Chiefs hold off on final cuts: Teicher
 

Chiefs hold off on final cuts
Team facing decision on how many offensive-line prospects it will keep.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs initially planned to make their final roster cuts Friday, but they will go down to today’s NFL deadline to pare to the league-mandated 53 players.

Blame it, in part, on Ryan Lilja.

The Chiefs two years ago tried to sneak Lilja, a young offensive-line prospect from Shawnee Mission Northwest and Kansas State, onto their practice squad.

He never made it there. Indianapolis grabbed Lilja off waivers, and he’s now a starter for the Colts.

The Chiefs have since been skittish about exposing good prospects to other teams. The Chiefs were wrestling with exactly how many offensive-line prospects such as tackles Will Svitek and Jeremy Parquet and guards Tre Stallings and Rudy Niswanger they will keep.

“We’ve got some good young offensive linemen,” Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “We’ll make a decision there of keeping nine, maybe 10.”

Otherwise, this year’s cuts aren’t overly taxing for the Chiefs.

“I don’t think there are any (particularly) difficult decisions,” Peterson said.

In another year, perhaps, halfback McKenzi Smith might have made the Chiefs think hard about keeping him. Smith had 51 yards and a touchdown in Thursday night’s 10-9 win over New Orleans and finished the preseason as the Chiefs’ leading rusher.

He has virtually no chance to stick. Larry Johnson is solid as the starter, the Chiefs traded a fourth-round draft pick for Michael Bennett, and they like Dee Brown because of his special-teams skills. The Chiefs don’t have roster space to carry four halfbacks.

Easy decisions materialized for the Chiefs at other positions for other reasons. None of the young cornerbacks proved to coach Herm Edwards that they were ready to play, so the Chiefs will keep veterans Ty Law, Patrick Surtain, Lenny Walls and Benny Sapp.

They may also keep fifth-round draft pick Marcus Maxey, but only as a developmental prospect.

On the defensive line, Carlos Hall, John Browning and Junior Siavii were injured throughout the preseason. Their inability to play means the roster spots of tackles Ron Edwards, James Reed, Ryan Sims and Lional Dalton and ends Tamba Hali, Jared Allen, Eric Hicks and Jimmy Wilkerson are safe.

Edwards might have initially held out hope of keeping four quarterbacks, but Casey Printers probably played his way off the roster.

“It’s not tough because I think you can only realistically carry three (quarterbacks) on your 53,” Peterson said. “Now you can carry one on your developmental squad. That’s a possibility. That’s always a question for any young player you want to bring on developmental. If he’s claimed, you can’t. If he’s not, most of them want to stay right here because they know the system.”

Edwards said last week he believed the Chiefs would have as many as 15 new players by the time they trimmed to 53 players. After giving it further thought, Edwards upped the count this week.

“We’ve got some young players who are probably going to make this football team,” he said. “I said there were probably going to be 15 (new) players. I was wrong. There will probably be 20 new players on this team with free-agency and the draft choices we’ve acquired.

“That’s a lot of players, but, hey, that’s kind of good, too, because what we’re trying to do is obviously keep the best players. I said it was going to be a competition, and I think we had a very competitive camp.”

Even after making their cuts, the Chiefs will scan the list of roster moves from around the league and perhaps make another move or two of their own. They are looking for help at wide receiver and on the defensive line.

Then the Chiefs would have even more cuts to make, as the Colts did two years ago when they claimed Lilja.

“That’s the nature of the game,” Peterson said. “Everybody’s got the same problem.”


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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/15421893.htm

Peterson is looking for dline help

Charles Rogers and a DE so they can cut Hicks please god........

A DT would help us a lot more than a DE.

Not really.

We're NOT gonna find quality at ANY position at this point in time.

We need quantity at DE, so that Hicks can go bye-bye...

I have a feeling cuts have not been made because their negotiating a trade. I think either Bober or Black will be traded to make room for the young guys on the Chiefs roster. There are some teams (Saints & Browns) that need help at center and guard.

I feel a trade is in the works. They don't want a repeat of Ryan Lilja.

We keep 20 new players it may clear up some Salary cap money for next year.

20 new guys...I like it

I hadn't thought about how much the D has changed, but we could have 3 out of 4 new on the DL (Hali, Reed, Edwards), a "new" LB in Fox, a new CB in Law, and a new safety in Pollard...plus Walls in the nickle/dime packages....6-7 new guys, that's a complete overhaul

think of all the dead wood Herm has (will) cut or bench: Warfield, Hicks, Browning, Sims, Siavii, Bartee, McCleon, Bell(?)....a roster of shitty players

I hope they can somehow keep Derrick Ross...the guy looked great at training camp

If you can never say another good thing about Herm, at least he was willing to cast off the bums that Vermeil wouldn't.

that's what just dawned on me as I tought about the Defense....

DV was way too loyal. I think personal wise we will be much better, and the players will be more motivated. I just hope we use our talent on offense.

I'm not at all upset with twenty new players. The coaching staff changed on defense with no real improvement. Let's get some fresh blood in there. Not that I'm saying it was the players and not the scheme as with Robinson, but I think all of Vermeils projects need to be shown the door. He had no respect for the defense.

Maybe they are trying to trade Knight or Wesley? I know they are young, but I'd like to see Page or Pollard on the field. The speed and aggressiveness could make up for their inexperience.