Webnews: Branden Albert will be at Chiefs practice next week

**Coach** · 05-10-2013, 05:44 PM

By Darin Gantt

It’s not that franchise-tagged Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert has many options, since he’s already signed his contract. But in the latest sign of his acceptance of his lot in life, he’s headed to work. According to Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Albert would be on hand next… Read more…

**AkChief49** · 05-13-2013, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by brdempsey69

This why they drafted Fisher was because of his mean streak & he's more of road-grater in the running game than Joeckel.

ROGER!

Yes, they can sign Albert long-term & eliminate the Franchise tag, but if I were them, I wouldn't do it until he proves his back problems are not an ongoing issue and that he can hang for a full season. It's no big loss if he walks via FA after the 2013, as they were prepared to put the Franchise tag on Bowe & let Albert walk if they didn't work out a long-term deal with Bowe.

Signing him long term would be cheaper, no? We need cap space- also easier to trade........

Plus, I highly doubt they are going to leave Fisher over at RT for more than 1 year, if he shows the form that made him a #1 draftee and he improves his game through the 2013 season. It would be a waste of his talent.

...........next year when Eric takes over the position?

Not saying RT isn't important, but don't let anybody kid you into thinking the QB's blindside isn't a bit more important. Just ask Joe Montana about the blindside hit he took from Leonard Marshall in the 1990 NFC Championship game or ask John Elway about the number of blindside hits he took from Derrick Thomas or ask any QB that played in the days when they had HOF DE Doug Atkins coming at them from their blindside.

No doubt the LT is the man on the oline-as long as the qb is a righty!

**#58ChiefsFan** · 05-13-2013, 09:55 PM

June 4-6 is the mandatory mini camp, Albert is free to do as he wishes until that date, he is not contractually obligated to come to the OTA's that will resume tomorrow. I don't understand why everyone wants to cast him in such a bad light, I don't remember much complaining last season when he was doing his job at a pretty decent clip. The NFL is a business at the end of the day.

**brdempsey69** · 05-13-2013, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by #58ChiefsFan

June 4-6 is the mandatory mini camp, Albert is free to do as he wishes until that date, he is not contractually obligated to come to the OTA's that will resume tomorrow. I don't understand why everyone wants to cast him in such a bad light, I don't remember much complaining last season when he was doing his job at a pretty decent clip. The NFL is a business at the end of the day.

It's because of what he said through the social media right after signing the Franchise Tag -- the bit about only wanting to play LT & his wanting top 5 LT money and talking nonsense like the Chiefs franchise revolved around him. If he'd have kept his mouth shut & came to the voluntary workouts like everybody else did last month, then that would have been an entirely different matter altogether.

And he wasn't always doing his job at a decent clip. I saw it up close & personal against the Chargers at Arrowhead last year, when the Chargers Cory Liuget really gave Albert and Jeff Allen a rough time. And there were other instances as well, particularly the holding call in the Pittsburgh Monday Night game, which if there was a Pro Football Hall of SHAME, then that play would have been inducted into it, for certain.

Albert has been fortunate the past two years to have not had to face a steady dose of the games best pass-rushers coming into those games playing at the top of their game. He may not be so lucky this year & nobody knows if his back is going to hold up. Many of us are also not forgetting the beating that he allowed Cassel and Croyle to take at the end of the 2010 season.

Besides, come 2014, Albert most likely will be the THIRD best LT candidate on the Chiefs roster behind Fisher & Stephenson, so there's no need to pay him top-25 LT money, let alone top-5 LT money.

**#58ChiefsFan** · 05-13-2013, 11:42 PM

BRD that post wasn't meant to come off against you, just more of a combination of a couple forums and some twitter things I've read.

I just see his twitter meltdown a little differently, he was looking at probably his final shot to get paid big money and try to set himself up beyond football. In the contract negotiations I've been a part of what people say is usually exaggerated trying to settle for less than they claim. The actual numbers have never been released so no one really knows what the sticking point is.

ideally it woulda been nice if he was here last month but we're still 10 weeks plus from the start of training camp, he'll have plenty of time to get his work in. Yes he had some not so good stretches last season which is why he will not be paid top 5 money, in general BA was pretty damn solid for the most part, his play could be picked apart play by play same as anyone else on the roster.

In the end I have enough trust in Dorsey and Tripp McCracken to figure out where he fits in the salary cap given how quickly Piolis crap was imploded and they began doing things their way.

**matthewschiefs** · 05-13-2013, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by #58ChiefsFan

June 4-6 is the mandatory mini camp, Albert is free to do as he wishes until that date, he is not contractually obligated to come to the OTA's that will resume tomorrow. I don't understand why everyone wants to cast him in such a bad light, I don't remember much complaining last season when he was doing his job at a pretty decent clip. The NFL is a business at the end of the day.

Here's why I was upset with Albert. This is a team that's going to have a brand new offense. They have pretty much a all new coaching staff. That time would have been well spent time to learn the coaches get to know what the offense was. He was the only player that didn't show. I really think he should have been there

**brdempsey69** · 05-14-2013, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by #58ChiefsFan

BRD that post wasn't meant to come off against you, just more of a combination of a couple forums and some twitter things I've read.

I just see his twitter meltdown a little differently, he was looking at probably his final shot to get paid big money and try to set himself up beyond football. In the contract negotiations I've been a part of what people say is usually exaggerated trying to settle for less than they claim. The actual numbers have never been released so no one really knows what the sticking point is.

ideally it woulda been nice if he was here last month but we're still 10 weeks plus from the start of training camp, he'll have plenty of time to get his work in. Yes he had some not so good stretches last season which is why he will not be paid top 5 money, in general BA was pretty damn solid for the most part, his play could be picked apart play by play same as anyone else on the roster.

In the end I have enough trust in Dorsey and Tripp McCracken to figure out where he fits in the salary cap given how quickly Piolis crap was imploded and they began doing things their way.

No, I realize you weren't targeting me specifically, but I certainly WAS one of those voicing my displeasure about his not showing to OTA's after having signed the tender. What that is telling everybody is that he's NOT gotten the playbook & started learning this new Offense that's being installed. Nobody on this team can afford to miss ANYTHING that's being taught by the new coaching staff, especially on a team that was the worst in football in 2012. Nobody wants to see that happen in 2013 & I can guarantee you that I'm one of the very few Chiefs fans that has balls enough to go rewatch that disaster via NFL GameRewind -- it's pretty damn ugly, I can tell you that.

Another thing is, Albert's not being there at the voluntary workouts in a way forced their hand as far as drafting Fisher at #1 overall, and although I was never against that, let's say for the moment that Albert doesn't post on Twitter or do that interview with NFL.com and comes to those April workouts and tells Reid something to the effect "I'm ready to play, I prefer LT, but I'll play anywhere you want me to, so let's get down to business & hopefully something can be resolved for the long-term in the near future". Then THAT would have been a different story & he would have had the support of every swinging d!ck & their brother and sister amongst the FO, fans, media etc. Plus, they might have very well traded down & maybe taken a guy like Warmack to help in the middle of their O-Line ( I'm not sold on Allen or Asamoah as they got flatbacked WAY too often last year and Schwartz is only signed for one year ).

It's been documented that Albert has TWICE turned down multi-year offers due to his rigid stance of wanting to be paid top-5 LT money & it's backfired on him.

As for showing up now, he'd have been a fool not to, as I know for certain that if Reid had any uncertainty that he wasn't going to be there, then you would've seen Fisher getting reps at LT, instead of RT, during the rookie mini-camps & the upcoming mini-camp sessions, and right there is where Albert would have lost the inside track to the LT job, as Albert has no more experience in Reid's Offense than Fisher does.

**#58ChiefsFan** · 05-14-2013, 08:05 AM

Excellent point about showing up today, I didn't really look at it that way but that makes a damn lotta sense.

**Seek** · 05-14-2013, 08:23 AM

I heard the Reid interview, and Reid brought up with out any question Stephenson in the mix as well. He basically said, Albert is a pretty good LT. Right now he is the LT and Fisher is the RT. Then brought up the fact thatwe could line up three solid Left tackls, with Albert, Fisher and Stephenson.

So that leads me to question. Once camp starts and Reid gets to watching Fisher and Stephenson play an understands what he has. Will he keep Albert at LT. If Albert is not the plans for the future. Why keep him at LT taking experience away from the future. It will probably happen the moment misses his one or two games of the year due to an injury. He won't get his spot back.

**brdempsey69** · 05-14-2013, 01:02 PM

^^Good points, Seek. Reid said he's going to play the best 5 on the O-Line. It isn't etched in stone that just because Albert is LT and Fisher RT starting out in mini-camp, that it's going to finish that way by the end of the 2013 season. They'd be wise to give Fisher and Stephenson reps on BOTH sides of the O-Line. Stephenson did start at RT in the Cincy game last year.