Off-Season Moves/AFC Review … A Cup O’Chiefs

The signing of G Ryan Lilja to a three-year contract on Tuesday kept alive what has been a busy 10-day period for the Chiefs in free agency.

In fact, they have been the busiest teams in the league when it comes to adding talent to the roster. They’ve kept six of their own players and signed five UFAs. They’ve kept or added OLB Mike Vrabel, WR Terrance Copper, RB Jackie Battle, WR Chris Chambers, QB Matt Gutierrez, RB Kolby Smith, RB Thomas Jones, WR Jerheme Urban, NT Shaun Smith, C Casey Wiegmann and Lilja (above with Peyton Manning.)

No other general manager in the league has turned in more contracts to the league office in the last two weeks than Scott Pioli. Denver has made nine moves for second spot in the AFC. Over in the NFC, Detroit and Washington also have made nine moves.

For our accounting purposes we are adding up the unrestricted free agents signed or re-signed, the restricted free agents who have signed their tender offer and any players acquired through trades.

When it comes to signing new players, only Pittsburgh can match the Chiefs total of five. That alone is quite a surprise since the Steelers have never been known as a major player in free agency. Like the Chiefs, Pittsburgh has signed a lot of UFAs, but they haven’t been the big name types with big dollars attached to their move. Read More..

Chiefs Get Lilja Back

On Tuesday the Chiefs corrected a mistake made nearly six years ago when they signed G Ryan Lilja.

It’s a three-year contract, but no financial details from the club.

The six-year veteran from the Indianapolis Colts returns to the Chiefs, the team where he began his NFL career. He was released in early September in 2004 when the Chiefs were cutting their roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players. Dick Vermeil and his staff hoped to get Lilja passed through waivers and sign him to the practice squad.

But the Colts claimed him on waivers and by the next season, he was a full-time starter at left guard. Lilja played in 66 games, started 59, as well as eight games in the playoffs including a pair of Super Bowl starts. Those eight starts in the post-season are more than the rest of the current offensive linemen on the Chiefs roster combined.

The 6-2, 290-pound Lilja prepped at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, then went on to Coffeyville J.C. and K-State. He signed with the Chiefs in 2004 as an undrafted college free agent.

Lilja missed the 2009 season because of a knee injury. He also missed time during the ‘06 season because of a knee problem. He will celebrate his 29th birthday in October.

A Second Look At The Moves … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

The smoke has cleared in the free agency period around the NFL. The roster activity will not stop completely when it comes to hiring and firing of players in the league, but the pace has slowed considerably.

Just check out the activity from Monday at the bottom of this post. There were four UFA signings announced where a player changed teams. The movement of LB Paris Lenon, CB Marcus Hudson, WR Ruvell Martin and ILB Larry Foote didn’t create much of splash.

But that’s where the available players sit right now. There are a few players every day coming available; for instance, QB Chris Simms and S Deon Grant because available after they were released by the Broncos and Seahawks.

We’ll take a look at the best signings around the league on Wednesday. Here on Tuesday, we’ll take a look at the Chiefs roster moves since the start of the new league year, plus the day before it all began when they re-signed LB Mike Vrabel (above). Here’s my view on what the Chiefs have gotten done, in order or importance to the team in 2010:

1. Signed free agent RB Thomas Jones – Much has been written about the acquisition of Jones last week and there’s no sense going back over plowed ground. Suffice to say that just about everyone in the league thinks the Chiefs really helped themselves and their offense. As long as that over 30 running back wall doesn’t drop on Jones all at once, the signing of Jones fills a big hole on the roster and depth chart. Read More..

L.T. Or T.J.? … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

The merry-go-round of NFL personnel moves made an interesting circle on Sunday.

That’s when the New York Jets signed former San Diego RB LaDainian Tomlinson (right) to a two-year contract, reportedly worth $5.1 million.

This is the same Jets team that released its leading rusher from last season in Thomas Jones because he wouldn’t take a pay cut. Jones signed with the Chiefs last week; it’s a two-year deal, worth $5 million. It has been reported that Jones gave the Jets a chance to match that offer. Instead they decided to sign Tomlinson to a deal that is essentially $100,000 more than what Jones got from the Chiefs – two years, $5.1 million.

Releasing Jones and filling that spot by signing L.T. is a move that has the NFL collectively scratching its head. The Chiefs signing of Jones has gotten the stamp of approval from everyone in the league, because of what he can potentially bring to the Kansas City offense and the relatively low price the Chiefs are paying him. Some pundits have ranked it among the league’s top five moves of the off-season. Not so with New York’s double move at running back. Read More..

Jets Say Good Bye to T.J.

The Jets were busy on Sunday. They signed LaDainian Tomlinson to replace Thomas Jones.

But they wanted to thank Jones for three strong seasons, so they bought a full page ad in the Kansas City Star. If you want to you can check it out in Sunday’s paper on page A-11.

Or, if you’ve grown out of handling the daily fish wrap, just click on read more and you can see the ad.

Given how unusual placing this ad is, one wonders why the Jets didn’t keep Jones, especially in a season where there’s no salary cap.

Take a look: Read More..

Day No. 10 Free Agency Update

It will go down as one of the worst draft day trades in the history of the NFL.

That’s all that can be said for the Cleveland Browns decision back in April 2007 to trade back into the late first-round of the NFL Draft so they could draft Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn (right).

On Sunday, the Browns traded the disappointing Quinn to the Denver Broncos for FB Peyton Hillis, a sixth-round selection in 2011 and a conditional choice in 2012.

Here’s what Quinn gave the Browns on the field in three seasons: 14 games played (out of 48), 13 starts, 184 of 353 passes (52.1 percent), 1,902 yards (5.4 yards per attempt), 10 TD passes and nine interceptions.

To acquire Quinn, Cleveland sent a second round choice (No. 36) in the ‘07 Draft and a first-round pick in the ‘08 Draft that turned into the 22nd choice to Dallas for the 22nd spot in the ‘07 first-round. The Browns had already made a great decision taking OT Joe Thomas with the third pick in the first round.

It’s one of series of draft day blunders that have haunted the Browns since they returned to the NFL in 1999. That year, they had the first pick of the draft and selected QB Tim Couch, who was a bust. The next year they had the first choice again and took DE Courtney Brown, who was also a bust. In 2001 their third pick was DT Gerard Warren; a bust. A year later they used the 16th choice for RB William Green; a bust.

What followed were C Jeff Faine, TE Kellen Winslow, WR Braylon Edwards and LB Kamerion Wimbley; all first round picks from 2003-2006. When the Browns also traded Wimbley on Sunday to Oakland that meant all of those choices were no longer part of the Cleveland roster.

Also making headlines on Sunday was the New York Jets signing RB LaDainian Tomlinson; more on that in the morning.

Here’s what went down on Sunday in the league: Read More..

Day No. 9 of Free Agency Update

Rather than return back to New Orleans, where the Super Bowl Saints were interested in having him serve as a backup to Drew Brees, it’s Cleveland where Jake Delhomme (left) plans to continue his NFL career.

Delhomme agreed to terms on Saturday with the Browns, where he has a chance to winning the starting quarterback job for new football guru Mike Holmgren and head coach Eric Mangini. They’ve booted Derek Anderson to free agency and they are ready, willing and able to trade Brady Quinn. They picked up Seneca Wallace in a trade with the Seahawks.

So Delhomme has a chance to continue as a starter after ending his run at Carolina with a benching last year. He threw eight TD passes during the’09 season, against 18 interceptions. His passer rating was a horrible 59.4.

Here’s the activity from a quiet Saturday around the league: Read More..

Seven Step Drop: A Chiefs Off-Season Wish List

As a fan, I don’t ask for much. I just wanna see some signs.

And now, I’m starting to get a hold of them.

With the acquisition of RB Thomas Jones (left), the Chiefs settled an old score. Almost nobody remembers that back in the ‘03 off-season (and before they selected Larry Johnson in that year’s Draft), the Kansas City decision-makers were genuinely interested in obtaining the one-time injury-prone Jones — then a member of the Arizona Cardinals — as an insurance policy/occasional reliever for Priest Holmes, after the latter suffered a season-ending injury at the end of the ‘02 campaign (here’s the proof). It took seven years and three more teams in-between, but Jones will be finally dressed in red, white and gold to perform those same supporting duties in Kansas City; this time in favor of one Jamaal Charles.

The signing was indeed welcomed with open arms because it enhances the talent level of the ballclub; it surely makes up for some necessary depth along the running back position.

Much to everybody’s surprise — as destiny is truly an unpredictable force — the Chiefs could go 2-for-2 in gridiron amends by inking the recently-released OG Ryan Lilja to a contract. The local product was lost to Indianapolis prior to the ‘04 season (after he was signed as an undrafted free agent) due to a roster gamble that went terribly sour. Time proved that leaving Lilja up for grabs was the wrong way to go, once we watched him become a fixture in the Colts’ O-Line all the way through his Indy tenure. Needless to say, a potential reunion could help to get rid of one off-season ghost that has now haunted the franchise for almost six years, and said scenario could provide some closure to this topic. But then again, that’s just wishful thinking.

As you could have figured out by now, I love the intangible sides of these tales. Why? Mainly because they help to conform the mythology within the game — and to me, that aspect cannot remain overlooked. However (and speaking in a realistic sense), neither one of such moves would be useful if they weren’t backed up by a pragmatic approach. There must be logic behind any of these proceedings in order to justify their execution. They have to embody a reaction to a specific stimulus; and simply put, they oughta respond to the fulfillment of a need. Exactly what the off-season is all about. Read More..