Teicher: Chiefs plan to have competition for quarterback Cassel

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs plan to have competition for quarterback Cassel
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

Of the players who served as a backup quarterback for the Chiefs the last three seasons, none could be considered a serious candidate to take Matt Cassel’s starting job.

General manager Scott Pioli said he couldn’t promise the Chiefs would find a more significant challenge for Cassel this year. But he indicated that if the Chiefs failed, it wouldn’t be for a lack of trying.

Just as it wasn’t, Pioli said, the last three seasons.

“The answer is yes, there’s going to be competition at quarterback,” Pioli said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. “But that doesn’t make it different from any other year. That’s not different from the past.

“I don’t think we haven’t tried (to bring in competition for Cassel). Part of it was circumstances. When we traded for Matt, he was coming to a program that had two starting quarterbacks here already. It’s easy to sit here now and say, ‘You can’t say player X wasn’t competition.’ That’s not fair. Look at it in the snapshot of that place and time. It certainly appeared there was going to be competition.”

Tyler Thigpen and Brodie Croyle were the Chiefs’ quarterbacks when they traded for Cassel three years ago. Neither has been a productive player since leaving the Chiefs.

Matt Gutierrez, Tyler Palko, Ricky Stanzi and Kyle Orton have been quarterbacks who have come, and in some cases gone, since.

Stanzi, who was drafted last year, is the only Chiefs quarterback other than Cassel under contract for next season. Orton played in four games for the Chiefs last season after Cassel injured his hand and was lost for the year.

“Last year, free-agency never started (until training camp),” Pioli said. “We had Matt on the roster. We had Tyler on the roster. We had Ricky, who we drafted. We didn’t draft someone high who was perceived as competition, but I’ll say this: I think Ricky is competition. Let’s not get lost in where a guy was drafted as to whether or not he’s a player. This league has shown time and time again at many positions, including this particular position, that where a player is drafted doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how good he is or how good he becomes.

“You just don’t wave a wand and magically say, ‘There’s competition.’ We drafted a quarterback last year who I truly believe has good ability and has the potential to start in this league. I really do believe that.”

With only Cassel and Stanzi signed for 2012, the Chiefs will add at least one quarterback and probably two before training camp starts in July. Veteran possibilities include Peyton Manning, if he’s released by Indianapolis.

Two other free-agent possibilities are Chad Henne, who played for Miami last year with new Chiefs offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and Jason Campbell, who played two seasons for Washington under Jim Zorn, now the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen in free-agency and you don’t know what you’re going to be able to get done,” Pioli said. “Quarterback seems to be one of those positions where there’s pretty good ones, veteran guys who are cut and have outpriced their role.

“So you don’t know about quarterbacks (in free-agency). You can’t create a person out of nothing. Availability and circumstances are (key factors in acquiring a quarterback). You can only work with the pool of players you can work with even though you might have certain intentions.”

The draft is another option for the Chiefs to add a quarterback.

“My hope and strong desire is to draft a quarterback every single year,” Pioli said. “There’s great value in that. Last year I didn’t know if we were going to draft (a quarterback) in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth round, but we ended up drafting a guy who a number of us really like and really think can be a starter in the National Football League.”

One of Pioli’s first moves after joining the Chiefs three years ago was to trade for Cassel, who was coming off a strong season as a starter for New England. Cassel had a big season for the Chiefs in 2010, when he made the Pro Bowl.

Otherwise, he has struggled to fulfill Pioli’s vision for him. Last year, the Chiefs struggled at the start after losing running back Jamaal Charles and tight end Tony Moeaki for the season with injuries.

Cassel’s season ended after nine games because of the broken hand.

“In 2010, Matt was certainly on his way to becoming that player, on his way to becoming a good NFL quarterback,” Pioli said. “He was winning games and he was producing and he was a reason good things were happening.

“This past year was a tough set of circumstances to measure and evaluate his progress. I don’t ever want to make excuses for a team or a player, but playing without one of the best young running backs in the National Football League and playing without one of the

[DaWolf]

After listening to Romeo today, I am more convinced than ever that they're going to try and bring in a guy to ensure Matt Cassel will be holding a clipboard this season.

If they whiff on both Manning and Orton, then you may see an actual competition between Cassel and whoever. But Romeo is throwing way too much smoke up there regarding guys who aren't Cassel and how he'd like to have them. You don't do that if you are planning on starting Cassel...