Slow offseason AFC West banter

[LaChapelle]

Evening notes: Clausen to Kansas City?

February, 17, 2010 Feb 179:05PM
By Bill Williamson

The Kansas City Star and ESPN’s Mel Kiper both wonder if there is any way the Chiefs would reunite new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis with his quarterback at Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen. The Chiefs have the No. 5 pick and Clausen is expected to be selected high in the draft.

Kiper also wondered if Kansas City would trade Matt Cassel to Denver -- Broncos coach Josh McDaniels loves Cassel.

This scenario is obviously juicy and fun, although also unlikely. But we’ve seen wild scenarios involving quarterbacks in the AFC West before, haven’t we?

• Speaking of wild scenarios, NFC West blogger Mike Sando looks at potential trades in the division. Sando matched two AFC West teams in potential deals. He proposes that Arizona deals receiver Anquan Boldin to Kansas City for linebacker Derrick Johnson and Seattle sends receiver Deion Branch and draft picks to Denver for Brandon Marshall.

I could see plenty of reason why both of these deals would work: Seattle would love to get Marshall and Kansas City coach Todd Haley would probably like to work with Boldin again. Stay tuned.

• The San Francisco Chronicle reports Oakland will put the franchise tag on defensive end Richard Seymour if a long-term deal isn’t worked out by Feb. 25. Really, Oakland has no choice. It can’t let Seymour walk after giving up a 2011 first-round pick for him five months ago.

• Several current and former Denver players are on the witness list for the Darrent Williams murder trial, which is set to start next week. The cornerback was murdered in downtown Denver on Jan. 1, 2007.

• New England guard Stephen Neal will test the free-agent market. I expect Neal to reunite with either McDaniels in Denver or Scott Pioli in Kansas City.

• The Oakland Tribune looks at Oakland’s potential free agents and who should and who shouldn’t be brought back.Tags:Oakland

[LaChapelle]

Vrabel doesn't plan to call it quits

Posted by Mike Florio on February 18, 2010 9:52 AM ET

Linebacker Mike Vrabel, added to the Matt Cassel trade in 2009 like the rope that tied the tree to the top of the car in A Christmas Story, will become a free agent in 16 days.

And he doesn't plan to call it quits.

"He feels he has a number of productive seasons left, he loves playing in the NFL, he loves the game," agent Neil Cornrich told Albert Breer of the Boston Globe. "He'll probably continue with it in another capacity after he's done playing, but he wants to continue as a player, as long as he can [help] a team win games."

That team might not be the Chiefs, with whom he spent one year. It might not be the Patriots, with whom he spent eight.

But Vrabel apparently will be playing somewhere in 2010. "He had a productive year," Cornrich said to Breer. "Who wouldn't want him?"

Though one of the 32 NFL franchises likely will say "yes," the fact that Vrabel will be 35 in August suggests that plenty will say "no," unless he's willing to play for the veteran minimum.

[LaChapelle]

Column - Josh Looney
Insider Blog: Who's Out There?
Feb 18, 2010, 6:04:56 AM

WHO’S OUT THERE?
February 18th – 6:05 AM

The kickoff to NFL free agency is approaching quickly, if you haven’t already noticed. March 4th is the date to circle and 11:01 PM (CST) is the time to highlight. Over the past week we’ve covered the ins-and-outs of free agency specific to the Chiefs roster. Now, it’s time to kick the fun into full gear.

The most common question which Chiefs fans seem to be asking at the moment is simply, “Who’s available?”

With the CBA complicating things into a world of unknowns, seeing unrestricted free agents become restricted free agents and teams playing without cap rules, things can get tricky. Over the next seven days we’ll take a look at every position group, and I’ll select around 10 unrestricted free agents in each group that are available for hire.

I’ll try to present players that could possibly be a fit in Kansas City, but the discussion of whether or not they should end up at Arrowhead is up to you. This will take us up until our coverage of the NFL Combine late next week, which will then lead us up to the stroke of midnight on March 5th (er, 11:01 PM March 4th).

With Dante Stalloworth’s signing in Baltimore making NFL waves yesterday, why not start with a list of 10 unrestricted wide receivers?

KCChiefs.com Free Agency Snapshot

Position: Wide Receiver

Degree of Need: Significant

Chiefs Under Contract (5): Dwayne Bowe, Quinten Lawrence, Lance Long, Chandler Williams, Devard Darling

*Chiefs Without Contracts (3): Chris Chambers (UFA), Terrence Copper (UFA), Bobby Wade (UFA)

Chiefs Who Opened Camp in 2009 (9): Bowe, Mark Bradley, Copper, Darling, Bobby Engram, Taurus Johnson, Lawrence, Jeff Webb, Rodney Wright

*(UFA) – Unrestricted Free Agent; (RFA)—Restricted Free Agent; (ERFA) – Exclusive Rights Free Agent

Whose Out There (restricted free agents excluded)?

Kevin Walter (6-3, 218; age: 28) – If you’d like to see a “possession receiver” arrive in Kansas City, Walter could be an option. He’s caught 50 or more passes each of the past three seasons with Houston, at times holding the second WR position opposite Andre Johnson.

Will former Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan make a play for Walter in Washington? If so, interested teams could face competition and Walter may not fly under the radar any longer.

“He’s always flown under the radar because he’s been an overachiever most of his career,” Shanahan once said. “He went to a small college and was a late-round pick. He’s always been overlooked — people telling him he can’t do it. I think that’s one thing that drives him.”

Marty Booker (6-0, 205; age: 33) – Looking for a Chiefs connection? Booker and Todd Haley know one another very well as the two paired together for three seasons in Chicago (2001-03). In fact, Booker’s best year as a pro came under Haley’s guidance in 2001 when Booker caught 100 footballs for 1,071 yards and eight TDs. Booker logged another 1,000-yard receiving season in 2002 to become the first player in Bears history to hit that mark in back-to-back seasons.

Those numbers, however, were seven/eight seasons ago and Booker has posted just 40 catches over the past two seasons combined. Is he worth a flier for a reunion with Haley in Kansas City?

Booker spent the 2009 season with Atlanta. The below link is a debate about Booker’s future, which appeared last month in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-fans/2010/01/19/should-the-falcons-keep-booker/

Antonio Bryant (6-1, 205; age: 28) – Do “bigger names” catch your fancy? Perhaps Bryant might be of interest to the Chiefs? He’s only one season removed from an 83-catch, 1,248-yard Pro Bowl season in 2008. The question becomes whether or not that season was a statistical anomaly (his only other 1,000-yard season was in 2005 with Cleveland - *Romeo Crennel connection)?

Was Bryant’s production decline in 2009 (39 catches for 600 yards playing with injuries) the norm, or just part of a struggling Bucs offense? The Bucs revealed last week that they will not use the franchise tag on Bryant.

Bryant wants teams to simply take a look at his game tape and evaluate.

“Look at my numbers, my opportunities, and my film,” Bryant said earlier this month. “Film don’t lie.”

Nate Burleson (6-0, 198; age: 28) – Burleson was productive over 12 starts in a struggling offense last year with 63 catches for 812 yards. He’s spent his past four seasons in Seattle and has publically indicated that he would like to stay a Seahawk, but who knows with a new front office led by Pete Carroll in the Pacific Northwest.

Burleson was also named the NFL’s “Best Dressed Player” in 2006 by Maxim Magazine, so he would add some style to the Chiefs charter at the very least.

Mike Furrey (6-0, 195; age: 32) – Furrey has been an excellent asset to each of the three franchises (St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland) that he’s called home over his seven-year NFL career. Not only will he perform whatever role is asked of him on the field (he played safety for Cleveland in addition to wide receiver), but he’ll excel off of the gridiron as well. Furrey was a finalist for the NFL 2009 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which was ultimately won by Brian Waters.

Furrey is one of the few to have consistently played on both sides of the football in recent seasons, and the Chiefs have some question marks at safety as well. Two birds with one stone?

All kidding aside, Furrey should gain attention from both his 2009 club (Cleveland) and a number of other teams as well.

Josh Reed (5-10, 210; age: 30) – Reed has spent every season in Buffalo since the Bills drafted him in the second-round of the 2002 NFL Draft. That streak looks like it has a very real chance of coming to a close this offseason.

Throughout his career, Reed has generally been reliable to produce around 500 receiving yards per season. Not known as a speedster, Reed filled the role of possession receiver with the Bills. He’s generally been a solid third-down option throughout his career.

Kassim Osgood (6-5, 220;age: 29) – Osgood is a player that most Chiefs fans have heard of due to the fact that he’s spent his entire seven-year career with division rival San Diego. Osgood is a three-time Pro Bowler, yet only has 13 catches over his career and just three receptions over the past four seasons combined. He also hasn’t logged a single kickoff or punt return, but carries a league-wide reputation of being an elite special teams player. He was San Diego’s version of Terrence Copper…for seven years.

Osgood approaching free agency by looking for an opportunity to contribute as a wide receiver, in addition to his role on special teams.

“I’m just waiting for someone to say, ‘Let’s maximize our potential out of this guy rather than just get one thing,’” Osgood told the San Diego Union Tribune in last January.

Brandon Lloyd (6-0, 194; age: 28) – Born in Kansas City, MO and an alumnus of Blue Springs High School, could Lloyd be interested in returning to his hometown? Would the chiefs be interested in hosting a homecoming?

Lloyd’s best year came in 2005 when he caught 48 passes for 733 yards with five TDs with San Francisco. Since that season, however, Lloyd has bounced around, battled injuries and failed to match those numbers.

He’s been known as a favorite target, when healthy, of QB Kyle Orton in both Denver and Chicago. Lloyd was inactive for the first 14 games of with Denver last year, but played well in the final two contests of the season. He caught four passes for 94 yards in the season finale vs. Kansas City.

Sean Morey (5-11, 193; age: 33) – Never heard of Morey? That’s okay, he’s been mainly a special teams player throughout his career. Morey owns just 13 career receptions over eight NFL seasons, but he’s worth adding to the list because both Scott Pioli and Todd Haley are well aware of who Morey is.

Morey was drafted into the league by New England in 1999 (a year before Pioli arrived with the Patriots) and bounced between the Pats active roster and practice squad for the next three seasons. Most recently, he’s been in Arizona (2007-09), which crossed over two seasons with Todd Haley.

He was named the NFL Special Teams Player of the Decade by Sports Illustrated last year.

UP NEXT THIS AFTERNOON: THE TIGHT ENDS

[The Bad Guy]

I'd trade Cassel for a 3 or 4 and draft Claussen. He earned big points from me last year playing through a ridiculously painful injury.

[RealSNR]

Vrabel doesn't plan to call it quits

Posted by Mike Florio on February 18, 2010 9:52 AM ET

Linebacker Mike Vrabel, added to the Matt Cassel trade in 2009 like the rope that tied the tree to the top of the car in A Christmas Story, will become a free agent in 16 days.

And he doesn't plan to call it quits.

"He feels he has a number of productive seasons left, he loves playing in the NFL, he loves the game," agent Neil Cornrich told Albert Breer of the Boston Globe. "He'll probably continue with it in another capacity after he's done playing, but he wants to continue as a player, as long as he can [help] a team win games."

That team might not be the Chiefs, with whom he spent one year. It might not be the Patriots, with whom he spent eight.

But Vrabel apparently will be playing somewhere in 2010. "He had a productive year," Cornrich said to Breer. "Who wouldn't want him?"

Though one of the 32 NFL franchises likely will say "yes," the fact that Vrabel will be 35 in August suggests that plenty will say "no," unless he's willing to play for the veteran minimum.
http://media.mlive.com/lions_impact/photo/gunther-cunningham-detroit-lions-3b75b5e63330436c.jpg