Chiefs Free Agency and Hands of Poker

As you may have heard, the Kansas City Chiefs have an unholy amount of space under the salary cap for the 2012 season.  This season, NFL teams are allowed to roll unused 2011 salary cap space over into 2012.  This should allow the Chiefs to offer certain types of bonuses that enlarge the total dollars of a contract without putting the team into salary cap hell in the near future.  I have worked up three scenarios to illustrate what the Chiefs could get for their money this off season.  The first shows what 'going for it' would look like, and by 'it', I mean the Super Bowl.  The 2nd scenario is a more prudent approach (which makes it more likely to actually happen.  While the 3rd scenario looks an awful lot like the 2011 off season in which few impact player were brought in and incorporated into the scheme (Jared Gaither).  So, let the depression commence!

All-In:  With as many as 4 starters  returning from injury (Charles, Siler, Berry, and Moeaki), the Chiefs will already experience a major infusion of talent in 2012 without signing a single free agent.  If KC wants to go for the gold, they could sign the following guys (and risk salary cap hell in the near future). 

Peyton Manning  QB:  If healthy, he would make KC the prohibitive favorite to win the AFC West without signing anyone else on this list.  The Chiefs have an impressive array of weapons on offense for Peyton to utilize that have not reached their true potential under Matt Cassel.  The team could then trade Cassel to another team for a middle round draft pick.

Paul Soliai  NT:  The Chiefs will have to sign a NT at some point this off season 9they only have Toribio and Powe under contract); why not make it the best one that is still in his prime (28 years old) who also happens to be a mountain of a man (6'4 350).  The insertion of Soliai in the middle of the Chiefs defense could improve their run stopping capabilities dramatically.

Brandon Carr  CB:  I know KC has a lot of money committed to Brandon Flowers and signed Stanford Routt to potentially replace Carr, but this is all about going for it now.  If KC were to bring Carr back into the fold they would have one of the top 5 CB trios in football.

Mike Tolbert  RB:  Jamal Charles should be able to return and resume his productive ways, but KC needs some insurance that can bring the pain to the opposing defense down in the red zone.  Tolbert is a big bruiser of a back with surprising quickness between the tackles that would take some of the load off Charles.  He would be a marked improvement over Battle and Jones.

Le'Ron McClain  FB:  McClain was underutilized last season, but the addition of Manning would make a versatile fullback like him all the more valuable.  He can run the ball, catch the ball out of the backfield, or line up as a wing to give the offense more flexibility.  He is a decent enough blocker to warrant his return.

Jared Gaither OT:  Is he healthy?  If he is, will the Chiefs even know?  Last season the Chiefs let Jared Gaither go and he only went on to replace Marcus McNeil at LT for the Chargers.  Gaither never got a chance in KC and that blunder should be talked about more this off season.  Hell, bring back Gaither, he's a free agent again, but his time let the best players play and quit concentrating on trivial crap because the guy can play.   

Wallace Gilberry DE:  I just like his name, and he is a known quantity that should come rather inexpensively.

Draft:  The Chiefs could draft the best player available in what should be the last time picking in the top 15 for as long as Manning is still under center.  Dre Kirkpatrick, Luke Kuechly, or David DeCastro could receive legitimate consideration because the team would no longer be drafting based upon immediate need. 

Potential 2012 Lineup: Green denotes player returning from injury; yellow indicates Free Agent signing.

	Offense
Pos	Player
WR	Bowe	Breaston
LT	Albert
LG	Lilja
C	Hudson
RG	Asamoah
RT	Gaither
TE	Moeaki	Pope
WR	Baldwin	McCluster
QB	Manning
RB	Charles	Tolbert
FB	McClain
	Defense
LDE	Jackson	Bailey
NT	Soliai	Powe
RDE	Dorsey	Gilberry
LOLB	Houston	Studebaker
LILB	Siler	Belcher
RILB	Johnson	Belcher
ROLB	Hali	Studebaker
LCB	Flowers	Arenas
SS	Berry
FS	Lewis
RCB	Carr	Routt

If this were to be the team that takes the field for KC in 2012, (barring catastrophic injuries) they would be the prohibitive favorites to not only win the AFC West but also contend for best record in the AFC.  Every home game would be a sell-out and the Chiefs might also make more money in merchandise sales than they have ever imagined possible.  This will never happen.

I got Two Pair, I hope nobody bets big:

Soliai  NT:  Even if KC is shut out of the Manning sweepstakes, they should still sign Soliai to solidify an area of need at nose tackle.

Le'Ron McClain  FB:  McClain is a known commodity that should help an offense with its 4th offensive coordinator in 3 years.

John Carlson  TE:  If Moeaki come back healthy how long do you expect him to stay that way?  Carlson is a versatile TE that can block and catch the ball.  He has good size and has been underutilized in the 2011 Quarterback wasteland of Seattle.  If Cassel is to be the quarterback, KC must do all it can to surround him with weapons on offense.

Draft to fill holes:  If the team doesn't sign somebody to play RT in Free Agency it is a veritable certainty that they will spend the 11th pick in the draft on somebody to play RT (or replace Albert at LT and moving him to RT).  I don't believe Pioli wants to put any more 1st round contracts on the D-line until Jackson or Dorsey come off the books, so they will go with a more proven player like Soliai in free agency and draft the safe offensive linemen at 11.


Roster:  Two-Pair

	Offense
Pos	Player
WR	Bowe	Breaston
LT	Albert
LG	Lilja
C	Hudson
RG	Asamoah
RT	Draft Pick
TE	Moeaki	Pope
WR	Baldwin	McCluster
QB	Cassel
RB	Charles	McCluster
FB	McClain
	Defense
LDE	Jackson	Bailey
NT	Soliai	Powe
RDE	Dorsey
LOLB	Houston	Studebaker
LILB	Siler	Belcher
RILB	Johnson	Belcher
ROLB	Hali	Studebaker
LCB	Flowers	Arenas
SS	Berry
FS	Lewis
RCB	Routt	Arenas

I'm bluffing; please buy season tickets. Or, 2011 redux.

Paul Soliai NT:  This is it.  The rest of the team is fielded with scrap heap New England leftovers.  Signing Soliai gives the appearance the Chiefs are trying to win, because he won't come cheap, but it will be an enormous waste of the one year opportunity to utilize the roll-over salary cap space in order to field a team capable of winning a championship.

What the Roster would look like: 

I can't even do it; I can't even look at this roster scenario; it is too depressing to even think about.  This is probably what will happen.  I'll still watch the games but I may become a cutter.