TEICHER - TIME TO REBOOT - Page 4

bringbackmarty · 01-18-2007, 03:03 AM

TIME TO REBOOT
Edwards takes aim at complex KC roster
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

I n Herm Edwards’ perfect world, he might like to start almost from scratch in building the Chiefs roster. He might grab a handful of young players like Tamba Hali, Jared Allen, Derrick Johnson and Larry Johnson, and then fend for himself to fill out the remainder of the starting lineup.

His reality won’t be that simple. As much as Edwards might like to take a butcher knife to the roster, the Chiefs are tethered to too many fat contracts given to underperforming players to allow that to happen.

Let’s say the Chiefs want to get rid of the following veterans: Priest Holmes, Trent Green, Dante Hall, Ryan Sims, Eric Hicks, Kendrell Bell, Ty Law, Sammy Knight and Greg Wesley. It’s a safe assumption they would like to rid themselves of most.

The cost of dumping those nine players could run as high as $32 million against their salary cap. That prohibitive amount guarantees at least some will return.

So think scalpel instead of butcher knife, changes on something less than a large scale.

The Chiefs are now sorting through those decisions.

“There will be some tough decisions, and there will be some unpopular decisions,” Edwards said. “We’ll make those in a manner that is best for the football team. It’s never personal.

“We’ll take our time. We won’t make emotional decisions. That’s always a bad decision when you get emotionally involved.”

The Chiefs have the luxury of time. Free-agency doesn’t begin until March.

Here’s a peek at what those changes might involve.

Offense

The Chiefs won’t let the results of one playoff game, albeit a miserable one, dictate their choices.

“You never let one game, one play, determine your decision making,” Edwards said. “You look at the whole season, what you’re trying to accomplish, where you fell short, the things you did well, the things you didn’t do well.”

The broader picture shows their most important decision is at quarterback. Trent Green, who will be 37 next summer, didn’t play well enough to automatically enter next season as the starter.

The Chiefs probably will keep either Green or Damon Huard, a potential free agent, but not both. Much could depend on whether Green will accept a cut in his scheduled salary of $7.2 million.

Brodie Croyle, with any kind of offseason showing, will enter training camp as the No. 2 quarterback.

The line could look similar depending on the retirement decisions of guard Will Shields and center Casey Wiegmann and the success in re-signing tackle Jordan Black, another potential free agent. The Chiefs probably will make an effort to re-sign Black if the cost isn’t prohibitive.

The Chiefs would plug the loss of Shields with John Welbourn and the loss of Wiegmann with Chris Bober or Rudy Niswanger.

The loss of Black is a bigger problem. The Chiefs have no other obvious candidate to play left tackle, so they would be forced to fill the hole in free-agency or the draft.

Otherwise, the only issue is right tackle. The Chiefs used four starters last season with little success. The leading candidate would be midseason addition Chris Terry.

The Chiefs would appear to have little choice but to sign a wide receiver or draft one. Eddie Kennison will be 34; Samie Parker and Hall have provided the Chiefs with little.

Look for Jeff Webb, who played little last season as a rookie, to claim a starting spot.

“Webb will be a part of this offense,” Edwards said. “He needs to be. He’s a good football player. We’ve got to get him on the football field.”

The Chiefs also must add a fullback. One possibility could be backup linebacker Boomer Grigsby.

Defense

The Chiefs in the last few years of Dick Vermeil’s time as head coach thought they were one or two good players away from building a solid defense. So they lavished free-agent riches on players such as Bell, Knight and Law.

They soon will pay for this strategy. Bell has by all measures been a lousy signing. Knight and Law might have made sense but don’t run well enough to be productive players in Edwards’ system.

“We’re in a period of transition,” president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “(Edwards) had his first year now with this football team, and a lot of it he inherited. He knows what he wants to do, and he expresses to me and our player personnel people where he wants to go. Now he’s had a full year of evaluation of his players and certainly has his thoughts, and I want those thoughts because he is the captain of the ship.”

The biggest issue for the Chiefs is what to do with Bell. Because his scheduled salary of slightly more than $3 million is guaranteed, Bell would cost the Chiefs more against their salary cap to release than keep.

Middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell is a potential free agent, and the Chiefs appear inclined to try to re-sign him. If they do, Mitchell might move to one of the outside positions. The Chiefs would then look to free-agency or the draft for a middle linebacker.

The Chiefs will again be in the market for a high-quality defensive tackle. Unless one gets released, it appears none will be available in free-agency.

They appear to have little choice but to try again with a high draft pick. They would then try to re-sign at least two of their potential free agents in James Reed, Ron Edwards and Jimmy Wilkerson. Sims is probably finished with the Chiefs.

Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard are the likely starters at safety, making Knight and Wesley expendable. Look for the Chiefs to draft a cornerback and prepare him to take Law’s starting spot.

what a joke, griggsby @ FB? weaka to the outside instead of fox or bell, who costs too much to release.

Brock · 01-18-2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Seriously, I feel safer with Croyle starting than Huard. Croyle, is like a younger version of Trent with a stronger arm.

I'm glad you're convinced, though I can't see what it is that has let you to that. I'm all for starting Croyle also, I'm all for nuking the roster and starting over, but if Huard outplays Croyle in training camp and wins the job, then that's fine too. Of course, I think the team has to actually sign Huard to a contract first.

**Bob Dole** · 01-18-2007, 10:00 AM

Bob Dole hopes someone is taking notes of all the people who claim they will be "just fine" if this team is 2-14 or 3-13 next season.

crazycoffey · 01-18-2007, 10:06 AM

Is Teicher a poster on here too????

Just curious,

OL needs somewhat more attention than he points out. Dead on with Bell and the WRs, QB too I can't imagine both Green and Huard will be here next year.

Boomer as FB seemed out of left field, but the more I think about it, here's something I like, Bigfoot can be more of slot - or WR even as big as he is, and boomer is nuttz, he loves hitting people, but he's not big enough to really put the zing on people for D, that's why we have all thought he was a stretch for MLB and special teams was his only future. Well if he's open to FB, he's big enough for that, he's fast, and athletic, I don't know maybe it would be a big surprise. I'll just say after further thought, it could have the potential for a huge upside.

I kind of hope priest comes back, he probably won't, but he has always surprised the naysayers. Shows he's still got it and he becomes trade bait, or since LJ seems a little unhappy here..... I don't want to speak that scenerio into existance so I'll stop.

vailpass · 01-18-2007, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bringbackmarty

The biggest issue for the Chiefs is what to do with Bell. Because his scheduled salary of slightly more than $3 million is guaranteed, Bell would cost the Chiefs more against their salary cap to release than keep.

Bell's agent earned his commission this time around, what a sweet deal.

shaneo69 · 01-18-2007, 10:09 AM

I think I would be calling Willie Roaf right now offering him a 1 yr, $10 mil contract. Then I would tell Black that he's the new starting RG and offer him a decent contract. His best pro game was at RG against Baltimore when he pancaked Ray Ray after Shields got hurt a couple years ago. Niswanger, Svitek, and Stallings would be in NFL Europe, and Svitek would be at LT. Terry and Sampson can fight for the RT position in camp, and Turley and Welbourn would be gone. I'm assuming Shields is gone, and if Casey retires as well, I'd have Rudy and Bober fight for that position.

htismaqe · 01-18-2007, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

FB- Brian Leonard

If KC has Huard starting for the beginning of the season we are fuckED!!!!!! Teicher writing this particual article you've got to wonder if he's taking notes from Chiefs Planet in crayon.

I'd love to have Leonard as a FB...

In the FOURTH round.

htismaqe · 01-18-2007, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj

Welbourn was also an acceptable RT on KC 2-3 years ago. His play slipped tremendously after his 2nd roid suspension. He's not the player he once was and cannot be trusted to be kept clean.

If Herm wants a ball control offense that relies on the run he will need a stellar OL to run it. Teicher's suggestions are anything but that.

EXACTLY.

htismaqe · 01-18-2007, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jspchief

The way he talks about signing Black to be our starting LT is terrifying.

Terrifying. Mortifying. However you want to say it.

Zouk · 01-18-2007, 10:15 AM

The team needs to cut loose Law, Knight, Wesley, Bell, Hicks, Sims, and Priest.

I'd prefer for Dante Hall to move on as well.

Trent Green will probably realize that there are no better options for him out there at age 37, and he will take a pay cut and return for 1 more year.

But the $32 million dead cap number cited by Teicher is almost certainly wrong. By using June 1st, the number will be much less than that.

Still, we're not going to sign any significant free agents this year, so all the Leonard Davis and Lance Briggs talk is just useless. We'll take our medicine and re-build the team with young players. That does not mean we will win 2-5 games. I think we can still compete for a playoff spot with a young team. The tricky thing is finding a decent left tackle. Maybe Svitek has a chance?

**Tribal Warfare** · 01-18-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaneo69

I think I would be calling Willie Roaf right now offering him a 1 yr, $10 mil contract. Then I would tell Black that he's the new starting RG and offer him a decent contract. His best pro game was at RG against Baltimore when he pancaked Ray Ray after Shields got hurt a couple years ago. Niswanger, Svitek, and Stallings would be in NFL Europe, and Svitek would be at LT. Terry and Sampson can fight for the RT position in camp, and Turley and Welbourn would be gone. I'm assuming Shields is gone, and if Casey retires as well, I'd have Rudy and Bober fight for that position.

I don't be Svitek will into NFL Europe, because he was so damn exghausted he couldn't compete for eith OT position

htismaqe · 01-18-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

If Mazlowski was still here, we'd already have our fullback.

Or if King Carl had just pulled his head out of his ass and paid T Rich $850k a year.

TRich didn't want $850k a year. He wanted to play for a different team.

shaneo69 · 01-18-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe

TRich didn't want $850k a year. He wanted to play for a different team.

He heard the Vikings had better team parties.

crazycoffey · 01-18-2007, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaneo69

I think I would be calling Willie Roaf right now offering him a 1 yr, $10 mil contract. Then I would tell Black that he's the new starting RG and offer him a decent contract. His best pro game was at RG against Baltimore when he pancaked Ray Ray after Shields got hurt a couple years ago. Niswanger, Svitek, and Stallings would be in NFL Europe, and Svitek would be at LT. Terry and Sampson can fight for the RT position in camp, and Turley and Welbourn would be gone. I'm assuming Shields is gone, and if Casey retires as well, I'd have Rudy and Bober fight for that position.

bober and rudy are both bigger than Casey too, I just noticed that on the roster.

67Bober, ChrisT6-531012/24/767Nebraska-Omaha
He's listed as a Tackle, and never made the rotation when sampson and turley were hurt, is that alarming????? Plus he's already 30
64Niswanger, RudyC6-530111/09/82RLSU
young big rookie free agent, if it's a tie between him a bober, go with youth???
62Wiegmann, CaseyC6-228507/20/7311Iowa

anyone know anything about this guy, from the practice squad?
66Ingram, JohnathanC6-229009/20/802San Diego State

crazycoffey · 01-18-2007, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaneo69

He heard the Vikings had better team parties.

big selling point for the single guy, STRIPPERS

note to carl, if you need stripper scouts, I would be available. Lets hook us some young talent.

Chiefnj · 01-18-2007, 10:22 AM

At this point I don't see any reason why KC would want to lose Knight, Wesley and Law if it will cost more to cut them.

The Chiefs don't really have a viable replacement for Law. Pollard has yet to outplay Wesley at safety and having Knight around as an experienced backup veteran makes sense.

01-18-2007, 03:03 AM
bringbackmarty Gonna go back in time.... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $3045510	TEICHER - TIME TO REBOOT TIME TO REBOOT Edwards takes aim at complex KC roster By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star I n Herm Edwards’ perfect world, he might like to start almost from scratch in building the Chiefs roster. He might grab a handful of young players like Tamba Hali, Jared Allen, Derrick Johnson and Larry Johnson, and then fend for himself to fill out the remainder of the starting lineup. His reality won’t be that simple. As much as Edwards might like to take a butcher knife to the roster, the Chiefs are tethered to too many fat contracts given to underperforming players to allow that to happen. Let’s say the Chiefs want to get rid of the following veterans: Priest Holmes, Trent Green, Dante Hall, Ryan Sims, Eric Hicks, Kendrell Bell, Ty Law, Sammy Knight and Greg Wesley. It’s a safe assumption they would like to rid themselves of most. The cost of dumping those nine players could run as high as $32 million against their salary cap. That prohibitive amount guarantees at least some will return. So think scalpel instead of butcher knife, changes on something less than a large scale. The Chiefs are now sorting through those decisions. “There will be some tough decisions, and there will be some unpopular decisions,” Edwards said. “We’ll make those in a manner that is best for the football team. It’s never personal. “We’ll take our time. We won’t make emotional decisions. That’s always a bad decision when you get emotionally involved.” The Chiefs have the luxury of time. Free-agency doesn’t begin until March. Here’s a peek at what those changes might involve. Offense The Chiefs won’t let the results of one playoff game, albeit a miserable one, dictate their choices. “You never let one game, one play, determine your decision making,” Edwards said. “You look at the whole season, what you’re trying to accomplish, where you fell short, the things you did well, the things you didn’t do well.” The broader picture shows their most important decision is at quarterback. Trent Green, who will be 37 next summer, didn’t play well enough to automatically enter next season as the starter. The Chiefs probably will keep either Green or Damon Huard, a potential free agent, but not both. Much could depend on whether Green will accept a cut in his scheduled salary of $7.2 million. Brodie Croyle, with any kind of offseason showing, will enter training camp as the No. 2 quarterback. The line could look similar depending on the retirement decisions of guard Will Shields and center Casey Wiegmann and the success in re-signing tackle Jordan Black, another potential free agent. The Chiefs probably will make an effort to re-sign Black if the cost isn’t prohibitive. The Chiefs would plug the loss of Shields with John Welbourn and the loss of Wiegmann with Chris Bober or Rudy Niswanger. The loss of Black is a bigger problem. The Chiefs have no other obvious candidate to play left tackle, so they would be forced to fill the hole in free-agency or the draft. Otherwise, the only issue is right tackle. The Chiefs used four starters last season with little success. The leading candidate would be midseason addition Chris Terry. The Chiefs would appear to have little choice but to sign a wide receiver or draft one. Eddie Kennison will be 34; Samie Parker and Hall have provided the Chiefs with little. Look for Jeff Webb, who played little last season as a rookie, to claim a starting spot. “Webb will be a part of this offense,” Edwards said. “He needs to be. He’s a good football player. We’ve got to get him on the football field.” The Chiefs also must add a fullback. One possibility could be backup linebacker Boomer Grigsby. Defense The Chiefs in the last few years of Dick Vermeil’s time as head coach thought they were one or two good players away from building a solid defense. So they lavished free-agent riches on players such as Bell, Knight and Law. They soon will pay for this strategy. Bell has by all measures been a lousy signing. Knight and Law might have made sense but don’t run well enough to be productive players in Edwards’ system. “We’re in a period of transition,” president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “(Edwards) had his first year now with this football team, and a lot of it he inherited. He knows what he wants to do, and he expresses to me and our player personnel people where he wants to go. Now he’s had a full year of evaluation of his players and certainly has his thoughts, and I want those thoughts because he is the captain of the ship.” The biggest issue for the Chiefs is what to do with Bell. Because his scheduled salary of slightly more than $3 million is guaranteed, Bell would cost the Chiefs more against their salary cap to release than keep. Middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell is a potential free agent, and the Chiefs appear inclined to try to re-sign him. If they do, Mitchell might move to one of the outside positions. The Chiefs would then look to free-agency or the draft for a middle linebacker. The Chiefs will again be in the market for a high-quality defensive tackle. Unless one gets released, it appears none will be available in free-agency. They appear to have little choice but to try again with a high draft pick. They would then try to re-sign at least two of their potential free agents in James Reed, Ron Edwards and Jimmy Wilkerson. Sims is probably finished with the Chiefs. Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard are the likely starters at safety, making Knight and Wesley expendable. Look for the Chiefs to draft a cornerback and prepare him to take Law’s starting spot. what a joke, griggsby @ FB? weaka to the outside instead of fox or bell, who costs too much to release.
Posts: 3,033

01-18-2007, 10:00 AM	#47
Bob Dole King Shit of **** Mountain Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Texarkana, Texas Casino cash: $2614497	Bob Dole hopes someone is taking notes of all the people who claim they will be "just fine" if this team is 2-14 or 3-13 next season.
Posts: 48,522

01-18-2007, 10:06 AM	#48
crazycoffey .......... Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $5207901	Is Teicher a poster on here too???? Just curious, OL needs somewhat more attention than he points out. Dead on with Bell and the WRs, QB too I can't imagine both Green and Huard will be here next year. Boomer as FB seemed out of left field, but the more I think about it, here's something I like, Bigfoot can be more of slot - or WR even as big as he is, and boomer is nuttz, he loves hitting people, but he's not big enough to really put the zing on people for D, that's why we have all thought he was a stretch for MLB and special teams was his only future. Well if he's open to FB, he's big enough for that, he's fast, and athletic, I don't know maybe it would be a big surprise. I'll just say after further thought, it could have the potential for a huge upside. I kind of hope priest comes back, he probably won't, but he has always surprised the naysayers. Shows he's still got it and he becomes trade bait, or since LJ seems a little unhappy here..... I don't want to speak that scenerio into existance so I'll stop.
Posts: 28,330

01-18-2007, 10:09 AM	#50
shaneo69 Smug Weasel Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Bleachers at Busch Casino cash: $10004900	I think I would be calling Willie Roaf right now offering him a 1 yr, $10 mil contract. Then I would tell Black that he's the new starting RG and offer him a decent contract. His best pro game was at RG against Baltimore when he pancaked Ray Ray after Shields got hurt a couple years ago. Niswanger, Svitek, and Stallings would be in NFL Europe, and Svitek would be at LT. Terry and Sampson can fight for the RT position in camp, and Turley and Welbourn would be gone. I'm assuming Shields is gone, and if Casey retires as well, I'd have Rudy and Bober fight for that position. __________________ "I like Chiefs president Carl Peterson. I respect his business savvy. I envy his management skills and his penchant never to be driven by the whims of popularity. I admire his willingness to take responsibility for decisions that don’t work out the way he would have wanted." - Rufus, from KCChiefs.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 4,910

01-18-2007, 10:15 AM	#54
Zouk Veteran Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: DC Casino cash: $10004900	The team needs to cut loose Law, Knight, Wesley, Bell, Hicks, Sims, and Priest. I'd prefer for Dante Hall to move on as well. Trent Green will probably realize that there are no better options for him out there at age 37, and he will take a pay cut and return for 1 more year. But the $32 million dead cap number cited by Teicher is almost certainly wrong. By using June 1st, the number will be much less than that. Still, we're not going to sign any significant free agents this year, so all the Leonard Davis and Lance Briggs talk is just useless. We'll take our medicine and re-build the team with young players. That does not mean we will win 2-5 games. I think we can still compete for a playoff spot with a young team. The tricky thing is finding a decent left tackle. Maybe Svitek has a chance?
Posts: 1,454

01-18-2007, 10:22 AM	#60
Chiefnj MVP Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Willis, Harris and Davis. Casino cash: $10004900	At this point I don't see any reason why KC would want to lose Knight, Wesley and Law if it will cost more to cut them. The Chiefs don't really have a viable replacement for Law. Pollard has yet to outplay Wesley at safety and having Knight around as an experienced backup veteran makes sense. __________________ "I always tell (the assistant coaches), 'Make it simple, 'cause I'm stupid,'" Edwards said. "This ain't computer football." Herm Edwards, 3-20-07 Q: Herm, back on December 25th you were asked if Trent Green was your starter going into next season and you said, ‘yeah, why wouldn’t he be?’ Have you changed your mind on that? EDWARDS: No, I have not.” (1-11-07)
Posts: 6,811