Grading The Kansas City Chiefs Offseason So Far

Sep 19, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Mike DeVito (70) and linebacker Tamba Hali (91) hit Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Chiefs Restructure The Deals For Tamba Hali And Mike DeVito

While a lot of the credit for the Chiefs being able to be such players in free agency goes to the way John Dorsey has structured the new deals, it wouldn’t have been possibly without current Chiefs Tamba Hali and Mike DeVito reworking their contracts. The bottom line is that KC was able to convince both Hali and DeVito to take pay cuts in order to stay with the Chiefs. In my opinion, credit is due to both Dorsey for getting this done and the players for agreeing to it. Regardless, this was a huge win for Kansas City.

Grade: A+

The Chiefs Release Dwayne Bowe

This one still doesn’t quite seem real. I don’t think it will until games start and I see Bowe in the uniform of another team. Bowe was simply not living up to the huge contract that the Chiefs gave him. We will never know how much of an effort went into getting Bowe to take a pay cut and how open (or not) Bowe was to it, but that would have been my preferred outcome. Since that didn’t happen, releasing him was the only other acceptable outcome. The Chiefs simply couldn’t keep him around on his old contract.

Grade: B-

The Chiefs Lose Rodney Hudson To The Raiders

While this was technically a “non-move” it still was a key part of this offseason. As I have already mentioned, I see strengthening the OL as the top priority of the offseason. Therefore, watching the Chiefs’ top offensive lineman leave was painful. Watching him leave to a hated division rival just made it all that much worse. That having been said, the ridiculous amount of money that Oakland paid him made it understandable. I can’t give KC a good grade for letting him leave, but given his contract I can’t fail them either.

Grade: C

The Chiefs Use The Franchise Tag On Justin Houston

Arguably the biggest move of the Chiefs offseason this year is still unsettled. The Chiefs have applied the franchise tag to star outside linebacker Justin Houston. However, Houston has not signed the tag yet and all the information being leaked out of his camp is that he isn’t happy. Will the Chiefs work out a long term deal? Will Houston report when the time comes? These unanswered questions make this move impossible to grade at this point. The Chiefs certainly couldn’t let him hit free agency so tagging him was the right thing to do at that point, but reaching a long term deal before it got to that point would have been preferable.

Grade: Incomplete

Overall I think John Dorsey has done a fantastic job. While I didn’t like the Mauga deal at all and had small complaints elsewhere, I think the two biggest moves they’ve made (Maclin and Grubbs) were home runs. These moves have put KC in a much better position headed into the draft (and there’s nothing saying that KC won’t make more moves before then). So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you agree with these grades? Would your personal grades have been drastically higher or lower for any of these moves? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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