louis."
Josh Michaels of KC Kingdom has the top five Chiefs players of the 1960’s ranked.
"In what’s known as the glory days for Chiefs history, the 1960′s offered a lot of change to the league we know today and also a lot of success for Lamar Hunt and his football club. Hunt was at the fore front of creating the historic, American Football Conference (AFL) as an original owner. Full of pride, Hunt saw a future in which the AFL and NFL would merge into one league but, the NFL wouldn’t budge until the AFL could prove themselves worthy."
Two non-football stories:
– I wonder what a child’s drawing of Jamaal Charles would look like?
– The entire Padres’ AAA team convinced former Royal Jeff Francoeur into thinking a teammate was deaf.