In what could be a sign that the Chiefs are preparing for a possible trade down from the No. 3 overall pick, they’ll be hosting linebacker Rey Maualuga on Thursday, a league source tells us.
Maualuga is regarded as one of the top prospects at inside linebacker, but it would be a major surprise if he were a top five (or even a top ten) selection.
Maualuga’s other visits include trips to see the Browns, Dolphins, Chargers, Titans, Falcons, Saints, 49ers, and Rams.
Former Denver Broncos GM Ted Sundquist broke the the AFC West's draft needs for ProFootballTalk.com. LB Curry and DE Orakpo are familiar names. DE English, however, has not been thrown around as much when discussing the Chief's 3rd overall pick. Highlight video below:
Primary Need: Defensive End
Another AFC West team looking to mold themselves in the manner of New England is the Chiefs. Scott Pioli has already begun the change in the Personnel Department and look for it to spill over to the personnel on the roster. Kansas City was miserable in putting pressure on opponents in ’08. The Chiefs finished with only 10 total sacks as a team and twelve players across the League had 10 or more sacks on their own.
The Chiefs will be looking for edge pressure in their own 3-4 scheme and OLB will be a priority. There are a number of talented college defensive ends that could make the switch to the perimeter but look for one player to be in Pioli’s crosshairs. Aaron Curry may be the best player in the draft.
Potential Targets: OLB Aaron Curry (Wake Forest), DE Brian Orakpo (Texas), DE Larry English (Northern Illinois)
Now that the Chiefs have successfully avoided $3.75 million in
future guaranteed base salaries previously owed to running back Larry
Johnson, the 2003 first-rounder wants a chance to earn the money.
Barely two months after a borderline bizarre radio interview regarding his desire to leave town, featuring inflammatory audio from the movie Scarface, Johnson has changed his mind.
“He’s excited about the direction the team is going in,” agent Peter Schaffer told the Kansas City Star. “What happened today has no bearing on Larry’s desire to play for the Chiefs.”
It’s not surprising, since Johnson apparently now realizes that no
one else will pay him the money that he’s due to earn this season in
K.C.
At a time when labor unrest at Arrowhead Stadium possibly could
disrupt the Chiefs’ plans for the 2009 season (though the team says it
won’t), a new issue has arisen regarding the planned move of training
camp from Wisconsin back to Missouri in 2010.
According to Jason Coble of the Kansas City Star, whispers of inconsistencies have arisen regarding the Chiefs’ commitment to conducting training camp at Missouri Western State University.
During a December 2008 meeting that resulted in $25 million in tax
credits for the organization, Chiefs senior V.P. Bill Newman said that
the organization was committed to conducting training camp at Missouri
Western for “a minimum of ten years.”
Elsewhere, however, the commitment has been characterized as a five-year deal followed by five one-year options.
You'll remember I was the one screaming for the Chiefs to draft a
pass rusher as far back as early last season, even before it became
apparent the Chiefs would set a record for fewest sacks in a season.
That set off the pass rusher-or-quarterback debate, which is now
moot after the Matt Cassel trade. But there are still those who want
the Chiefs to help their new QB by drafting Michael Crabtree or an
offensive tackle with their top pick.
If the Chiefs do that, the only major acquisition for their feeble
defense will be Mike Vrabel, a linebacker who this summer will
celebrate his 34th birthday.
Babb: Dodging a pass rusher and Aaron Curry's knockout punch
It wasn't until I looked yesterday at the Chiefs' would-be depth
chart that I realized how bad their defense really was last year and
could be again in 2009. There are holes throughout the front seven, and
really, none of them have been addressed thoroughly in this
often-productive, occasionally confusing offseason.
My persuasive and always charismatic colleague Adam Teicher is right:
the Chiefs do need a pass rusher. They need a player who can fill
holes, stuff rushing lanes, chase the quarterback and look like someone
might, once and for all, scare away the ghost of Jared Allen. But
that's not the whole story. There is a more pressing need in that
defense that must be addressed immediately.
Confused on whether or not LJ has won, lost or has broke even with the grievance based on ESPN's "Yay" and PFT's "Nay" article? Allow the Chiefs Report to sort through the confusion.
ESPN has authored an article saying that Johnson wins grievance: "The Kansas Chiefs aren't obligated to pay running back Larry Johnson his guaranteed salary and bonuses over the next two seasons, an arbitrator ruled Monday.
NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen said Special Master Stephen Burbank ruled bonus money already earned cannot be forfeited by a player." As for Johnson, Burbank ruled that if the Chiefs cut him, they do not have to pay him a $3.5 million guaranteed salary next season because he breached his contract after being suspended last season, Berthelsen said."
Meanwhile, ProFootballTalk.com asserts "Larry Johnson Loses Grievance on Future and Guaranteed Salaries"
"Per a league source, Johnson’s grievance failed as to the question of whether the Chiefs are permitted to erase $3.5 million in guaranteed base salary due in 2009 and $250,000 in guaranteed base salary due in 2010 based on Johnson’s one-game suspension in 2008 for violation of the personal conduct policy.
With the future guaranteed payments now off the books, the Chiefs are expected to cut or trade Johnson.
Meanwhile, we’re told that Johnson’s grievance prevailed as to the partial forfeiture of his signing bonus allocation applicable to 2008, for the same reasons that the Burress grievance prevailed on that point - according to Burbank, suspensions don’t trigger a forfeiture of signing bonus money."
The bottom line? ESPN's article explains LJ has "won" the grievance as a result of him not having to pay back bonus money already earned during the 2008 campaign because "Suspensions don’t trigger a forfeiture of signing bonus money."
Conversely, LJ has "lost" the grievance (as noted in the PFT article) because the Chiefs are"permitted to erase $3.5 million in guaranteed base salary due in 2009 and $250,000 in guaranteed base salary due in 2010 based on Johnson’s one-game suspension in 2008 for violation of the personal conduct policy."
make sense? Update: ESPN's Bill Williamson offers this tidbit: Fans shouldn't worry too much about player grievances and the like.
Often there are boring contractual issues no one really cares about
other than the people involved.
The grievance may lead Johnson out of town. Last week, the Kansas City Star
reported that Chiefs would likely cut Johnson if they won the
grievance. Now that it has been ruled that Kansas City doesn't owe
Johnson future bonus money, the Chiefs have the green light to pull the
trigger.
Todd Haley methodically ascends to Chiefs' top job
He shared meeting rooms with NFL power brokers whose jewelry
collections include Super Bowl rings. If the setting at the swank St.
Regis Monarch Resort in Dana Point, Calif., didn't remind Todd Haley
how far he had come, the company he kept did.
That's because no one at the recent NFL owners meetings, at least
among head coaches, took a more circuitous route to their current
position than Haley.
The Kansas City Chiefs' new coach didn't play a down of football at
Upper St. Clair High School and instead limited his hitting to dimpled
white balls. Prior to breaking into the NFL as a glorified intern in
the mid-1990s, Haley's most notable football experience came as a
Steelers ball boy.
Not that Haley, 42, has had much chance to reflect on his improbable rise in the coaching ranks.
