Some thoughts on the Tank Tyler trade
I was walking out of the locker room Sunday in Washington, and one of my most-visited players happened to be leaving at the same time.
Having just finished an interview with Dwayne Bowe, I noticed that Tank Tyler was finishing up a phone call and heading for the exit. Bowe had been reflective and funny. Glenn Dorsey had been relieved and light-hearted. Other players made jokes and soaked in a rare experience: a winning Chiefs locker room.
"Maybe now we'll be allowed to talk on the flight home," one player told me with a smile.
I joined Tank and said something about how different it felt in there. He barely looked up.
"Yeah," he said without emotion.
He wasn't especially talkative, and that wasn't like him. For writers, we sometimes judge a player's quality not on on-the-field skills but rather the willingness to provide valuable, occasionally colorful insight that describes their team's situation. Tyler was one of the best. When I needed someone to explain something, I'd go to Tank. When I needed someone to lighten a tough topic or make a joke, I'd go to Tank. When I needed someone to be introspective or thoughtful, I'd go to Tank. That's just the way it is in my business.
So it was unusual that his was the one glum face in the locker room Sunday. He walked out, quietly, and that stood out to me. Now that he has been traded to Carolina for a fifth-round pick in 2010, I wonder if he knew something was coming down the pike or if he figured a change was necessary for him. He hadn't been fitting in at nose tackle, despite his best efforts and experience having played that position in college, and it was becoming clear that Tyler didn't fit whatever criteria the Chiefs have for the team's future. I don't know that Tyler suspected he'd be traded, but I do think he was frustrated with the cold reality that the Chiefs finally got a win -- and he had very little to do with it. That's tough on a player, and it seemed to be tough on Tank. When a Kansas City television station interviewed Tank on Monday night, he called the trade a "fresh start." This is just a guess, but I think he knew that he wouldn't be part of the Chiefs' future.
Across the locker room Sunday, Dorsey was smiling and joking as he dressed. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to be traded? Wasn't he the one who didn't fit in the team's plans? This is only my opinion, of course, but I haven't bought any of the trade talk for Dorsey. The Chiefs would probably accept a terrific offer for last year's top draft pick, but Dorsey has done enough the last six months that I think the Chiefs are willing to take their chances with him. I think his attitude, work ethic and steady improvement has endeared him to the Chiefs' coaching staff. The same could not be said about Tank Tyler.
During the Chiefs' second preseason game, Carolina's general manager, Marty Hurney, sat a few seats to my left in the press box. I had been told he was there to scout a few of the Chiefs' defensive linemen. One of those was Dorsey. It didn't occur to me at the time that he might have been scouting Tyler, as well, and as the weeks passed, it became clear that Dorsey would not be an easy get for a team looking to trade for him.
Dorsey would have commanded a fairly high draft pick, and I get the feeling the Chiefs are high enough on Dorsey that they'd like to protect him -- unless a team was willing to part with a first- or second-round pick, which was unlikely because of Dorsey's salary and overall lack of statistical production these first two seasons. It just didn't add up. Tyler, though, was cheaper and could be plugged immediately into his more natural 4-3 defensive scheme, which the Panthers run, than Dorsey -- who is now built more like a defensive end after being forced to lose 50 pounds.
Dorsey is beginning to look like he fits. That's good for the Chiefs, considering their investment in him. Tyler never had that look. When Dorsey was being praised by team officials, Tyler was still being labeled as a player who wasn't mean enough, quick enough, or sharp enough to be a team's starting nose tackle -- and, more important, its nose tackle of the future. When Ron Edwards played a terrific game at Washington and Tyler stayed on the sideline for most of that game, it was clear -- if perhaps only to Tyler himself -- that his days were numbered.
So while everyone else smiled and congratulated each other, Tyler sit by himself and talked on a cell phone. Then he walked out. He might not have known a trade would be part of his future, but he probably had an idea that being a valued member of the Chiefs' defense would not be.
Babb: Some thoughts on the Tank Tyler trade
(https://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=216618)