Linda & I went out with Lynn & Mary this evening. We had a terrific dinner & some excellent conversation. Got a movie("Inglorious Bastards") on the way home & watched it before turning on my laptop to see what had transpired tonight. Did the Chiefs make a move? Well they did actually, but let's look at the other transactions from this evening first.
Safety Antrel Rolle signed with the Giants, a 5-year deal worth $22.5 million in guaranteed money.
Linebacker Karlos Dansby signed with the Dolphins, a 5-year deal worth $22 million in guaranteed money.
Wide receiver Kevin Walter resigned with the Texans, contract details unknown at this time.
Offensive tackle Chad Clifton resigned with the Packers , a 3-yard deal worth $7.5 million in guaranteed money.
Nose tackle Vince Wilfork resigned with the Patriots, a 5-year deal worth $25 million in guaranteed money. I was surprised by this one, I figured with who the Patriots had on their roster, they would franchise him & then let him go next year. Kudos to New England for doing the right thing in an uncapped year.
The Arizona Cardinals traded wide receiver Anquan Boldin & a 5th round draft pick to Baltimore for the Ravens' 3rd & 4th round selections in next month's draft.
Not to be out done, the Kansas City Chiefs went out there & signed a free agent of their own......literally. They resigned RB Jackie Battle, so you can rest easy, they filled that depth chart spot at running back behind Jamaal Charles, Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Tim Castille & Javarris Williams. What a relief to know we won't have to sweat that spot. Signing a RB who amassed 21 yards on 7 carries & caught 2 passes for -3 yards is vital to the Chiefs' playoff run. He also contributed 3 tackles on special teams. Maybe he was signed to be a moving tackling dummy. Sorry Jackie, but you could qualify for Todd Haley's "22 guys off the street who can win 2 games" team. So it looks to me like the league's lowest payroll will stay right at the bottom, unless they gave Jackie a bigger deal.
The saddest part of this is by tendering Niswanger, Page, D. Johnson, O'Callaghan etc. The Chiefs are obligated to pay these guys millions for one year & then we'll get to go thru this B.S. again next year. By not signing anybody I think we're looking at another horrid season. They'd rather take a chance on a college receiver with a 2nd round choice than trade a 3rd round choice for Anquan Boldin, a multi-time Pro Bowl performer. Is Scott Pioli's ego so large he believes he can pick 10 winners with 10 picks in the upcoming draft? By not entering the free agent market, that's about what will be needed next month, 10 out of 10. In this uncapped year has Clark Hunt told Pioli to make every nickel count, there by eliminating free agency as a way to improve the team? Have all the free agents plotted against Todd Haley & the Chiefs, not wanting to play in Kansas City? When you have a paltry $41 million payroll & one guy's slice of the pie amounts to over $12 million, it truly speaks to the ridiculous talent level of your team.
I told you the other day I was naive when it came to the 2010 free agent signing period & our Chiefs. Wow, I really was, I sincerely thought Pioli was going to make a play for a few impact players. Was the hiring of Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennell a smokescreen? Is the plan for them to take Battle, Niswanger, Corey Mays, Ron Edwards, Sean Ryan & Barry Richardson etc. & "coach 'em up?" With some of these guys 'up' is infinity. They are simply not NFL caliber players. Todd Haley will tell us "it's a process." He right, it's a process of filling their fans full of hope & then sitting on their hands doing absolutely nothing to improve the team. Well, except signing Jackie Battle, I don't think that move should be minimized.
I'm going to take a 2-day break from my combine review process as we have some new things to talk about. The NFL free agency signing period begins tonight at 12:01 EST. Things should heat up immediately, if you'll recall that Albert Haynesworth got a $100 million deal about two hours after the signing period began. Several more deals were negotiated before the sun came up. The biggest names to look for tonight would include Julius Peppers, LB Karlos Dansby, WR Brandon Marshall, LB Elvis Dumervill & LB Gary Brackett. This being an uncapped year, it will be interesting to see just how far the owners are willing to go in pursuing some of the highest-priced free agents.
Now that the combine is over, the speculation has begun on just who will go #1 in the draft, a pick currently held by the St. Louis Rams. The sports journalists that cover the league all have their sources & what has come out in the last few days only adds to the confusion. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli wrote today that the Rams were pretty well locked in on Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamakong Suh. FOXSports John Czarnecki said yesterday "if the draft was held today, the Rams would select Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, no question." About a week ago, ESPN's Adam Shefter guaranteed the Rams would take Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. Now to make this issue even more muddled, there are numerous reports the Rams have inquired about Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb. The rumored deal would involve the swapping of first round picks, Rams #1 for Eagles #24, plus McNabb. Apparently there is serious talk in Philly of Kevin Kolb taking over the reins. I think this is a dumb deal, especially for St. Louis, but who knows?
Chad Ochocinco & my girl Erin Andrews are going DWTS, that's "Dancing with the Stars" for the uninformed. Chad had to receive permission from Bengal's head coach Marvin Lewis for his participation in the highly rated reality show. If Ochocinco stays alive on the show, he could miss many of the OTA's & mini camp. No big deal for Chad, it's all about him, always has been. As far as Erin's spot on the show, she covers college basketball & football for ESPN & very shortly all of the college hoops will be televised by CBS, so she will be on hiatus until football starts up again in late August. This round of DWTS has some really sleazy contenders, Pamela Anderson, Kevin Federline & Kate Gosselin. I'm pullin' for Erin.
Peyton Manning underwent neck surgery for relief from a pinched nerve. The Colts official statement on his surgery is a classic CYA(cover your ass). They said Peyton's condition really wasn't an injury, which they are mandated by league rules to disclose, but had been bothering him for nearly four years. If that's the case, it stands to reason Manning's condition has worsened with time & if it requires an operation, it ought to be considered for the injury list published every Wednesday by the league(don't want those gambler's being uninformed). The way teams find wiggle room in the injury report rules is very creative at times.
Lots of Chiefs' news this week & let's start with the fact the Kansas City franchise has the lowest payroll in the entire league. That's a good news/bad news item in my opinion. The good news is they aren't paying high salaries to this collection of mostly lame talent. At $41 million, QB Matt Cassel is receiving over 25% of the total outlay for salaries. The bad news is if they don't start spending some money, they will continue to suck at a very high level. They are an astonishing $72 million under last season's salary cap. Yes it's nice to save money in this crappy economy, but with $250 million in stadium renovations to pay for, getting & keeping a competitive team is paramount for fiscal security. I'm going to show my naivety, I honestly believe they are going to spend some real money in free agency beginning tonight. If they don't, it will be hard to explain away this ridiculously low salary figure to the ticket buying public.
Scott Pioli has stated the Chiefs want to re-sign all of their starters who currently qualify for either unrestricted or restricted free agency. That would be Chris Chambers, Mike Brown, Jarrad Page, Derrick Johnson, Rudy Niswanger, Wade Smith, Mike Vrabel, Ryan O'Callaghan & Bobby Wade. I don't see Brown, Niswanger or Wade coming back. They have released Mike Goff, Dantrell Savage & Devard Darling. Vrabel spoke to the New England media last week stating his desire to return to the Pats, but his comments about the Kraft family & NFL ownership in general, might make that move difficult. Today Kansas City signed former Pitt QB Tyler Palko, giving them 4 QB's. I don't think he's more than another warm body for training camp, maybe he's better than Matt Gutierrez, I don't know.
The Arizona Cardinals are willing to part with WR Anquan Boldin for a 3rd round pick in April's draft. The team that trades for him will have to pony up a sizable new contract for the talented, but whiny receiver. If Boldin is still on good terms with Todd Haley I think this is a no-brainer. Even with decent depth in this year's WR talent, I sincerely doubt you can draft a 3rd rounder that can match Boldin's skill set, at least for a couple of years anyway. If the Chiefs aren't even mentioned in trade talk rumors, you'll know Boldin & Haley aren't the best of buds anymore. Possible alternatives to a 3rd round selection might be LB Derrick Johnson or DE Glenn Dorsey & possibly one of their 5th round picks.
Two free agents I'd like to see Kansas City pursue would be Cardinal safety Antrel Rolle & Texan's cornerback Dunta Robinson. Both are 27 years old, which should be the prime of the careers. Rolle was a Pro Bowl selection in '09 & Robinson is a very solid NFL corner. Both have had contract issues with their respective teams, Robinson's was very public, very nasty, last season. Rolle wants to be paid like fellow Cardinal Adrian Wilson but Arizona doesn't want to commit $16 million a season to the safety position. Oh, one other possibility is Patriot cornerback Leigh Bodden. He made 5 interceptions last year along with 55 tackles & 4 forced fumbles. Bodden is excellent in run support & will turn 29 in September.
I've had a number of people tell me Texan wide receiver Kevin Walter would be a great addition to the Chiefs. If they were to sign Boldin, I would agree with that notion, but Walter has spent his career playing opposite one of the league's 3-beat WR's, Andre Johnson. It makes a huge difference in defensive play calling & game plans when you have to account for Johnson on every single snap. Walter has been riding his coat tails for years. He's a very solid #2 receiver, he's still young, he has ideal size(6' 3" 215), is a very good blocker & he has no behavior issues. I just think taking a risk with a receiver like Walter won't get the Chiefs' offense any closer to where Haley & Weis want them to go. If they can't acquire Boldin, they need to draft their potential #1 receiver, based on what I've seen for three seasons, I don't believe Dwayne Bowe will ever be a dependable #1 receiver who can take over a game.