Primary issue: Although the Chiefs have many issues on defense that need to be addressed immediately, there are much more pressing issues with existing players on the opposite side of the ball.

Kansas City needs to figure out if it wants to convince future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez to remain with the team for a 13th season or trade him. The Chiefs also need to make a decision on running back Larry Johnson, who wants to be cut or traded. And finally, Kansas City has to figure out whether it will stick with young quarterback Tyler Thigpen or if it will try to get a franchise quarterback through the draft or through a trade.

New Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli could very well be tempted to go get New England's Matt Cassel through a trade.

Solution: The Chiefs can retain Gonzalez if they convince him that they can compete immediately and they could do that by getting defensive players. If not, he'll likely ask to be traded. If the Chiefs decide to trade Gonzalez, they will probably get a fairly high draft pick for him. Johnson needs to be cut or traded, and he likely will be, so don't expect him to be back.

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Today's casualties were tight ends coach Jon Embree, defensive assistant/assistant linebackers coach Michael Ketchum, running backs coach Curtis Modkins, offensive assistant Kevin Patullo and wide receivers coach Eric Price.

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Tyler Thigpen started the 2008 season as the third string quarterback. But due to injuries, he found himself as the starter as soon as week three.

Thigpen put up good numbers considering he is a third string quarterback. He had 18 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions. He also ran for 386 yards.

So looking at the stats, you would think this guy should be the quarterback going into the future for the Chiefs.

But with all that being said, we have to remember that he started the season as the third string quarterback for a reason.

He is very mobile but has questionable arm strength and accuracy. He was able to throw 18 touchdown passes, but that is mostly due to the outstanding play of Tony Gonzalez.

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There’s talk in league circles that the Kansas City Chiefs soon will be adding former Saints defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs to coach Todd Haley’s staff.

Per a league source, Gibbs will serve either as the defensive coordinator or linebackers coach.

Gibbs worked exclusively at the college level before 2002.  He spent nineteen years at Oklahoma, and served as the head coach from 1989 through 1994.  After five years out of the game, he spent a season at Georgia and a season at LSU before landing in Dallas.

In his second year with the Cowboys, Bill Parcells arrived, and the two men worked four years there together.

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The Chicago Bears released veteran wide receiver Marty Booker, who was one of Todd Haley's prized pupils a few years ago.

During Haley's time as Chicago's wide receivers coach in 2001-03, Booker became just the second Bears receiver to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

Booker holds the top two single-season reception marks in Chicago history with 100 catches in 2001 and 97 in 2002 _ and those 197 catches were the most in the NFC.

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The Atlanta Falcons signed former Chiefs offensive tackle Will Svitek to a free-agent contract.

Svitek, was originally selected by the Chiefs in the sixth-round 2005 NFL Draft out of Stanford where was a defensive lineman.

The attempt to convert him to offensive tackle was a failure. Svitek appeared in 16 games with four starts for the Chiefs in three seasons.

He was waived by the Chiefs at the conclusion of training camp last August and did not play in the league last season.

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It seems the Kansas City Chiefs are making all the right moves.

After going through it’s worst season in franchise history – a season that totaled two wins and 14 losses – the Chiefs are putting together a group of young leaders for the future.

These young leaders are not football players, they are the new general manager and head coach. The Chiefs successful offseason started with owner Clark Hunt hiring Scott Pioli as the new general manager and culminated four days after the Super Bowl when the Chiefs announced former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley as their new head coach.

Pioli will be 42 in March, Haley will be 42 in a few weeks and Hunt will turn 44 next week. So there is a youth movement going on in Kansas City right now, and that’s a good thing because it was long overdue.

The announcement of Haley as head coach was a welcome one, albeit not a surprising one to many Chiefs’ fans. It was long-rumored that Haley was the Chiefs No. 1 choice for their head coaching position to replace Herm Edwards. Haley worked with Pioli when they both were with the New York Jets. Haley has also coached in Chicago and Dallas.