If nothing else, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason so far has been an interesting one. There have been more twists and turns than a game of tongue twisters in the green room at Cirque du Soleil. In an effort to fix the defense, KC Kingpin Carl Peterson has been a busy little beaver.
The Chiefs’ needs going into the offseason were as follows: number one cornerback, free safety, middle linebacker, pass rusher, outside linebacker, wide receiver, offensive line.
That’s a lot of holes to fill, and too many to fill through the eraser alone. Enter, free agency season. As it began on March 2, the Chiefs’ mastermind entertained a virtual who’s who of free agents. Unfortunately, instead of a line, it was more like a turnstile, as players entered Arrowhead and left quickly.
Cue the pissed off Chiefs fans. Just when you thought you couldn’t take it anymore… Just when you were ready to smother Carl Peterson… Just when everyone was ready to declare the star parade a fucking farce… Here comes Kendrell Bell.
Kendrell Bell, the savior of the defense? Not likely. But give it to Carl, it was a masterful first step. When he’s healthy, Bell is a monster. A fire-breathing quarterback killer. When he’s healthy, Bell is exactly the type of player you want Gunther Cunningham to have on his linebacking staff. When he’s healthy, Bell is instinctive, fast, strong, diligent, hard-working and a leader on the field, maybe not the direct leader type, but a leader by example. Of course, he may have noticed the words “when he’s healthy” before the last few sentences. And of course, that’s the trick. Bell has been injured for about a year and a half of his first 4 in the league. Anyone with that kind of injury history has to be a question mark, right? After all, you may be the best player in the game, but if you’re not on the field on game day, it doesn’t matter. Frankly though, I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it. Bell missed much of his second season with an ankle injury, but it will have been 3 years since the injury by the time he finishes the season. Last year he also missed significant time due to a sports hernia. Bell has said that he hurt himself in the weight room, trying to do too much in too little time. Same with the ankle in 02. He tried to enter the field too early and got injured again. He says that he learned his lesson and is ready to play right now if the season starts today. Good enough for me.
Of course, there was also the rumor, featured in a New York newspaper, that Bell has arthritis in his shoulder and failed his physical with the Giants because of it. I think the term “race threat” was discussed. Don’t believe the hype. I guess he may have some shoulder issues, but I doubt it will have much of an effect on his game. If you remember, Bell visited the Giants before the Chiefs, and probably stood them up in favor of the red and gold. Being left on the free agency alter isn’t exactly a fun place to be. With that in mind, it’s no wonder Giants and local fish wraps in New York tried to give it a spin. If you can’t get the guy you want, people often get into the mindset of, “Well, we didn’t want the guy anyway. Look, he’s hurt!” It is curious that he passed the same physical in Kansas City several days later.
Of course, the same could be said of the Samari Rolle situation. Samari Rolle came to visit his good friend Gunther Cunningham, and would have been a pretty good fit as number one corner. Obviously, a deal couldn’t be reached, and he went off to talk to Baltimore, while his agent continued to negotiate with the Chiefs. And just on cue, here comes an article from the Kansas City Star saying that Rolle had a narrowing of the spine, a condition he was born with, which evidently wasn’t much of a secret, unless of course you work. in Arrowhead. The Star article basically said that the Chiefs were very concerned about the situation with the spine and that they wanted to work an injury clause into Rolle’s contract to protect themselves financially in case she was hurt. Blah blah blah blah, Rolle says he’s mad about the leak, blah blah, blah, Carl Peterson blames the media for the leak, blah, blah, Rolle signs with Baltimore, blah.
Which brings us to Sammy Knight. Released by the Dolphins to save some money, Knight is simply a playmaker. He’s not the fastest, he’s not the strongest, but he might be the smartest safety in the league. Knight always puts himself in the right situations at the right time. He’s also a ferocious hitter, something he’s been lacking in the secondary since Greg Wesley’s first year as the starter.
While the Chiefs’ biggest need in the secondary, outside of cornerback, was a free safety to compete with Jerome Woods, the Chiefs opted to go with Knight, a strong safety. Knight was immediately named the starter at strong safety, leaving former starter Greg Wesley to compete at free safety with Jerome Woods. The feeling in Arrowhead seems to be that Wesley got complacent after cashing that big check a year ago, which may be true. Personally, I’m not sure it is. It seems to me that Wesley has always been in his prime when Jerome Woods was in his prime. Whenever Woods was out with injuries, like his broken leg in 2002 and his injury last year, Wesley performed poorly. Whenever Woods has a good year, like Wesley’s rookie year as well as Woods’ pro-bowl season last year, Wesley shines. In fact, it could be argued that Wesley deserved a Pro-Bowl invite after the 2003 season just as much as Woods. In my opinion, Wesley tried to do too much last year. Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham’s system relies heavily on the safety game. First of all, Gun wants to stop the race. With weak tackling linebackers, the only other option is to have his strong safety to help run support. With Wesley concentrating on stopping the run, he subsequently spent half the season biting down on fake plays and, without any real help from free safety, often got caught out of position. It’s kind of a bloody-if-you-do, bloody-if-you-don’t-situation.
But the bottom line is that Gun didn’t get the production it needed from insurance. Enter Knight. While some fans have been tempted to “just say goodnight to Sammy Knight,” I think you’ll be surprised at what a difference he makes. He’s the kind of fiery, direct person Gun needs in the backfield. He’ll do more than light a fire under your butt, he’ll stick an apple in your mouth and roast you on a spit. Knight will not only make sure everyone understands where they need to be, but he’ll also set up the wood, keeping receivers from dancing up the middle of the field.
Knight, 29, was originally a rookie free agent for the Saints out of USC, but has proven to be one of the league’s best safeties and a Pro-Bowler in 2001 with New Orleans. Through his first 8 seasons, Knight has amassed 767 tackles, 29 passes defensed, 5 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, and 11 fumble recoveries, while playing strong free safety. However, considering the Chiefs’ need for a secondary playmaker, his INT stats are the most interesting. Since 1997, Knight has intercepted 35 passes, including 594 INT return yards and 4 touchdowns. In fact, that’s the second-highest total in the NFL, second only to Packers great S Darren Sharper, who recently signed with Minnesota. More importantly, Knight has excelled in the biggest games. He has only started 2 playoff games (in 2000), but he had 2 steals, 9 tackles and 4 assists defended. Knight owns 6 straight 100+ tackle seasons, posting 100 tackles last year (67 solo), and led Miami with 4 interceptions (tied with Arturo Freeman and Patrick Surtain) and 3 forced fumbles. He’s also been remarkably durable during his career, missing only a handful of games.
As for the other safeties, Woods is said to have hired a speed coach to help him get his speed back. If Woods can get back into shape, or if Wesley can make a successful transition to Free Safety, Gun will have the safety support he desperately needs to turn this defense around.
More recently, the Chiefs also signed defensive end Carlos Hall from Tennessee. Hall was a seventh-round pick of the Titans in 2002. As a restricted free agent, he signed an offer sheet with Kansas City, and the Titans had the rights to match it. The Chiefs eventually reached an agreement with Tennessee, giving the Titans a late-round draft pick for not matching the offer. Reports have varied on which pick the Chiefs gave up, from a fifth round to a seventh. Either way, he was a good trade. Hall is a young pass-rusher with untapped potential. During his rookie year, he successfully started 13 games in place of the injured Jevon Kearse, racking up 8 sacks, 11 QB pressures, 1 forced fumble and 6 pass defenses. Over the last 2 years, his game has declined. 4 starts in 2003 produced 3 sacks and 13 QB pressures. 14 starts in 2004 produced 2 1/2 sacks, 7 pressures, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. So, was Hall a one-year wonder? Or does he just need the right situation? One plus is that Hall has always been a good tackler, racking up 70, 66 and 72 tackles between 2002 and 2004, respectively. While he may be a bit small at 6-4 and 261 pounds, he could be a very good situational pass-rusher, maybe more so.
The other outside signing was WR Darell Hill, also from Tennessee. Hill is a big, lanky guy, at 6-3 and 200 pounds, and ironically, he was the Titans’ other seventh-round pick in 2002. Hill has yet to catch a pass in the NFL, but he excels on special teams. . While he may just be camp fodder, this signing makes sense when you consider that Dick Vermeil insists that his backup receivers be able to play on special teams.
Well there you have it. In Part 2, we’ll go over signings and inside losses, and look at what the Chiefs could do in the upcoming draft, including potential trades.
Until then, keep your hats on. Remember, the twists and turns are just beginning. Next, green right foot.
