Chiefs Mellinger: Marcus Peters is gone. The Chiefs have some explaining to do. - Page 13

**DaFace** · 02-23-2018, 07:48 PM

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.

NJChiefsFan · 02-24-2018, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

After LJ, the Chiefs are never going to pay big money to a jackass ever again.

That's why this was done.

That would be ridiculous. If it was all about a contract to a player with attitude they had plenty of time to move him. Whatever it was is to the point that they were willing to accept getting poor value.

displacedinMN · 02-24-2018, 10:34 PM

Chiefs are the only team in the news. Is that good or bad?

Titty Meat · 02-24-2018, 10:44 PM

It really hurt the Panthers when they released their talented headcase CB in the middle of spring a few years ago

Best22 · 02-24-2018, 11:17 PM

Mellinger wants there to be controversy and "racism." It gives him something to write about. It gets clicks. He doesn't care if he unfairly judges. He just wants clicks

Sad

aturnis · 02-25-2018, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by In58men

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

Says who?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

aturnis · 02-25-2018, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best22

Mellinger wants there to be controversy and "racism." It gives him something to write about. It gets clicks. He doesn't care if he unfairly judges. He just wants clicks

Sad

Chiefs have one of the more racist fanbases in the NFL... This board is chock full of the bullshit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

KCrockaholic · 02-25-2018, 01:45 AM

Ya know, compensation aside, I think we're gonna survive just fine.

KCrockaholic · 02-25-2018, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturnis

Chiefs have one of the more racist fanbases in the NFL... This board is chock full of the bullshit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Ya we're all running around yelling ****ER just as you assume.

We hate black people like Eric Berry, Derrick Thomas, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali. Oh wait. Those guys acted professional and didn't act like little bitches about everything? Yeah we tend to like that kind better.

TEX · 02-25-2018, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturnis

Chiefs have one of the more racist fanbases in the NFL... This board is chock full of the bullshit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Hmmm.....Did you say that when they kept LJ and traded Jarred Allen?

This case just fits your narrative, which you are trying to pin on the fanbase. It could easily be argued that it is you who is chalk full of bullshit.

Hog's Gone Fishin · 02-25-2018, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturnis

Chiefs have one of the more racist fanbases in the NFL... This board is chock full of the bullshit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

farmerchief · 02-25-2018, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coogs

No, I'm not really joking. I think he compromised the entire defense on a play by play basis.

Peters made plenty of great plays, with the strips, and ints, but I often wandered how often he was freelancing and not playing within the scheme of the defense? Suttons schemes more often sucked than not, but it always made me wander?

Coogs · 02-25-2018, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

discussion of peters negative qualities and the benefits of getting rid of 22

reference:

https://omny.fm/shows/between-the-li...-stan-weber-91

This is a good segment to listen to. Now yes, it is Keitzman paired with Weber, but Weber has some interesting points. And not just on Peters.

02-25-2018, 08:33 AM

Veach is doing the kinds of things I have long hoped for. He's been aggressive and somewhat ruthless. They are getting young, fast, and, hopefully, tougher. He's also managing the cap. This is needed and overdue.

WhiteWhale · 02-25-2018, 08:39 AM

I'm not happy about this, but I think a lot of stuff will come out in the next few months. I don't want to completely lose my shit until I know more information.

Mellinger's take is moronic, and it's not a hot take. "KC fans are racist, and Clark wants to appease them' is the dumbest take one could possibly have over this. That requires a LOT of uncharitable assumptions.

WhiteWhale · 02-25-2018, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturnis

Chiefs have one of the more racist fanbases in the NFL... This board is chock full of the bullshit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Why don't you waltz your pasty ass to Oakland and see how racist they are?

Don't be a bell end. This has nothing to do with racism.

02-23-2018, 07:48 PM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1996899	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.
Posts: 51,812

02-24-2018, 10:34 PM	#182
displacedinMN It was not a fair catch Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Correcting papers Casino cash: $2912630	Chiefs are the only team in the news. Is that good or bad? __________________ #investigatecarlcheffers
Posts: 36,307

02-24-2018, 10:44 PM	#183
Titty Meat Inmem 2.0 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: My house Casino cash: $2247558	It really hurt the Panthers when they released their talented headcase CB in the middle of spring a few years ago
Posts: 75,185	2 0

02-24-2018, 11:17 PM	#184
Best22 MVP Join Date: May 2016 Location: World Boxing Champs Casino cash: $3500400	Mellinger wants there to be controversy and "racism." It gives him something to write about. It gets clicks. He doesn't care if he unfairly judges. He just wants clicks Sad
Posts: 5,917	1 0

02-25-2018, 01:45 AM	#187
KCrockaholic Sarcasm Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Olathe Casino cash: $4762900	Ya know, compensation aside, I think we're gonna survive just fine.
Posts: 21,133

02-25-2018, 08:33 AM	#193
Chiefs Moon Guest Casino cash: $	Veach is doing the kinds of things I have long hoped for. He's been aggressive and somewhat ruthless. They are getting young, fast, and, hopefully, tougher. He's also managing the cap. This is needed and overdue.
Posts: n/a

02-25-2018, 08:39 AM	#194
WhiteWhale Bring it on Ahab! Join Date: May 2011 Location: Doo-Dah Casino cash: $10015152	I'm not happy about this, but I think a lot of stuff will come out in the next few months. I don't want to completely lose my shit until I know more information. Mellinger's take is moronic, and it's not a hot take. "KC fans are racist, and Clark wants to appease them' is the dumbest take one could possibly have over this. That requires a LOT of uncharitable assumptions.
Posts: 14,861	2 0