Mellinger: Marcus Peters is gone. The Chiefs have some explaining to do.
 

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...201907719.html

Marcus Peters is gone. The Chiefs have some explaining to do.

BY SAM MELLINGER
smellinger@kcstar.com
February 23, 2018 07:27 PM

Clark Hunt, Andy Reid and Brett Veach deserve an opportunity to explain, because as it stands right now they have cloaked their franchise with failure.

That word is not used without thought. That word is not used without intent.

The Chiefs on Friday agreed to trade Marcus Peters to the Rams, reportedly for draft picks. Without hearing from the men who made this decision, the explanation that makes the most sense is one lacking in guts, ambition, commitment to success, and realism.

A difficult situation presents itself, and the Chiefs hit the eject button.

Starting with Reid being hired and paid more than any NFL coach who has not won a Super Bowl, the Chiefs have branded themselves as a place for second chances, where strong personalities are welcomed and supported.

Here, then, they failed with their strongest-willed and one of their best players. This was supposed to be their edge. Let players show their personalities. Get the most out of them. Except with Peters, the Chiefs failed to do it, apparently allowing the situation to become so untenable they traded him without a strong market of interest.

Again, Hunt, Reid, and Veach should be allowed to explain. This has all the markings of the Chiefs pushing Peters out, but there is always a chance the trade return was so overwhelming the Chiefs couldn’t resist. So these words are an initial reaction, not the final judgment. Still, the following is true:

Peters plays one of the most important non-quarterback positions in football, creates more turnovers than anyone else in the league, and just turned 25 in January with a year left on his rookie deal plus up to three more years of club control.

And he’s gone. For what?

The Chiefs traded a cheap, young star at a premium position despite the limited leverage of just two teams interested.

Why?

For draft picks? So they have an opportunity to select Peters’ replacement? That’s not the action of a successful franchise.

That’s the action of a franchise with more blown leads than wins in playoff games.

One more time, maybe there is a better and more sensible explanation, but here’s what it looks like at the moment: Hunt, who cowered when given the opportunity to stand up for his players’ rights last fall, wanted the headache gone.

He has been outspoken about wanting players to stand for the anthem, and talked Peters into staying in the locker room for the song. Hunt is a conservative man by nature, and it’s not a stretch to believe he wanted one of the NFL’s least conservative players off his team.

Because the other explanations don’t make as much sense.

The Chiefs want you to believe they are serious about winning and just traded one of their best players.

The Chiefs are trying to get younger and just traded a 25-year-old star.

The Chiefs’ secondary was awful last year and they just dumped (by far) their best cornerback.

The Chiefs retained a defensive coordinator who was exposed in 2017, deciding it was more about a lack of talent, and just shipped off one of the league’s most productive and dangerous defenders.

The Chiefs’ defense emphasizes creating turnovers, and they just traded the man who has created more turnovers than anyone else since he entered the league.

The Chiefs, in other words, have a disconnected vision of their future, or no serious expectations of success this season, or both.

Peters is not without his faults. Obviously. He is hyper competitive, which is his greatest strength right until the moment it becomes his greatest flaw. You don’t know when he’ll draw a personal foul, but you can expect at least a few every season.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters has lost his cool or done something that has resulted in a fine several times during the 2017 season. Neil Nakahodo, Pete Grathoff, David EulittThe Kansas City Star

Reid is by reputation one of the league’s great players’ coaches, and along with Terrell Owens, Peters is one of just two players Reid has suspended in 19 years. Peters’ protests during the national anthem angered a loud portion of the Chiefs’ fan base, and despite handing out turkeys and coats in Kansas City last year, the drama was never going fully away.

There is little doubt he was unhappy in Kansas City. Some of this was inevitable, because the player and his adopted home were so different. Peters could have asked to be traded, but his only leverage was a threat to sit out (which would mean not being paid, and not accruing service time toward free agency) or to not sign an extension (but the Chiefs could’ve controlled him for up to four more seasons).

The Chiefs were not against the clock here. They had time on their side.

The Chiefs could have supported the player, could have worked with the player. They could have found common ground. They could have defended the player against unfair public criticism, if that’s what it took.

Good organizations do that. The Chiefs traded the player. Organizations whose last Super Bowl appearance is old enough to be a grandfather do that.

One more time for the people in the back: Hunt, Reid, and Veach deserve the opportunity to explain. Chiefs fans deserve that, too. Maybe there is something that brings it all together.

But at the moment, only two explanations come to mind that make more sense than Hunt wanting the player out.

The first is that Peters had somehow become such a problem that he was breaking the locker room, and the organization made the advance decision to deal him now before he made more money and his trade value slipped.

That would have to account for the Chiefs players upset by the trade, require something much worse than what’s known so far, and be a tacit admission of failure by a coach hired in part because of his ability to get the best out of strong personalities.

The second apparent explanation would be that the Chiefs are fully embracing a rebuild, and selling off all valuable parts while they reset around quarterback Patrick Mahomes. If that’s the case, then more big trades should be expected.

There are varied holes in this logic, too, from the Chiefs having a good roster already to the NFL’s established history of teams winning with quarterbacks on rookie contracts.

But, at least it would be something.

At least it would be something that didn’t leave the sinking suspicion that the Chiefs just caved to the ugliest parts of their fan base and the weakest part of human nature by avoiding discomfort even as it sets them back competitively.

The media loves to bitch.

Mellinger has been hitting the nail with several of his recent articles.

HE WANTED TO BE TRADED!!!!!!!!

YOU DONT KEEP A PLAYER WHO DOESNT WANT TO BE ON THE TEAM!!!!!

The Chiefs are dumb. I’ll be a fan until the day I die but they are stupid.

What about the fact that Peters wanted out of here and would not stay. You can't devote 8 mil using a 5th year option on a head case that won't stay.

Mellinger with a fine article that a ton of people will hate I'm sure.

This is why we never see them play for anything that matters.

Sam is 100% dead on

Clark Hunt is the #1 problem.

Had to keep the true fans happy man.

I thought it was because we never drafted a franchise QB?
Posted via Mobile Device

There has been no proof of that.
The real question is why would he not want to stay. If it is Sutton, the scheme or location.

Trading your best players for pennies on the dollar isn't gonna win anything either.

It's like they were in a spot to go for it, and just pussed out.

Not true at all. Many teams work through players that are pissed about where they are at without getting rid of them.

If anyone was Marcus Peters you wouldn't wanna be here either, he's been razzed by this teams fans all year for petty shit.

Do you have an example?

Great. Now I'm pissed off again.

I am glad he is gone personally, he gave Carr nightmares

Chiefs have a history of doing that?
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He’s been a problem since day one. No telling what locker room drama he had as well. I would imagine it would’ve been worse since there were no cameras around.

I didn't say that what I'm saying is this organization just can never do anything right, and there is obviously a reason for that.

Then Andy Reid should be fired.

Why should Reid be fired for another players actions?

If you're saying he's been a problem since day 1 then that is on the front office which is basically all Andy Reid.

Also this team threw away Jared Allen in his prime as well.

Clark Hunt didn’t want to deal with the headache. That is the most truthful part of the article. He’s a spineless bastard.

You know how you deal with guys like Marcus Peters. You tell them to shut the **** up quit crying and play football. Or you could trade them off because you are spineless.

And got five years of good LT play and arguably the best back in franchise history out of it, when Allen was a few PBRs away from a year suspension

That was a good deal.

Meh a player with a history of disrespecting coaching is still disrespecting them 3 years into his career. At some point, enough has to be enough. I don't like the trade but I understand it.
Posted via Mobile Device

I thought it was a solid deal at the time, but most teams wouldn't have made that deal.

ROFL Yeah, is that how it works?
Posted via Mobile Device

I’m sure he likes money.

Peters has made a total of 7 million dollars he's in no position to hold out.

I’ll say this, if there have been a lot of behind the scenes stuff, and the whole team is sick of him and glad he’s gone, then fine. But, if it comes out that it was just strictly CHunt being a spineless, whiney, selfish turd that was just disappointed in him, it’s going to really infuriate me.

We deserve to be trolled by this dipshit.

This is seriously the kind of thing that makes me question why I keep coming back for more punishment each season.

Unless we get Aaron Donaldson and a first or Peters is suspended for two seasons for some off the field issue then this makes absolutely no sense.

And yet he still disrespected the coaches and quiting on games and plays. There was a long stretch of games where he literally stopped trying to tackle players. All he did was go for the strip and that was it. You think coaches weren't on his ass about it?

He plays when he wanted to play. He's been like that since college and probably before.
Posted via Mobile Device

I hope you mean Aaron Donald OR a first. Donald is easily worth a lot more than Peters.
Posted via Mobile Device

if it turns out it was Hunt, the big time Trump supporter, not wanting a really productive player over said player silently protesting..... I’ll be really pissed too.

Just off the top of my head, Martavis Bryant has wanted out of Pittsburgh for awhile now. He's still there because Pittsburgh wasn't going to trade him until it suited them. Now that they have so many Wrs that he is almost not needed they are considering it. Players get pissed off all the time about money,coaches,playing time etc.


Mike Tomlin: Steelers won't trade Martavis Bryant despite 'distraction'
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY Sports Published 10:36 a.m. ET Oct. 24, 2017 | Updated 1:26 p.m. ET Oct. 24, 2017
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ers/793887001/

This has nothing to do with Peters' protesting
Posted via Mobile Device

Wanna bet he gets traded or released this off season?
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I dont personally give a shit for 3 reasons:

1) he played like shit this season...our defense was a joke...we actually did better without him for the one game

2) he walked off the field...****ing loser...

3) the whole avoiding hits and tackles schtick was idiotic

**** him

Furthermore how can mellinger evaluate this without knowing the details? If we get a 1st rounder, im ok with this.

Our defense will probably be better next year....this will be forgotten soon. I eas way more pissed losing flowers....and thats long forgotten

How can it not?

Kneeling started a lot of the hostility, Hunt is a Trumpster, Fans pissed about players taking a knee are bitching which hurts Hunt's bottom line. We don't know how big of an impact it has had but it had to have some.

I’m not saying I would have offered him a max contract. But there was absolutely no reason to trade him on his rookie contract. I believe the Chiefs had the leverage in this situation and they caved because the owner didn’t want the headache.

Marcus could have either played with max effort or hurt his market value by playing half assed.

Cause his play and disrespect to the coaches is a much bigger issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

Bigger/smaller isn't the same as you saying it has nothing to do with it.

Chiefs had the leverage.

you don’t know that.

A move like this without a huge haul in return deserves an explanation to the fans.

Him playing half assed could cost us games. The way he approached stopping ball carriers was one of the most frustrating things I can remember seeing. I got off the trade Marcus bandwagon the last couple of games of the season but I was fully on board for a long time. It's one thing to be bad at something, it's quite another to not even attempt to do it. And seeing as how he kept doing it game after game, it's clear he wasn't listening to coaches which is the biggest issue.

And it's not like Reid is a 0 tolerance guy. For this to happen, he must have been at his wits end about Peters behavior in front and behind the scenes.
Posted via Mobile Device

Randy Moss is comparable. Was it worth putting up with his bs antics.

The Chiefs played their best defensive game of the season against your Faid this season. 3 turnovers. 198 passing yards. 70 rushing yards. Oh, and Peters didn't play.

Meh. We have our franchise quarterback. If everything goes right with him, none of this will matter. None of this is even close to as damning then the Chiefs failing to draft a franchise quarterback for the last half century. They've made the one, most important decision that gives you a shot at a ring. They have my attention for the first time in quite a while and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this.

But drama is required, it seems.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Chiefs knew that Marcus Peters would likely demand to be the game’s highest-paid corner, which would cost upwards of $18 million per season. So on Friday they decided to go in a different direction: <a href="https://t.co/doTi6qrVq6">https://t.co/doTi6qrVq6</a></p>&mdash; Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/TerezPaylor/status/967183969140854784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

GREAT comparison. Who even knows what he did after that trade?

Lol so Marcus Peters is one of the top 2 corners in league history? They're not comparable at all.
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What in the **** is taking so long with the compensation?

He is one of the leagues best at creating turnovers. How do you suppose we replace that?

Peters is no Randy Moss

Mellinger killed it.

Sounds like bullshit. That better not be the reason.

Marcus is a turnover machine. Fact.

This pretty much sums it up IMO. The play he made in the playoff game had me thrilled, then he turns around did the Ole thing again when the game was on the line.

Normally I think Mellinger is good but this is a knee jerk rant that conspicuously ignores all the stories about Peters that he has certainly heard.

Sam ****ed up his own big story within the first 4 paragraphs

'Except with Peters, they failed to do it, apparently allowing the situation to become so untenable they traded him without a strong market of interest.

Huh, say wha?... is Sam telling me the 'market of interest' for a young, 2 time All-Pro on his first contract was just kinda meh, in spite of the myriad of teams desperately needing a defensive playmaker of Peters caliber?

So what does that tell everyone?

That the Kansas City Chiefs, and their head coach who was willing to make Michael Vick his starting QB, with great success I might add, are nothing more than a bunch of peabrained Hee-Haw corneaters unwilling to accomodate an outsized black personality?

Give me a ****ing break, lulz

You can bet your ass NO ONE in the Chiefs top echelon wanted to get rid of this kid, but he had made it so impossible to bear that it soon became the only move worth making... you go ahead and gnash your teeth, as for me and this new era of unparalleled excitement?

**** Marcus, bring on some Money

You mean the play where Zombo got exposed for the talented piece of crap he is. I heard he’s a great guy though.

Who the **** is talking about Zombo? That is whole different issue. I was talking about Peters, stepping out of the way of tackling.

Go back and read the game thread. I was raving about Peters, then, well ****, that again. The team had twin 'Ole corners in Peters and Revis.

Good, championship caliber defenses have 11 tacklers

KC didn't

(And yes, Deion was a better tackler than Peters)

I could not be happier to see King slaying you crybabies, see... it not a race thing at all, its all about the football

If there wasn’t a strong market of interest for a pro bowl shutdown corner, that tells you something in itself.

It sucks that Reid and Veach had to negotiate from a position of weakness, but they were put there by the player being a malcontent. Not really their fault.

A malcontent with still 2 years of control. Oh the horror.

I make Marcus play out his rookie contract and than let him test free agency.

Control what? you seriously think someone can control Marcus Peters?

He already has enough money to tell everyone to get bent should he choose to do so... 'doesnt matter, we have him under contract!'

Are you ****ing serious man, just how naive ARE you?... that doesnt mean DICK with a guy like him, we'd only be hanging onto a hot girlfriend looking to **** us over every chance she got because the sex was hot

The Hunts are so pathetic.

We've tried to extend the hand of understanding repeatedly, but that dumbassed family keeps ratcheting the step-ladder higher and higher with each passing year and each idiotic move.

They just can't be reached.

If we gave Peters away, the players will be as pissed as fans. If we got fair value, we move on. This is about winning. There's no reason for a fire sale. It would be better to keep him a few more years and get nothing than getting a third round pick for him. And if Reid thinks the guy is a cancer, well, Reid helped bring Peters here.

Buy low/draft and sell high...I think KC, if they get the first rounder this year, has made a great trade. I think KC got as much as they could get out of a DB that cannot lock down a WR on the other team.

supposedly he was a cancer in the locker room....didn't want to be here as well

I doubt they’ll throw him under the bus so we’ll orobably never know