Chiefs coach Herm Edwards says Gonzalez was not traded before Tuesday's deadline.

The 32-year-old Gonzalez had asked Kansas City to explore trade talks because he wants an opportunity to make a Super Bowl run before the end of his career.

The nine-time Pro Bowler holds tight end records for receptions, touchdowns and yards receiving.

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Barring an unexpected turnaround, Cincinnati (0-6) and Kansas City (1-4) will be vying for the only good thing that comes with having the NFL's worst record. Detroit (0-6), Oakland (1-4) and St. Louis (1-4) are in contention as well (Houston and Seattle also have one win but I'm more bullish about their long-term prospects).

At this time last year, I pegged the three teams (Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta) that would finish in the NFL basement. My other projected bottom-feeders drafted No. 6 (New York Jets) and No. 9 (Cincinnati) respectively.

Here's my prediction for the bottom five squads in 2008 and which players they will choose in the first round.

NOTE: I've only included senior college prospects. The draft's entire complexion will change once underclassmen declare themselves eligible. Expect a slew of talented juniors and third-year sophomores to turn pro because the NFL will be pushing for a rookie salary cap in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Such a system could be implemented by 2010 if the league can reach early agreement on a CBA extension with the NFL Players Association.

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With trade rumors circling around Tony Gonzalez and the deadline looming Tuesday (3 p.m. ET), his Chiefs teammates understand what their star tight end is going through, says Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star.

“The Chiefs pretended it was a normal day. After their weekend off, they gathered for meetings and a brief walk-through practice and tried to put their focus on preparing for Sunday’s opponent, the Tennessee Titans,” writes Teicher.

“They found that dealing with the business at hand wasn’t so simple, knowing that Monday could have been their last day with tight end Tony Gonzalez.”

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Ah, this will be much easier. In fact, let's start with where the other section ended and use a Herm Edwards quote that pretty much sums things up.

• Quote to note: "Offensively, the three-and-outs are not very good (29 of 75 third-down conversions, only 38.7 percent). We're not consistently driving the ball. The run game has sputtered some (only 118 rushing yards a game). No big passes in the passing game (only 5 of 20-plus yards, to the opposition's 14).

"Defensively, third down has hurt us (35 of 72 opposing conversions, 48.6 percent). Big plays hurt us, whether runs (25 of 10-plus yards) or passes. We've got to clean that up."

Well, that covers a bunch of it. But there's more.

• No pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Chiefs, in their first season since trading NFL sack leader Jared Allen to Minnesota for three draft picks, have only three sacks. Their own quarterbacks have been dropped 15 times. Defensive end Tamba Hali (who has been battling knee problems) and Turk McBride are getting little edge rush, and rookie tackle Glenn Dorsey, is generating no pocket push.

And without a pass rush, Kansas City's rookie corners have less chance of holding their coverages than did last year's Pro Bowl veterans, Ty Law and Pat Surtain.

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... the Chiefs have also been offering star running back Larry Johnson as well, informing teams he could also be available for the right offer.

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve heard this argument. Some lowly NFL team plays at an unspeakably awful level week after week until finally, some Joe Six-Pack offers up the priceless words, “Man, that team is so bad. You think they could even beat USC?”

The worst part is that these people are halfway serious. They actually think USC or Oklahoma or whatever college-football flavor of the month could actually hang with, say, the St. Louis Rams.

For some reason that argument strikes a nerve with me. When I hear it, I begin to feel like an overly anxious mother who just heard her 8-year-old utter his first “f”-word.

Sure enough, I’m reaching for the soap, and it’s going right into little Mikey’s dirty mouth.

It’s just ludicrous. The Rams — as bad as they are — would hammer any college team by 50 points. It’d be a bloodbath.

Obviously these types of arguments are made by foolish people or drunk people — or foolish people who are drunk at the time.

Now, don’t freak out, but I’m going to offer up a similar argument. Seriously, put the soap down and listen.

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Since sustaining a separated shoulder in the Sept. 7 season opener at New England, Croyle has seen the Chiefs go 1-4.

Neither Damon Huard nor Tyler Thigpen, who have both started in his absence, has been able to generate any consistency for a young, rebuilding squad that has 16 rookies and hit a three-year low on Sunday in a 34-0 shutout at Carolina. The Chiefs have a bye this week.

"If I'm ready to go, I assume they'll start me," Croyle said Monday. "As long as I can prove that over the next two weeks, I'll be ready."

Coach Herm Edwards said the job will belong to Croyle "unless we have something go haywire with him."

"He's ready to go," Edwards said.

Kansas City's designated quarterback of the future, Croyle is still looking for his first NFL victory after seven injury-plagued starts.

The Chiefs, hoping to groom a championship-caliber team from the ground up, are getting impatient with Croyle's inability to stay on the field and may go shopping for a new young quarterback if he goes down again.

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