DaWolf
04-28-2007, 01:22 AM
Hard for Carl to let Green go
http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/87012.html
You never know exactly what to believe when there are negotiations spinning. But on Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the start of today’s NFL draft, Chiefs president/CEO/general manager/Elton John fan Carl Peterson did not sound at all like a man about to trade quarterback Trent Green.
“If the season started tomorrow, Trent Green would be our starting quarterback,” Peterson said. “It’s that simple. He is the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback. And I’ll tell you this: If Trent Green is still with us in training camp — and I’m telling you that’s a real possibility — I am very confident he would win the job.”
Now, there could be any number of reasons why Peterson would say this. The obvious one is this: He might be trying to bluff a team into giving up more for Green. Everyone knows that about seven weeks ago, the Chiefs announced they would let Trent Green shop himself around. The Chiefs had re-signed quarterback Damon Huard, they had professed their love for young quarterback Brodie Croyle, and it seemed obvious that there was no place for Green on the team. The only respectful thing to do was to let Green find a deal.
Trouble is, over those seven weeks the offers for Green have been either:
1. Nonexistent.
2. Embarrassingly low.
“I’ve read about different deals that supposedly have been bandied about,” Peterson said. “They don’t know. They don’t know what I’ve been asking. What I’m asking is for fair value. And they don’t know what I’ve been offered.”
Maybe not. But whatever Peterson has been offered has obviously been pretty pitiful, because the draft is about to begin and Trent Green is still showing up at Arrowhead Stadium every week for quarterback meetings.
So it could be that Peterson — by saying he is perfectly willing to go into next season with Green as his starting quarterback — is just trying to flush out the buyers and get them to make legitimate offers.
“I feel absolutely certain that if Trent Green goes to Miami, for instance, he would be their starting quarterback,” Peterson said. “Now you tell me, what’s a starting quarterback worth in the NFL? A lot.”
So, yes, it could be posturing. But you know what? It could be something else. Peterson talked an awful lot about Trent Green on Friday, and there was real emotion in his voice. It could be that, deep down, Carl Peterson does not want to let Trent Green go.
“Trent Green is a marvelous person,” Peterson said. “It’s amazing: He does the right thing all the time. He’s a stand-up guy. He takes the blame when we lose, even if it isn’t his fault. He passes around the credit when we win. We’re talking about a leader here.”
He went on and on like this for a while until finally I had to ask the question.
“Carl, if you think so much of Trent Green — if you believe he’s the best quarterback you have — then why are you trading him in the first place?”
He paused for a minute. And then he said this very slowly:
“There you are talking about my head coach,” he said.
And there you have it.
“Herm (Edwards) would like for us to see what kind of quarterback Brodie Croyle can be,” he continued. “And he wants to see that sooner rather than later. I’m not disagreeing with that at all. He wants to get younger. He wants a fresh start. Trent understands this, too. We talk every week.”
See, I think there’s something going on here: Carl Peterson is watching the fun and heartbreaking team he built with Dick Vermeil fade away. Priest Holmes disappeared. Willie Roaf and Will Shields retired. Tony Richardson signed elsewhere. Larry Johnson wants big, big money. Just this week, Peterson traded Dante Hall, the X-Factor, who brought so many thrills to Kansas City but seemed to age before our very eyes last season. No you can’t hold together a football team forever — especially a football team that ultimately failed. Still, it has to be tough to watch the best offense in the NFL fall apart.
“I’m going to tell you this right now, and you can put it in big letters,” Peterson said. “I’m not going to give away Trent Green. That’s not fair to the Kansas City Chiefs, to ownership here or to us as a football team. I won’t do it. I know what people are saying. It will be interesting to hear what they say if Trent is still with us after the draft.”
With that, he talked a bit about the draft. Peterson didn’t give anything away — they will take the best available athlete, look to be active, the usual stuff — except to say that he loves Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. It looks as if Quinn will probably go top-10 now, maybe top-five, but for a while some draft mavens were saying he could drop all the way to the third or fourth round.
“That won’t happen,” Peterson said. “He will go early. But I’ll tell you this: I love Brady Quinn. If he is somehow available with the 23rd pick, he will be a Kansas City Chief … I don’t care how many quarterbacks we have.”
http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/87012.html
You never know exactly what to believe when there are negotiations spinning. But on Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the start of today’s NFL draft, Chiefs president/CEO/general manager/Elton John fan Carl Peterson did not sound at all like a man about to trade quarterback Trent Green.
“If the season started tomorrow, Trent Green would be our starting quarterback,” Peterson said. “It’s that simple. He is the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback. And I’ll tell you this: If Trent Green is still with us in training camp — and I’m telling you that’s a real possibility — I am very confident he would win the job.”
Now, there could be any number of reasons why Peterson would say this. The obvious one is this: He might be trying to bluff a team into giving up more for Green. Everyone knows that about seven weeks ago, the Chiefs announced they would let Trent Green shop himself around. The Chiefs had re-signed quarterback Damon Huard, they had professed their love for young quarterback Brodie Croyle, and it seemed obvious that there was no place for Green on the team. The only respectful thing to do was to let Green find a deal.
Trouble is, over those seven weeks the offers for Green have been either:
1. Nonexistent.
2. Embarrassingly low.
“I’ve read about different deals that supposedly have been bandied about,” Peterson said. “They don’t know. They don’t know what I’ve been asking. What I’m asking is for fair value. And they don’t know what I’ve been offered.”
Maybe not. But whatever Peterson has been offered has obviously been pretty pitiful, because the draft is about to begin and Trent Green is still showing up at Arrowhead Stadium every week for quarterback meetings.
So it could be that Peterson — by saying he is perfectly willing to go into next season with Green as his starting quarterback — is just trying to flush out the buyers and get them to make legitimate offers.
“I feel absolutely certain that if Trent Green goes to Miami, for instance, he would be their starting quarterback,” Peterson said. “Now you tell me, what’s a starting quarterback worth in the NFL? A lot.”
So, yes, it could be posturing. But you know what? It could be something else. Peterson talked an awful lot about Trent Green on Friday, and there was real emotion in his voice. It could be that, deep down, Carl Peterson does not want to let Trent Green go.
“Trent Green is a marvelous person,” Peterson said. “It’s amazing: He does the right thing all the time. He’s a stand-up guy. He takes the blame when we lose, even if it isn’t his fault. He passes around the credit when we win. We’re talking about a leader here.”
He went on and on like this for a while until finally I had to ask the question.
“Carl, if you think so much of Trent Green — if you believe he’s the best quarterback you have — then why are you trading him in the first place?”
He paused for a minute. And then he said this very slowly:
“There you are talking about my head coach,” he said.
And there you have it.
“Herm (Edwards) would like for us to see what kind of quarterback Brodie Croyle can be,” he continued. “And he wants to see that sooner rather than later. I’m not disagreeing with that at all. He wants to get younger. He wants a fresh start. Trent understands this, too. We talk every week.”
See, I think there’s something going on here: Carl Peterson is watching the fun and heartbreaking team he built with Dick Vermeil fade away. Priest Holmes disappeared. Willie Roaf and Will Shields retired. Tony Richardson signed elsewhere. Larry Johnson wants big, big money. Just this week, Peterson traded Dante Hall, the X-Factor, who brought so many thrills to Kansas City but seemed to age before our very eyes last season. No you can’t hold together a football team forever — especially a football team that ultimately failed. Still, it has to be tough to watch the best offense in the NFL fall apart.
“I’m going to tell you this right now, and you can put it in big letters,” Peterson said. “I’m not going to give away Trent Green. That’s not fair to the Kansas City Chiefs, to ownership here or to us as a football team. I won’t do it. I know what people are saying. It will be interesting to hear what they say if Trent is still with us after the draft.”
With that, he talked a bit about the draft. Peterson didn’t give anything away — they will take the best available athlete, look to be active, the usual stuff — except to say that he loves Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. It looks as if Quinn will probably go top-10 now, maybe top-five, but for a while some draft mavens were saying he could drop all the way to the third or fourth round.
“That won’t happen,” Peterson said. “He will go early. But I’ll tell you this: I love Brady Quinn. If he is somehow available with the 23rd pick, he will be a Kansas City Chief … I don’t care how many quarterbacks we have.”