What we should do before the beginning of the 2009 season?

[jmlamerson]

Well, it's post-draft. While we could all argue for the next few years whether the Chiefs draft was bad or good (and I thought it was great), I think everyone agree we have work still to do to present a competitive team on the field in 2009. Here are my suggestions:

1. Trade our 2nd rounder to the Cards for Anquan Boldin.

The Boldin/Haley spat last season has been massively overrported. Boldin has already said that he would play for Haley again. Trade our second rounder and immediately upgrade our WR spot. Bowe/Boldin/Bradley/Engram would be the best WR corps in the AFC West. And it would be fairly young. This seems like a no-brainer.

BTW, I said our 2nd rounder, not the 2nd rounder for TG, because that it the pick I think Arizona would want.

2. Sign Travis LaBoy to a two-year $3M contract.

A no-brainer. He would be a cheap reserve at OLB (in the 3-4) and DE (in the 4-3). He's familiar with the 3-4. He averages 13 games a season, which isn't great, but he isn't as fragile as people think either.

3. Sign Larry Foote to a two-year $8M contract.

Another no-brainer. He would be starting for us from Game 1 at ILB. Foote is a fantastic ILB who's started for two SB Pittsburgh teams. He hasn't missed a game since his rookie year.

This would give us a LB corps of DJ/Foote/Thomas/Vrabel. Beisel and Laboy would be our main reserves. Hali would be our project at the position. Our LB corps, which was so putrid in 2008, would actually be the strength of the defense.

4. Sign Mark Tauscher or Levi Jones to a one-year contract

Both are coming off injuries. Both are also better than any player we currently have at RT. A one-year contract will be insurance if they get injured again. It will also give the Chiefs time to bring Richardson and/or Brown along.

5. Entertain trade offers for Thigpen and Hali

I like Thigpen. I don't think any player in the NFL could have done much better than he did last season given our OL. He is a good backup. But as we get closer to the beginning of the season, teams like Seattle, Carolina, Tennesse, and Jacksonville with old starting QBs, no legitimate backups, and playoff aspirations might look at Thigpen as an excellent insurance policy. If we get offered a 3rd rounder or above, it might be in our best interest to take it.

As for Hali, he no longer fits our defense. He's a project to be a 3-4 OLB, and he won't even start at DE if we're in a 4-3. If we can get any value for him, let's do so.

6. Get our picks signed and in camp on time

I don't think anyone disagrees.

7. Don't trade LJ or Dorsey

Not only for the cap hit, but because their changed circumstances (LJ's no longer guarenteed and Dorsey's moving to DE) gives them more value than we'd ever get back in a trade.

8. Sign Cassel to a long term contract.

Just do it. Having your potential QBOTF spend a whole year auditioning is only going to lead to holdouts and hurt feelings. We don't need a Cutler situation here.

9. Don't sign Jason Taylor.

Not because he's too old, but because I don't see him having a great place in our defense, and because he doesn't play well in the cold.

Well, those are nine things I think could help the Chiefs in 2009 and beyond. The signings I listed (LaBoy, Foote, and a RT) would total about $9M, Boldin would be about $9M, so we would still have tons of cap room to sign our rookies, even before signing Cassel long term.

Feel free to agree/disagree, or to add your own.

[DT14PRIEST]

Thigpen is not going to command anywhere near 30 million guaranteed.

And to answer your question, no. I don't think Thigpen can do it without Gonzalez. But I also don't think Cassel will be as good without Wes Welker and the best head coach + QB coach in the NFL.

Your QB is always going to demand a higher price tag especially if you consider him QBOTF. We're already footing the bill for his 15 million dollar franchise tag for one year. If we can sign him to a 30 million garaunteed over the long haul (6-years) that is still a very good investment considering it'll be ~12 million less then what Stafford will be making and Stafford doesn't even have a single NFL game of exp yet.

[NWA Chief]

There is no way that Cottam could ever be comparable to TG, but the system Haley runs does not fit a pass catching TE very well either. If TG was still here I'm pretty sure they would change the offense to keep him involved but I think Cottom will be very serviceable as a blocking TE. He also did learn from TG for the last year so maybe this year when he has more opportunities he will show us why we went for a TE instead of a OT in his draft.

[pbatrucker]

Good post lamerson. I agree with most of what you say. I'm not for trading Tiggy yet. This is the first time in a long while that we/ve had two promising QB's, let's enjoy for awhile. The aqusitions you recomend are excellent, Pioli needs to get moving, the market will dry up real fast.
With those pick ups , forseeing injury, we would be a very competitive team.
Everyone better hope Cottam does well. The other TE's on our roster are roster fodder/special teams.

[texaschief]

I never liked the Cottam pick either. One, we didn't need a TE in the 3rd round nearly as badly as we needed OL or LB last year. Second, he's a decent blocker and a decent receiver - but he excels at neither.

My gut says we go with Ryan as our blocker and O'Connell as our receiver. Cottam is reserve/special teams.

Yeah, Copper was a great pickup. He'll be a special teams ace and a burner on those 4WR sets.

You're ok with drafting DE's in the first and third THIS season instead of drafting an O-lineman when we have PLENTY of 3-4 DE's on this team already, but drafting a guy like Cottam just before TG starts talking about retirement is a BETTER move?

There's literally a line to play at DE and you think Magee was a better pick this year than Cottam was last year. If we didn't need a TE, who was going to take Dunn's spot? Oh, that's right. We had.... NOBODY. Yeah. We didn't need a TE AT ALL. We had ZERO players who could've played TE last season. We NEEDED a TE last year whether you think so or not. There was a MUCH bigger need at TE last year than there was at DE this year. If you think the Cottam pick was bad because there was "no need," you should be LIVID about the Magee pick.

I've said this before about Peterson, and now it applies to you: don't wait until Pro Bowlers retire to replace them. Have you not been paying ANY attention to the last 6 years?

TE's who come in at 6'8, 271 while running a 4.6 with even AVERAGE hands or AVERAGE blocking skills, don't grow on trees. He's a HUGE target and was a standout basketball player in high school.

What type of TE would you rather have starting? We've been spoiled by a great TE, just like we were spoiled with a great Oline for the first part of the decade. NOBODY is going to live up to TG just like no one is going to live up to Roaf/Shields. But Cottam is more than capable of being a starting TE in this league and has the potential to be a Pro Bowler.

I can't believe you think a journey man and a 7th round pick will start over Cottam. Guess it's just those "FANTASTIC" evaluation skills coming out.

[texaschief]

btw... which OLineman taken in the third round would you rather have than the "special teams fodder" that is Brad Cottam? (taken #76)

You've got TWO choices:

#83 C-Jeremy Zuttah (started 5 games)

or

#96 OT - Chad Rinehart (who didn't even play in a game last year?)

[chief31]

Sure it's a risk to sign Cassel long-term. Selecting a franchise QB, either by trade or through the draft and signing him to a contract is a boom-or-bust sort of thing. For every Matt Hasselbeck, there are three AJ Feeleys. For every Peyton Manning, there are three David Carrs.

But we are never going to win anything without a franchise QB. And we'll never get a franchise QB by paying him year to year.

Think about it this way, we're going to pay Cassel less than either the Jets will pay Sanchez or the Lions will pay Stafford. And I'd rather have him than either of them.

I wouldn't trade LJ, as noone will give anything for that contract. I would cut him though.

As for Cassel, no way. Wait until you get a peak.

Teams that attempt to sign a high draft pick QB for one season never get that done. It doesn't happen.

We have the luxury of already having this one signed for one season. They can't get that luxury.

We have the luxury of having Cassel feeling very good about his GM making the deal to bring him along to a new team. That already shows alot of loyalty to the player.

Then we have the luxury of Cassel knowing that he must play well, or be nothing to the entire league, with the end of his contract coming up.

All of those luxuries are ours, rather he can play here, or not.

If we give him the money now, then all of those luxuries are diminished.

And we have to consider the huge risk that will be added if he can't play.

If he can't play, then we have thrown away the luxury of signing him as a back-up, or being rid of a bad player.

If he can play here, then we will know what we are paying for, instead of guessing.

If he has a big year for us, then he will re-sign. Pioli showed faith in him by trading more for him than anyone else offered. And he will be happy to stay with the team that already took a chance on him.

This isn't "playing around" with him. It's giving him an opportunity.

Take a look at what he looks like during camp and pre-season, at the very least, before committing to him as the QBOTF.

If it's me, I set a date right after the fourth game of the season to make an offer, unless he does extremely well.

I think I agreed with about everything else you listed, to one degree, or another.

If we run the Haley offense, then the TE and the HB are useless anyway.

[texaschief]

We can always slap Cassel with the franchise tag again next year and then work out a deal if he is indeed that QBOTF. We protect ourselves by letting him play without guaranteed years. If he has a horrible year and turns out to be a product of the system and the personnel around him in NE, then we'll probably go into the next draft with QB on the brain. If he's everything we hoped for, then we negotiate a long-term deal after the season.

I honestly hope we don't sign him yet. It's not like we need the cap room.

[chief31]

btw... which OLineman taken in the third round would you rather have than the "special teams fodder" that is Brad Cottam? (taken #76)

You've got TWO choices:

#83 C-Jeremy Zuttah (started 5 games)

or

#96 OT - Chad Rinehart (who didn't even play in a game last year?)

Either of them, or Oniel Cousins; Anthony Collins or Tony Hills.

[texaschief]

Either of them, or Oniel Cousins; Anthony Collins or Tony Hills.

Really? Over Cottam?

It's funny. Where's the outcry for OL NOT taken in this draft? Not hypocritical AT ALL. Was there just not a starting OL to be had with the 3rd pick in the third round this year?

I guess Magee was better than Caldwell, Urbik, Brewster, Vasquez?

...or, since we needed a TE so bad, was it not worth trading up to take Coffman?

Literally, Jackson, Dorsey, Edwards, T.J. Jackson, and Turk McBride were already here before the Magee pick. Did we REALLY need more depth at that spot? Is he REALLY going to be THAT big of a difference maker that you pass on any of the 4 or 5 I listed above?

Guess I just need to re-evaluate what the word "need" means. If a player leaves the team with ABSOLUTELY NOBODY behind him, that to me constitutes as a "need." Taking a player who will "provide competition" at the DE spot where there are already at least 5 guys competing, (including 2 top 5 picks and a 2nd rd pick) just doesn't seem like a "need" to me.

But hey. Maybe that's just me.

[DT14PRIEST]

Literally, Jackson, Dorsey, Edwards, T.J. Jackson, and Turk McBride were already here before the Magee pick. Did we REALLY need more depth at that spot? Is he REALLY going to be THAT big of a difference maker that you pass on any of the 4 or 5 I listed above?

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Turk not being groomed as a 34 DE this year, TJ Jackson a small DT and Ron Edwards a projected NT along with Tank?

So by my count we'd only have 1 'true' 34 end in Tyson Jackson and 1 'question' mark end in Dorsey. Still need some depth and Magee went at the pre draft round projected (top of the 3rd).