Chiefs Mellinger: Now is the time for Chiefs to make bold move at QB - Page 7

**Tribal Warfare** · 01-15-2012, 01:13 AM

Now is the time for Chiefs to make bold move at QB
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star

The old personnel man wants a promise you won’t use his name. He will talk to you, and say exactly what he thinks, but doesn’t want to be the one using a public forum like the local newspaper to tell Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli how to do his job.

It’s just that the man spent a few decades being paid to evaluate NFL talent and he can’t look at the Chiefs without seeing what he thinks is obvious.

“They need a quarterback,” the man says. “Matt Cassel is fine, but look at the league now, the way things are, you need to do better than Matt Cassel. At least bring in someone to compete.”

This is the Chiefs’ major decision now. It is real, even if the decision-makers are maintaining their usual silence. Cassel is the incumbent, and there are no indications that the most important opinions on him are wavering.

But the costs of moving on have never been lower, the potential benefits never been higher, and the timing never better. The easy thing is to see that the Chiefs need to get better at quarterback.

The harder thing is thinking through the options and making the necessary sacrifices.

• • •

That whole Suck For Luck thing is nonsense. A nonstarter. NFL teams don’t throw seasons, and they certainly don’t make progress by throwing seasons.

But right now, it’s impossible not to think about it.

Because the Chiefs will own the 11th or 12th pick in April’s draft — it’ll be decided by a coin flip with Seattle — and that’s just too far to trade into the first (Andrew Luck) or second (Robert Griffin III) pick. Whatever chance the Chiefs had to draft one of this class’ premier quarterbacks died when they won seven games.

Shawn Zobel, who runs DraftHeadquarters.com, thinks a realistic framework for the Chiefs to move into the No. 2 pick would be roughly what Atlanta gave up last year to move from No. 27 to No. 6 in order to take Julio Jones: two first-round picks, one second, and two fourths.

The NFL’s new CBA includes cost-control on rookies, plus the Browns have extra picks from the trade with Atlanta, so it would be an enormous stretch for the Chiefs to make the best offer. Either way, it would be a staggering haul that didn’t help the Falcons, plus left them without a first- or fourth-round pick this year.

Griffin’s potential is real, but the Chiefs have too many other needs — starting with an offensive line that needs to get both younger and better — to do that. Besides, trading up is entirely out of Pioli’s track record.

We also know that re-signing Kyle Orton is both uncertain (he’ll have other options) and entirely inadequate. That leaves two options for a bold move: take a quarterback with the first-round pick, or go big with someone else’s quarterback.

A first-round pick probably means Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill. He’s a former wide receiver with only a season and a half as a starting quarterback, so he’s raw, especially with quarterback intricacies like pre-snap reads and progressing through receivers. He recently broke his foot but is expected to recover.

The last option is the one that makes the most sense. Peyton Manning is the sexy name, of course, and the obvious and sad irony is that the Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since the last time they brought in someone else’s aching Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana.

Manning would be a no-brainer, both in terms of football and public relations. The problem is the list of what would have to happen — his neck fully heals, the Colts let him go, and he decides he wants to play somewhere else — is wrought with uncertainty.

The positive is that the Chiefs are in a place to offer Manning a talented roster with a coaching staff that could still be suited to him and a presumably winnable division.

Matt Flynn is the best free agent, though the Packers could use the franchise tag to keep him as their backup. Flynn drove up his price by throwing for six touchdowns and a franchise-record 480 yards in the season finale against Detroit, and was also good (24 of 37 passing, 251 yards, three touchdowns and an interception) in his one start last season.

But here’s the irony: his profile is an awful lot like Matt Cassel’s was three years ago. Both are career backups to Hall of Famers. Both have benefitted from being in wildly successful systems. Flynn will be 27 when the season begins, just like Cassel was when he began with the Chiefs.

It’s a small sample, but perhaps instructive that of two NFL personnel men who spoke for this column, one said he liked Cassel more three years ago than he likes Flynn now.

That’s OK. There aren’t many certainties in the NFL, but here’s one: the Chiefs are in a promising place that can best be ruined by lacking the guts to do something bold.

• • •

The advantage the Chiefs have in searching for a better quarterback situation is in timing first, and resources second.

Romeo Crennel hasn’t hired an offensive coordinator, or even given much of an indication on which coaches will be back. That gives him an opportunity to sync the new staff with whatever decision is made about the quarterback.

Acquiring someone else’s quarterback — Manning or Flynn — comes with an added benefit. The Chiefs have plenty of salary-cap space, and could structure any deal in such a way to make the most out of the league-mandated spending minimum that begins in the 2013 season.

The quote at the top of this column is a pretty good summation. Cassel is fine. He’s had four seasons as a starting quarterback. Twice he won 10 games, once he played for a team that had no chance, and the other he got hurt.

But this narrative from the Chiefs that Cassel is young and developing needs to stop. He turns 30 in May. He’s started 54 games. Rookies are coming into the NFL ready.

Cassel told The Star last week he wouldn’t mind if the Chiefs made him compete for the job. Nothing that happened last season indicates that competition would come from Ricky Stanzi.

The Chiefs have the chassis for a good football team, now and into the future. Much of that is because of the improvement of players such as Tamba Hali and Jamaal Charles and Pioli’s ability to sign them long-term.

Since Pioli took over three years ago, two of the most consistent limits on the team have been his unwillingness to make bold personnel acquisitions and the quarterback.

This offseason presents the perfect chance to change that.

donkhater · 01-15-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I was on the Peyton Manning bandwagon, and still am. It's not going to happen, but I'll say this aside from it:

Now is NOT the time for the Chiefs to make a bold QB move (excepting Manning).

2013 has a ton of great potential franchise QBs coming out. None of them are in Luck's range but the sheer number of them allows for this team to get a QB with better value than competing with eight other teams for, really, only two or three options.

The reason I except a healthy Manning is because he's truly a gamechanger.

And what's the probability of KC being in position to grab one of them? I don't think Cassel is great, but this team is likely good enou to finish anywhere between 6-10 and 10-6 with him.

If Luck is truly can't miss, then 3 first rounders is a steal. Year 4 he is in his prime, and our picks are restored. He is a top tier QB for a decade after that.

That, of course is discounting the fact that you can't find good talent in later rounds or free agency, which you can. Besides, you're assuming that Pioli will hit on Pro Bowlers with the first rounders he trades. He could just as easily turn them into Tyson Jackson's.

3 #1's and some more for Luck? Pull the trigger in a heartbeat.

**BossChief** · 01-15-2012, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

If Pioli suggests trading 3 1st
he should be fired on the spot

For RG3? Probably.

For Luck?

I'd stand and applaud.

donkhater · 01-15-2012, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

If Pioli suggests trading 3 1st
he should be fired on the spot

Thank god you don't run the Chiefs. It would be another 40 years until we sniff a Super Bowl.

whoman69 · 01-15-2012, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

The rule with Ricky Williams and Hershal Walker trades is never give up everything for a complimentary player.

Either of those trades would have been good if they had landed a franchise quarterback.

The league was a running back league when the Walker trade was made and only slightly less so when Williams came out. Neither one worked for the team that got the player, but it won a Super Bowl for the Cowboys getting all those picks.

Okie_Apparition · 01-15-2012, 02:38 PM

Pioli's contract only covers 2012 & 2013 drafts
work with that & players or not at all

whoman69 · 01-15-2012, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkhater

Thank god you don't run the Chiefs. It would be another 40 years until we sniff a Super Bowl.

Thank god you don't or we'd never be there. Trading 3 first round picks is giving away 3 starters on your team. To get starters you then have to go FA route, which these days is a market that seems to be drying up.

bowener · 01-15-2012, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

We trade Bowe to the Lambs for RGIII and I'll find out where you live and kill you in your sleep...

Wait... Why?

I love Bowe, as my name sort of indicates, but a franchize QB would be pretty ****ing awesome to have. More so than an awesome WR.

milkman · 01-15-2012, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoman69

The league was a running back league when the Walker trade was made and only slightly less so when Williams came out. Neither one worked for the team that got the player, but it won a Super Bowl for the Cowboys getting all those picks.

And teams with the Staubachs, Bradshaws, Montanas and Aikmans, before and after those trades were the teams winning SBs.

RBs were more valued then than now, but this has never been a RB league.

Buckweath · 01-15-2012, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

I realize that franchise qbs are worth more than basically any other player on the team. But for **** sake, the Chiefs are a franchise quarterback away from being contenders with the team they have on the field right now.

Trade the whole damn draft if you have to. Trade 3 firsts and 3 2nds if you have to.

It`s also my opinion that if this team had a franchise QB, with the return of Berry, Charles and Moeaki, the Chiefs would be contending as soon as next year and even if Richardson and Lilja were still starting.

Forget about 2013, it`s really now or never and yeah, trade what`s absolutely necessary for Luck or Griffin.

I would give A LOT to get Luck or Griffin.

More Chiefs fans should forget about the few exceptions in history where an average QB has won a superbowl with an elite defense and running game and realize, the very starting point to have a chance to win it all is to have an above-average QB.

donkhater · 01-15-2012, 02:41 PM

The Patriot way: draft Brady and enjoy the ride.

The Bill Polian way: draft Jim Kelly and Peyton Manning and enjoy the ride.

The Steeler way: draft Big Ben and enjoy the ride.

The Packer way: draft Favre and Rodgers and enjoy the ride.

The Bronco way: draft Elway and enjoy the ride.

The 49er way: draft Montana, trade for Yonug and enjoy the ride.

Get the picture?

donkhater · 01-15-2012, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoman69

Thank god you don't or we'd never be there. Trading 3 first round picks is giving away 3 starters on your team. To get starters you then have to go FA route, which these days is a market that seems to be drying up.

So using that logic, the Colts should absolutely grab the 3 first rounders and pass on Luck? Don't you think what they went through this year flies in the face of that logic?

O.city · 01-15-2012, 02:47 PM

I'll ask this name the teams that have been SB contenders for the past say 5 years. Name their qbs.

Messier · 01-15-2012, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

I'll ask this name the teams that have been SB contenders for the past say 5 years. Name their qbs.

SB contenders? or teams in the SB.

O.city · 01-15-2012, 02:56 PM

Contenders year in year out.

Patriots = Brady
Colts= Manning
Steelers= Big Ben
Saints= Brees
Pack= A. Rog
Giants= Manning

The only team that is year in year out contender that doesn't have a franchise guy is the Ravens. And they have always been that much short of it.

**SAUTO** · 01-15-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkhater

The Patriot way: draft Brady and enjoy the ride.

The Bill Polian way: draft Jim Kelly and Peyton Manning and enjoy the ride.

The Steeler way: draft Big Ben and enjoy the ride.

The Packer way: draft Favre and Rodgers and enjoy the ride.

The Bronco way: draft Elway and enjoy the ride.

The 49er way: draft Montana, trade for Yonug and enjoy the ride.

Get the picture?

farve was drafted by atlanta
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01-15-2012, 01:13 AM
Tribal Warfare The Boom Boom Room Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $732813	Mellinger: Now is the time for Chiefs to make bold move at QB Now is the time for Chiefs to make bold move at QB By SAM MELLINGER The Kansas City Star The old personnel man wants a promise you won’t use his name. He will talk to you, and say exactly what he thinks, but doesn’t want to be the one using a public forum like the local newspaper to tell Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli how to do his job. It’s just that the man spent a few decades being paid to evaluate NFL talent and he can’t look at the Chiefs without seeing what he thinks is obvious. “They need a quarterback,” the man says. “Matt Cassel is fine, but look at the league now, the way things are, you need to do better than Matt Cassel. At least bring in someone to compete.” This is the Chiefs’ major decision now. It is real, even if the decision-makers are maintaining their usual silence. Cassel is the incumbent, and there are no indications that the most important opinions on him are wavering. But the costs of moving on have never been lower, the potential benefits never been higher, and the timing never better. The easy thing is to see that the Chiefs need to get better at quarterback. The harder thing is thinking through the options and making the necessary sacrifices. • • • That whole Suck For Luck thing is nonsense. A nonstarter. NFL teams don’t throw seasons, and they certainly don’t make progress by throwing seasons. But right now, it’s impossible not to think about it. Because the Chiefs will own the 11th or 12th pick in April’s draft — it’ll be decided by a coin flip with Seattle — and that’s just too far to trade into the first (Andrew Luck) or second (Robert Griffin III) pick. Whatever chance the Chiefs had to draft one of this class’ premier quarterbacks died when they won seven games. Shawn Zobel, who runs DraftHeadquarters.com, thinks a realistic framework for the Chiefs to move into the No. 2 pick would be roughly what Atlanta gave up last year to move from No. 27 to No. 6 in order to take Julio Jones: two first-round picks, one second, and two fourths. The NFL’s new CBA includes cost-control on rookies, plus the Browns have extra picks from the trade with Atlanta, so it would be an enormous stretch for the Chiefs to make the best offer. Either way, it would be a staggering haul that didn’t help the Falcons, plus left them without a first- or fourth-round pick this year. Griffin’s potential is real, but the Chiefs have too many other needs — starting with an offensive line that needs to get both younger and better — to do that. Besides, trading up is entirely out of Pioli’s track record. We also know that re-signing Kyle Orton is both uncertain (he’ll have other options) and entirely inadequate. That leaves two options for a bold move: take a quarterback with the first-round pick, or go big with someone else’s quarterback. A first-round pick probably means Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill. He’s a former wide receiver with only a season and a half as a starting quarterback, so he’s raw, especially with quarterback intricacies like pre-snap reads and progressing through receivers. He recently broke his foot but is expected to recover. The last option is the one that makes the most sense. Peyton Manning is the sexy name, of course, and the obvious and sad irony is that the Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since the last time they brought in someone else’s aching Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana. Manning would be a no-brainer, both in terms of football and public relations. The problem is the list of what would have to happen — his neck fully heals, the Colts let him go, and he decides he wants to play somewhere else — is wrought with uncertainty. The positive is that the Chiefs are in a place to offer Manning a talented roster with a coaching staff that could still be suited to him and a presumably winnable division. Matt Flynn is the best free agent, though the Packers could use the franchise tag to keep him as their backup. Flynn drove up his price by throwing for six touchdowns and a franchise-record 480 yards in the season finale against Detroit, and was also good (24 of 37 passing, 251 yards, three touchdowns and an interception) in his one start last season. But here’s the irony: his profile is an awful lot like Matt Cassel’s was three years ago. Both are career backups to Hall of Famers. Both have benefitted from being in wildly successful systems. Flynn will be 27 when the season begins, just like Cassel was when he began with the Chiefs. It’s a small sample, but perhaps instructive that of two NFL personnel men who spoke for this column, one said he liked Cassel more three years ago than he likes Flynn now. That’s OK. There aren’t many certainties in the NFL, but here’s one: the Chiefs are in a promising place that can best be ruined by lacking the guts to do something bold. • • • The advantage the Chiefs have in searching for a better quarterback situation is in timing first, and resources second. Romeo Crennel hasn’t hired an offensive coordinator, or even given much of an indication on which coaches will be back. That gives him an opportunity to sync the new staff with whatever decision is made about the quarterback. Acquiring someone else’s quarterback — Manning or Flynn — comes with an added benefit. The Chiefs have plenty of salary-cap space, and could structure any deal in such a way to make the most out of the league-mandated spending minimum that begins in the 2013 season. The quote at the top of this column is a pretty good summation. Cassel is fine. He’s had four seasons as a starting quarterback. Twice he won 10 games, once he played for a team that had no chance, and the other he got hurt. But this narrative from the Chiefs that Cassel is young and developing needs to stop. He turns 30 in May. He’s started 54 games. Rookies are coming into the NFL ready. Cassel told The Star last week he wouldn’t mind if the Chiefs made him compete for the job. Nothing that happened last season indicates that competition would come from Ricky Stanzi. The Chiefs have the chassis for a good football team, now and into the future. Much of that is because of the improvement of players such as Tamba Hali and Jamaal Charles and Pioli’s ability to sign them long-term. Since Pioli took over three years ago, two of the most consistent limits on the team have been his unwillingness to make bold personnel acquisitions and the quarterback. This offseason presents the perfect chance to change that.
Posts: 42,141

01-15-2012, 02:38 PM	#95
Okie_Apparition Banned Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: floatin cobwebs n the sky Casino cash: $10004900	Pioli's contract only covers 2012 & 2013 drafts work with that & players or not at all
Posts: 7,012

01-15-2012, 02:41 PM	#100
donkhater Brilliant!! Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Indiana, USA Casino cash: $10014051	The Patriot way: draft Brady and enjoy the ride. The Bill Polian way: draft Jim Kelly and Peyton Manning and enjoy the ride. The Steeler way: draft Big Ben and enjoy the ride. The Packer way: draft Favre and Rodgers and enjoy the ride. The Bronco way: draft Elway and enjoy the ride. The 49er way: draft Montana, trade for Yonug and enjoy the ride. Get the picture? __________________ The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants
Posts: 3,994

01-15-2012, 02:47 PM	#102
O.city In Search of a Life Join Date: Jul 2009 Casino cash: $2574064	I'll ask this name the teams that have been SB contenders for the past say 5 years. Name their qbs.
Posts: 81,388

01-15-2012, 02:56 PM	#104
O.city In Search of a Life Join Date: Jul 2009 Casino cash: $2574064	Contenders year in year out. Patriots = Brady Colts= Manning Steelers= Big Ben Saints= Brees Pack= A. Rog Giants= Manning The only team that is year in year out contender that doesn't have a franchise guy is the Ravens. And they have always been that much short of it.
Posts: 81,388