Chiefs John Dorsey handled the difficult 2014 offseason unbelievably well. - Page 4

Direckshun · 12-25-2015, 05:47 AM

The Chiefs faced a difficult offseason following the 2013 playoff meltdown. After GM John Dorsey's spending spree in the 2013 offseason, the Chiefs had a half dozen premier free agents getting ready to hit the market, no cap room to sign any of them (or any incoming free agents of any renown), and no second round pick due to the Alex Smith deal. How do you make a team betterwhen you're set to lose so much talent and have so little resources to replace them?

Now, I'm not an NFL General Manager, and y'all better be glad I don't run the Chiefs, because I must have ran three dozen simulations of that offseason for the Chiefs before it arrived, and every one of them had the Chiefs doing their damnedest to stay afloat replacing our departing players with free agents from the Salvation Army and midround draft picks. The intense spending spree of 2013 now looked like it had hopelessly hamstrung the Chiefs, who at this point would just have to hope to stay afloat until cap space opened up in future years.

John Dorsey, however, is an NFL General Manager. And armed with few draft picks and a shoestring budget, he totally dismantled my expectations of what can be accomplished by a Chiefs team that knows exactly what it's doing.

Let's start with the free agent departures, because this part is astonishing. The Chiefs limited budget meant that they would ultimately have to wave bye-bye to left tackle Brandon Albert, starting guards Jon Asamoah and Geoff Schwartz, playmaker Dexter McCluster, run stopping extraordinaire Tyson Jackson, starting linebacker Akeem Jordan, starting free safety Kendrick Lewis, dynamic kick returner and dime safety Quentin Demps, and would eventually cut Pro Bowl corner Brandon Flowers. Whatever you think of some of the players individually, that is objectively a lot of talent to replace. Once these players left Kansas City, they all went to sign contracts with new teams for a combined $100 million. ($140 million if you count Flowers' new deal this past offseason.)

That's right. John Dorsey allowed $100 million in talent to walk out the door, with roughly a tenth of that in cap space with which to replace said players. It was impossible to imagine a world where the Chiefs emerged from this offseason stronger than they were entering it, missing this much talent.

So armed virtually no money, Dorsey's free agent signings were meager, but solid, it's crazy to see how much he built the team for 2014 (and 2015!) with so little:

Franchise QB Alex Smith was boxed in to a four year extension at a "middle class" pay rate for QBs.
Stud safety Husain Abdullah was re-signed.
Valuable reserve safeties Kurt Coleman and Daniel Sorensen were brought in, and Kelcie McCray was traded for by throwing impending-bust guard Rishaw Johnson at the Buccaneers.
Underrated starting linebacker Josh Mauga was ushered in by DC Bob Sutton.
Underrated interior passrusher Vance Walker was inked.
Nickel corner Chris Owens was signed, which paid dividends until the last month of the year.
Prototypical third down back Joe McKnight was given a chance.
OL Jeff Linkenbach and ILB Joe Mays did very little in limited action, but were signed for pennies on the dollar.
The one disastrous signing from this entire offseason of bargain bin shopping was guard Mike McGlynn, whom the Chiefs started at left guard for most of 2014, providing nightmares to any Chiefs fans who love to watch offensive line play.

Several of these players are still helping the Chiefs today in Abdullah, Sorensen, and Mauga.

Now, it is worth mentioning that the Chiefs' limited cap space arguably did cause them to lose out on free agent WRs Emmanuel Sanders and DeSean Jackson. But by otherwise refusing to make any ridiculously-structured, ultra-back-loaded contracts that would have saddled the Chiefs' cap in future years, the cap came mostly clean in 2015, allowing the Chiefs to pay studs OLB Justin Houston, WR Jeremy Maclin, and DE Allen Bailey bundles of cash in the coming year and still have close to $30 million in clean cap space in 2015.

However, it should be mentioned that John Dorsey was just getting started. Check out this draft class from 2014, even without a 2nd rounder due to Alex Smith:

Promising pass rusher Dee Ford in the first round.
Promising corner Phillip Gaines in the third round.
Electric playmaker De'Anthony Thomas in the fourth.
Starting linemen Zach Fulton and Laurent Duvarney-Tardif in the sixth round.
WR Albert Wilson and RB Charcandrick West signed as undrafted free agents, which is a stupidly ridiculous haul.

All of these players are contributing to the Chiefs now, significantly so, though Gaines and Thomas are battling injury.

It's worth summarizing for emphasis: With little cap space, $100 million in departing free agents, and no second round pick, John Dorsey made the Chiefs a better team in 2014.

Almost every team needs those splashy free agency signings to help put it over the top. But those quiet offseasons, where teams confidently stuck to the plan and didn't make any egregious errors out of impatience or impertinence, are just as important, and Dorsey aced it.

chiefzilla1501 · 12-25-2015, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Yep, it's a good point. Unless there's a poll that at least quantifies it, it's impossible to know what "CP wanted."

I listed the topics above. On at least half of them, cp took a clear side and then destroyed me for taking a different side. Anyone is free to take a look. So yeah, sorry not sorry. If I'm going to take an extraordinary amount of shit for being stupid, I deserve to gloat every once in a while. I take a strong enough position on most things that it's no secret what side of the fence I'm on

**DaFace** · 12-25-2015, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I listed the topics above. On at least half of them, cp took a clear side and then destroyed me for taking a different side. Anyone is free to take a look. So yeah, sorry not sorry. If I'm going to take an extraordinary amount of shit for being stupid, I deserve to gloat every once in a while. I take a strong enough position on most things that it's no secret what side of the fence I'm on

I don't doubt that you took (take?) a lot of shit, but on any given issue, my guess is that the true MAJORITY of people just don't give enough shits about the issue to debate it.

-King- · 12-25-2015, 11:13 PM

Whole lotta menstruation in this thread...
Posted via Mobile Device

Direckshun · 12-25-2015, 11:16 PM

I stick my neck out probably farther than anybody on this board, and I learned years ago to just roll with it. In the last three years, I supported taking Geno Smith #1 overall and Cameron Erving last year.

It's a hobby, and I never claimed to be a pro, just an enthusiastic amateur who enjoys predicting and watching what the pros do.

And for the record, despite my preferences, I ****ing nailed what the Chiefs were going to do in 2015's draft.

go bo · 12-25-2015, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I stick my neck out probably farther than anybody on this board, and I learned years ago to just roll with it. In the last three years, I supported taking Geno Smith #1 overall and Cameron Erving last year.

It's a hobby, and I never claimed to be a pro, just an enthusiastic amateur who enjoys predicting and watching what the pros do.

And for the record, despite my preferences, I ****ing nailed what the Chiefs were going to do in 2015's draft.

geno smith #1 overall? GTFOH with that shit!!

and yet you are a good fan with extensive knowledge and enthusiasm...

the rest of us somewhat more casual fans enjoy your takes and insights very much...

and merry christmas to you and yours!

Pasta Little Brioni · 12-25-2015, 11:27 PM

Run stopping extraordinaire

Direckshun · 12-25-2015, 11:31 PM

People laughing about the Tyson Jackson thing weren't watching him the last couple years he played here.

Dude was a stone wall against the run.

Pasta Little Brioni · 12-25-2015, 11:45 PM

Suuuuure

**RealSNR** · 12-25-2015, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

People laughing about the Tyson Jackson thing weren't watching him the last couple years he played here.

Dude was a stone wall against the run.

Jaye Howard made me forget about Tyson Jackson rather quickly.

Eleazar · 12-25-2015, 11:54 PM

Cp would fire everyone every year, but time has shown that Dorsey is doing a pretty good job.

ThaVirus · 12-26-2015, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'm anxiously awaiting vindication

Direckshun · 12-26-2015, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Jaye Howard made me forget about Tyson Jackson rather quickly.

Allen Bailey made me forget about Tyson Jackson almost immediately.

**Buehler445** · 12-26-2015, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

This is too polite. Just call people out for being stupid.

Cp wanted jairus Byrd and DeSean jackson
Most bitched about not bringing back Albert and schwartz
Cp criticized the hell out of anyone who praised the last offseason for being conservative
Cp marginalized the value of comp picks
Cp all demanded a restructure of hali
And to boot, in their tantrum, most of the forum claimed last year's team would be lucky to win 4 games

Dorsey has made some missteps. But they aren't close to the missteps of the dumbass armchair qbs, most of whom call people out the loudest but then squeak a mouse fart when it comes to owning up to mistakes.

Dorsey was right to go light last offseason. We significantly cleaned up our cap situation. We earned a ton of comp picks. And we improved a lot of positions on the cheap that we could have spent a shitload of money on. And not panicking on dumbass restructures like Hali gave us leverage to negotiate an ultra friendly contract this year. Period.

You spent 2 days arguing with me that Squirimin Herman mother****ing sack of **** Edwards didn't wreck the ****ing franchise, despite franchise record losses and fewer guys that played 3 years than Vermiel who sold out to win.

I wouldn't throw stones at other people's opinions.

chiefzilla1501 · 12-26-2015, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445

You spent 2 days arguing with me that Squirimin Herman mother****ing sack of **** Edwards didn't wreck the ****ing franchise, despite franchise record losses and fewer guys that played 3 years than Vermiel who sold out to win.

I wouldn't throw stones at other people's opinions.

I'm not going to thread swerve.

If anyone wants to address this, feel free to bump up the Herm thread and post there. I stand behind my comment that Herm inherited a sinking Titanic and didn't do bad with personnel considering the situation he inherited. We made more than enough posts in those 2 days for people to read and respond.

Direckshun · 12-26-2015, 12:31 AM

Herm was a shit coach who was given a shell of a team that needed a major youth overhaul.

His major success was getting Peterson on board with that overhaul. The 2008 season was one of those necessary seasons needed for such a transformation.

Too bad he legitimately couldn't coach for shit.

12-25-2015, 05:47 AM
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $2033447	John Dorsey handled the difficult 2014 offseason unbelievably well. The Chiefs faced a difficult offseason following the 2013 playoff meltdown. After GM John Dorsey's spending spree in the 2013 offseason, the Chiefs had a half dozen premier free agents getting ready to hit the market, no cap room to sign any of them (or any incoming free agents of any renown), and no second round pick due to the Alex Smith deal. How do you make a team betterwhen you're set to lose so much talent and have so little resources to replace them? Now, I'm not an NFL General Manager, and y'all better be glad I don't run the Chiefs, because I must have ran three dozen simulations of that offseason for the Chiefs before it arrived, and every one of them had the Chiefs doing their damnedest to stay afloat replacing our departing players with free agents from the Salvation Army and midround draft picks. The intense spending spree of 2013 now looked like it had hopelessly hamstrung the Chiefs, who at this point would just have to hope to stay afloat until cap space opened up in future years. John Dorsey, however, is an NFL General Manager. And armed with few draft picks and a shoestring budget, he totally dismantled my expectations of what can be accomplished by a Chiefs team that knows exactly what it's doing. Let's start with the free agent departures, because this part is astonishing. The Chiefs limited budget meant that they would ultimately have to wave bye-bye to left tackle Brandon Albert, starting guards Jon Asamoah and Geoff Schwartz, playmaker Dexter McCluster, run stopping extraordinaire Tyson Jackson, starting linebacker Akeem Jordan, starting free safety Kendrick Lewis, dynamic kick returner and dime safety Quentin Demps, and would eventually cut Pro Bowl corner Brandon Flowers. Whatever you think of some of the players individually, that is objectively a lot of talent to replace. Once these players left Kansas City, they all went to sign contracts with new teams for a combined $100 million. ($140 million if you count Flowers' new deal this past offseason.) That's right. John Dorsey allowed $100 million in talent to walk out the door, with roughly a tenth of that in cap space with which to replace said players. It was impossible to imagine a world where the Chiefs emerged from this offseason stronger than they were entering it, missing this much talent. So armed virtually no money, Dorsey's free agent signings were meager, but solid, it's crazy to see how much he built the team for 2014 (and 2015!) with so little: Franchise QB Alex Smith was boxed in to a four year extension at a "middle class" pay rate for QBs. Stud safety Husain Abdullah was re-signed. Valuable reserve safeties Kurt Coleman and Daniel Sorensen were brought in, and Kelcie McCray was traded for by throwing impending-bust guard Rishaw Johnson at the Buccaneers. Underrated starting linebacker Josh Mauga was ushered in by DC Bob Sutton. Underrated interior passrusher Vance Walker was inked. Nickel corner Chris Owens was signed, which paid dividends until the last month of the year. Prototypical third down back Joe McKnight was given a chance. OL Jeff Linkenbach and ILB Joe Mays did very little in limited action, but were signed for pennies on the dollar. The one disastrous signing from this entire offseason of bargain bin shopping was guard Mike McGlynn, whom the Chiefs started at left guard for most of 2014, providing nightmares to any Chiefs fans who love to watch offensive line play. Several of these players are still helping the Chiefs today in Abdullah, Sorensen, and Mauga. Now, it is worth mentioning that the Chiefs' limited cap space arguably did cause them to lose out on free agent WRs Emmanuel Sanders and DeSean Jackson. But by otherwise refusing to make any ridiculously-structured, ultra-back-loaded contracts that would have saddled the Chiefs' cap in future years, the cap came mostly clean in 2015, allowing the Chiefs to pay studs OLB Justin Houston, WR Jeremy Maclin, and DE Allen Bailey bundles of cash in the coming year and still have close to $30 million in clean cap space in 2015. However, it should be mentioned that John Dorsey was just getting started. Check out this draft class from 2014, even without a 2nd rounder due to Alex Smith: Promising pass rusher Dee Ford in the first round. Promising corner Phillip Gaines in the third round. Electric playmaker De'Anthony Thomas in the fourth. Starting linemen Zach Fulton and Laurent Duvarney-Tardif in the sixth round. WR Albert Wilson and RB Charcandrick West signed as undrafted free agents, which is a stupidly ridiculous haul. All of these players are contributing to the Chiefs now, significantly so, though Gaines and Thomas are battling injury. It's worth summarizing for emphasis: With little cap space, $100 million in departing free agents, and no second round pick, John Dorsey made the Chiefs a better team in 2014. Almost every team needs those splashy free agency signings to help put it over the top. But those quiet offseasons, where teams confidently stuck to the plan and didn't make any egregious errors out of impatience or impertinence, are just as important, and Dorsey aced it.
Posts: 59,693

12-25-2015, 11:13 PM	#48
-King- ▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓ Join Date: Jan 2009 Casino cash: $-1454257	Whole lotta menstruation in this thread... Posted via Mobile Device
Posts: 65,481

12-25-2015, 11:16 PM	#49
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $2033447	I stick my neck out probably farther than anybody on this board, and I learned years ago to just roll with it. In the last three years, I supported taking Geno Smith #1 overall and Cameron Erving last year. It's a hobby, and I never claimed to be a pro, just an enthusiastic amateur who enjoys predicting and watching what the pros do. And for the record, despite my preferences, I ****ing nailed what the Chiefs were going to do in 2015's draft.
Posts: 59,693

12-25-2015, 11:27 PM	#51
Pasta Little Brioni Consuming CP souls Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: U.S.A. Casino cash: $128880	Run stopping extraordinaire __________________ **Official TFWdemB Trivia Commisioner**
Posts: 73,024

12-25-2015, 11:31 PM	#52
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $2033447	People laughing about the Tyson Jackson thing weren't watching him the last couple years he played here. Dude was a stone wall against the run.
Posts: 59,693

12-25-2015, 11:45 PM	#53
Pasta Little Brioni Consuming CP souls Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: U.S.A. Casino cash: $128880	Suuuuure __________________ **Official TFWdemB Trivia Commisioner**
Posts: 73,024

12-25-2015, 11:54 PM	#55
Eleazar Beyond the Rapids Join Date: May 2003 Location: Langley, VA Casino cash: $-370000	Cp would fire everyone every year, but time has shown that Dorsey is doing a pretty good job.
Posts: 80,659

12-26-2015, 12:31 AM	#60
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $2033447	Herm was a shit coach who was given a shell of a team that needed a major youth overhaul. His major success was getting Peterson on board with that overhaul. The 2008 season was one of those necessary seasons needed for such a transformation. Too bad he legitimately couldn't coach for shit.
Posts: 59,693