Brandon Spano
March 6, 2010

In an unbelievably, ridiculous stream of events, the Chiefs didn’t sign Julius Peppers or Chester Taylor! They didn’t even try for Antrel Rolle or Karlos Dansby and failed in negotiations for Anquan Boldin! Pioli couldn’t even pull in Nate Burleson for god sakes! This off season is already a failure!

Chances are that somebody you know has spoken words very similar to this and it’s OK. As we all know by now, unrealistic expectations and knee jerk reactions are not only a god given right, but a way of living for most Americans. Two days after free agency begins, these people would like to feel something and in 2010, no news is BAD news.

If you are one of these people, please don’t be offended. I am just stating my opinion, just like you have stated yours. My belief is that if you actually look at the facts, you might feel a little better about the situation.

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Look at the teams that picked up those players that I previously mentioned. The Bears, the Falcons, the Ravens, the Dolphins, the Lions and the Giants. How many of those six teams were involved in the playoffs last year? ONE. Thats not an opinion. That’s a fact.

Out of those same players, how many of their former teams went to the playoffs last year? ONE. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. That one was Chester Taylor, who wasn’t even a major contributor.

Some of the leagues top teams, like the Patriots, Colts, Saints or Vikings, haven’t made any big news yet in free agency and it’s not because they don’t have to. All of those teams have weaknesses that need to be addressed. The Colts would probably like to rank higher than dead last in rushing. I’m betting the Saints would like to finish higher than 26th in passing defense. The Vikings could have used a good DB like Dunta Robinson or Antrell Rolle considering they finished 27th in interceptions. And the most needy team on this list, the Patriots, could use a number of things, but will play their cards the way they always do. These teams will not over spend. They refuse to.

What happened to Daniel Snyder? You know… The Redskins owner who won the Super Bowl during every off season and then lost his (donkey) every regular season because of it. I”ll tell you what happened to him: Two experienced pro’s named Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen run that show now. And they told Snyder to put his money back in his pocket and get the hell out of the front office. You know why?

Because football is about FIT. For instance, we have an good young pass rusher who we have converted from the defensive end position to outside linebacker. You are mad because we didn’t spend 80 million on a 30 year old pass rusher who we would have to convert from the defensive end position to outside linebacker. Those sentences sound familiar for a reason. Peppers does not FIT. Hopefully I don’t have to explain why the Chiefs don’t need two pass rushing specialists at both outside linebacker positions.

I think it is important to understand why these players are free agents. It is not because they are bad players. Some of them may be great players. They are free agents because the team that knows them better than anybody else, knows that their value is not equal to or greater than the money that they are asking for.

Time and time again we see these players obtain big money deals only to become Edgerrin James the Cardinal, Deangelo Hall the Raider or Deion Branch the Seahawk. This is why I believe that Scott Pioli in particular likes to deal with second and third tier free agents. Players who have not yet hit the performance level that grants the big pay day. You can bet that when they do hit that level, they will usually not be with Pioli anymore.

The Chiefs would have loved to have Anquan Boldin, Nate Burleson or Chester Taylor. but obviously not at the price that they went for. What’s going to be funny is when Pioli pulls in Thomas Jones for the same kind of money that it took the Bears to sign Chester Taylor. Taylor rode the pine last year and Jones ran for 1400 yards. Maybe they won’t make a deal, but if they do, it will be another steal for Pioli.

In conclusion, we are two days in…. Calm down! Antonio Bryant, Derrick Mason, Ben Watson, Ben Hamilton, Kevin Mawae, Ken Lucas, Dre Bly, Ryan Clark, Darren Sharper and many more are still available. You also have the meeting with Thomas Jones to look forward to and the fact that Pioli is going to be pulling in some  no namers with strong work ethic is always intriguing. One day you have this slow, small linebacker who is pushing to make the team, before you know it, he is Tedy Bruschi. I can’t wait until Pioli finds the Chiefs next  Tedy Bruschi.