There was a question about the contract status of Kansas City Chiefs first round pick Dontari Poe in the FanShots so I figured it's as good of a time as any to share this tidbit:

4 teams have signed none of their 2012 Draft picks: Cowboys, Saints, Raiders & Rams.

— Matt Pomeroy (@MattPomPom) May 31, 2012

As for the Chiefs, they're not all that unusual to have one pick signed.

7 teams have signed all of their 2012 Draft picks except their 1st-Round pick(s): Browns, Lions, Chiefs, Eagles, Steelers, 49ers & Titans.

— Matt Pomeroy (@MattPomPom) May 31, 2012

I'm not sure where Poe's contract status stands. But it's too early to be concerned about it. Last year, for example, Justin Houston was one of, if not the last draft pick to sign so that was a situation where you were concerned with what was going on. But Poe's not at the point yet where it's a problem.

This is what it has come to. Terrell Owens, former NFL star, is considering a lawsuit against the Indoor Football League that cut him earlier this week, according to a report from TMZ.com. The Allen Wranglers cut T.O. and terminated his ownership stake in the team after they say he missed a charitable function.

The team's statement announcing the move left little doubt about how they felt about relationship with T.O. But TMZ says T.O. is considering other options.

Sources close to T.O. tell us the former NFL superstar is pissed because Wranglers execs blasted him for skipping a team appearance at a children's hospital. We're told T.O. believes he was not required to attend the event by the terms of his contract -- and as a result he feels the team is in breach.

And now he's considering a lawsuit against them.

Oh, and T.O. still wants to get back into the NFL, by the way. I couldn't see that happening even before this incident.

I would say this is the low point for T.O., but he always seems to surprise me.

Continue reading this post »

On the Chop Talk podcast a few weeks ago, SB Nation's Oakland Raiders blogger said the AFC West is about the Raiders, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. Here in Kansas City, we'd replace the Raiders with the Chiefs, and it sounds like others may think the same as us.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com ran down the Raiders and where their defense stands heading into the 2012 season. It sure seems like the Raiders got worse.

From Nnamdi Asomugha and Stanford Routt at cornerback two years ago, the Raiders are now sporting Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer at cornerback. Linebacker Rolando McClain is facing 180 days in jail. Arguably the best player on the defense, Richard Seymour, is on the wrong side of 30.

Check out all of Rosenthal's points here.

The Raiders were 29th in points allowed last year.

How, exactly, will they get better on defense?

Longterm, I think the Raiders are in a good spot with their new GM, Reggie McKenzie. But in 2012? I don't see how the Raiders are going to be better than they were last year.

(H/T Reno_Chief)

One of the offseason story lines this year has been HBO's search for a team to do their training camp series "Hard Knocks." The Miami Dolphins accepted the offer on Wednesday, the team announced, but that was only after a number of teams reportedly turned it down. Among the teams who reportedly turned down 'Hard Knocks' are the Seahawks, Texans, 49ers, Redskins and Falcons.

But if you ask a producer from "Hard Knocks", no one else was really offered the show.

There were reports other NFL teams had turned down offers to do "Hard Knocks." NFL Films senior coordinating producer Ross Ketover disputed those claims.

"We cast a wide net," Ketover said. "We talk to a lot of teams to gauge their interest. Some are very interested. Some are interested with caveats that are not acceptable with us. Others say we'll do it in future years. Others are not interested.

This sounds like a technicality more than anything. "Hard Knocks" approaches a team about their interest in doing it -- we're calling that an "offer" -- and the team tells them they're not interested. Now, is that an offer to be on the show? Maybe not, but it's semantics.

Here's something we should at least consider:

What if Jonathan Baldwin becomes a star for the Kansas City Chiefs?

This got me thinking after reading all the reports of Baldwin's apparently impressive catch at the Chiefs OTAs this week, and the positive reports coming out on him. What if Baldwin enters beast mode, his physical talents are put to the max and he finishes the season with like 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns, showing us No. 1 receiver-like skills?

Any Chiefs player putting up big numbers is a good thing. We know that. But, boy, that would sure change things in Kansas City.

Right now, Dwayne Bowe is pretty much the only sure-thing on the Chiefs offense. He's the man and there's really no other way around it. From that standpoint, the Chiefs absolutely gotta have Bowe back for the longterm and Baldwin's future doesn't figure into that as much as it should.

But look at it from another standpoint. The Chiefs dropped $20+ million on Steve Breaston. They drafted a receiver in the first round last year and the fourth round this year. On paper, the Chiefs appear to be preparing for life after Bowe.

And on paper, Baldwin, as a first round pick, should become a legit No. 1 receiver some day. At least he has the physical tools for that.

I've just kind of assumed that Bowe would be back as a cornerstone of the Chiefs offense. But if Baldwin steps up and becomes that player then the dynamic of the Chiefs could change quite a bit.

Continue reading this post »

The daily ups and downs of the NFL offseason has never been more obvious than in Denver where the Broncos are ushering in the Peyton Manning era. Lots and lots of media is covering the team which means they're going to report on the extreme highs and lows that come by every single day in the offseason.

For example, yesterday's headline: Manning not as sharp with his throws on Wednesday

Peyton Manning and Eric Decker stayed late after a sloppy practice Wednesday, working an extra 15 minutes after they appeared to have several miscommunications during the workout.

This is the (other) AP headline, by the way. This sorta stuff happens every day during the offseason -- sometimes you have a bad practice -- but not everyone gets an AP article written about their bad day. This is what we can expect for the rest of the year coming out of Denver.

I love the NFL. It provides me a way to make a living. But boy do we overreact to the smallest things.

Like Manning being off with his throws. On a Wednesday in May.

Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is still out so you're once again dealing with my not-as-early Arrowheadlines. Enjoy today's Kansas City Chiefs news.

"It's a little different for me," Routt said. "For the first time in, like, seven years, I'm just walking around saying, ‘Hi, I'm Stanford,' introducing myself to people and asking people, ‘Where's this room and where's that room?' It's going pretty good. Everybody's been real helpful and it's helping my transition a whole lot.

"Last week, I was just getting used to seeing the red-colored jerseys and not the black and silver any more. I'm finally getting settled in with everything. It's just scratching the surface right now. I can't wait until we get to training camp and the preseason."

CB Routt getting accustomed to being a Chief | Kansas City Star

Continue reading this post »

Winding down another work day...

With the news of the Pro Bowl sticking around another year, here's a Caption This with a bunch of mascots from the 2010 Pro Bowl. Is that pirate like four feet tall? Or is KC Wolf like eight feet tall?

Can you even name all of them? I had trouble with at least two.

Continue reading this post »

You can put down your pitchforks. The 2013 Pro Bowl WILL LIVE!!!!

Yes, the Pro Bowl will be played in 2013 and it will be back in Hawaii.

Via an NFL and NFLPA joint release:

"The players have made it clear through the NFL Players Association that they would like the opportunity to continue to play the Pro Bowl in Hawaii," said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson. "We will support the players on this initiative to improve the Pro Bowl. We have had many discussions with the players in recent years about the Pro Bowl and they recognize that the quality of the game has not been up to NFL standards. We look forward to working with the players toward the goal of improving the competitiveness of this season's game."

"The players believe that the Pro Bowl is an important tradition," said NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth. "We worked hard with the league to make sure the best players in the NFL are honored for their achievements on the field."

Whew. We really dodged a bullet with that one.

Kordell Stewart was last in the NFL seven years ago as a backup for the Chicago Bears. I'm not sure if you knew that, or cared, but I came across the information while reading about Stewart's apparently "official" retirement from the NFL.

On Wednesday, Stewart returned to Pittsburgh for a press conference where he announced his retirement. Or something.

Continue reading this post »

The NFL is a copycat league and often it seems the team that many are copying from is the New England Patriots. In the last two years the use of the Patriots tight ends -- Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez -- has gotten a lot of attention because, well, they're pretty badass together (that's some analysis for you).

Utilizing two tight end sets more often seems like part of the direction the Chiefs are headed considering the return of Tony Moeaki and the addition of free agent Kevin Boss.

Continue reading this post »

It's been rumored for a while now that the Dallas Cowboys are open to trading cornerback Mike Jenkins. Both the Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts have been connected to Jenkins via trade rumors but to this point nothing has come out of it.

Maybe that's because Jenkins isn't available, at least according to team owner and general manager Jerry Jones who says the Cowboys are not listening to offers for Jenkins. Jones added that Jenkins is more valuable to the Cowboys than other teams.

The Cowboys signed CB Brandon Carr in free agency and drafted Morris Claiborne in April. Despite that, there have been indications that they could keep Jenkins on the roster this year.

What teams say doesn't matter very much. What they do matters a lot more and what the Cowboys have done is add a couple of talented pieces in the secondary. In other words, a trade at some point in the future shouldn't surprise you if the right offer comes along.

For more on the Cowboys, visit Blogging The Boys and SB Nation Dallas.

The Kansas City Chiefs are working out a player with an extremely unusual past. You may have seen some stories in the news recently about a former football player named Brian Banks. A star middle linebacker in high school, Banks had offers from a number of major football programs, including USC.

Except he never got there. ESPN's Rick Reilly takes up the story, which starts back in 2002:

Continue reading this post »

Continue reading this post »

Like a lot of other people, I subscribe to Groupon. I do this so that I can take Ms. Primetime out to fancy dinners and sneak the waiter the Groupon so that she doesn't know I'm taking her out on coupons.

And now I can take Ms. Primetime on a tour of Arrowhead Stadium for the cool sum of $29, thanks to Groupon. The image above popped in my inbox this morning and it was like my two worlds colliding.

Who's buying this or already bought it?

Continue reading this post »

The Kansas City Chiefs started off their OTAs last week with Brady Quinn running behind Matt Cassel as the No. 2 quarterback, which left Ricky Stanzi as the No. 3. Fast forward a week and Quinn and Stanzi's roles are reversed with Stanzi running with the twos on Tuesday, throwing "several nice passes", according to the KC Star.

"Brady and I have switched on and off," Stanzi said in comments distributed by the Chiefs. "I've run w/ the twos before and then with the threes. It's just a lot of switching."

What he's saying is that we don't know the depth chart yet. We can guess, yes. But we can't say without a doubt that the quarterback depth chart will shake out one way or the other. Quinn or Stanzi as the No. 2, it's a toss-up right now.

Continue reading this post »

Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is going through the worst -- computer troubles -- so I'm filling in for today's Kansas City Chiefs news.

Jonathan Baldwin made the play of the day, going up to win a jump ball against Stanford Routt by making a leaping, one-handed grab for a touchdown. The play was only slightly less spectacular than his around-the-defender catch last season against the Broncos, the one that was wiped out by a penalty. Even though this one happened in practice, Baldwin solidfied his reputation as a receiver who will make the tough catch and win the matchups that otherwise might be 50-50 for a smaller receiver.

Observations from today's Chiefs practice | Kansas City Star

There was the opening session last week when Baldwin made a diving catch over his outside shoulder deep down the left sideline. Two days later, he hauled in a leaping grab in traffic.

This week, Baldwin's blatant disrespect for gravity turned into a one-handed touchdown catch that his set teammates and the media members covering practice abuzz.

2nd year development critical to Baldwin and Chiefs offense | KCChiefs.com

Continue reading this post »

Continue reading this post »

Back when the Kansas City Chiefs conducted training camp in River Falls, WI they would occasionally meet up with the Minnesota Vikings, who conducted training camp nearby, for a scrimmage. The Chiefs haven't done that since 2008 training camp.

According to a report from Lance Snow of KQ2 in St. Joe, that could be changing. Kurt McGuffin, the AD at Missouri Western, where the Chiefs conduct training camp, tells KQ2 that members of the Arizona Cardinals front office were in town recently to "evaluate the training facilities" for a potential visit to Chiefs training camp.

No word on how long the Cardinals would visit or how the two teams would work together, if a deal can be worked out. Nothing is beyond the early stages of discussions at this point, according to the report.

The Chiefs don't play Arizona this year.

I'd be down for something like this. From a fans perspective, it would be a lot cooler to see the Chiefs scrimmage against another team instead of themselves. From the team's perspective, it's beneficial to scrimmage against someone you haven't faced twice a day, every day during training camp.

(H/T @Chief_Wildcat)

Here's a Caption This while we wait for today's reports on the Kansas City Chiefs OTA session.

What are Matt Cassel and Peyton Hillis talking about here?

Continue reading this post »

HBO found its team for Hard Knocks -- and it's not the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Miami Dolphins announced this morning that they will be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks during training camp this year. Here's a running list of all the teams that said no to Hard Knocks.

The Dolphins appearance on Hard Knocks makes sense. Miami's reputation took a hit this offseason when both Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn declined overtures to play in South Florida. Doing Hard Knocks will give their own fans, as well as outsiders, a glimpse of their operation. It makes sense from that perspective.

I would've loved for the Chiefs to do Hard Knocks again but we knew that was unlikely. That definitely doesn't seem like the Chiefs style, even if they have been opening up more recently.

Hard Knocks is so great because it takes something that was never really publicized before and gives you an inside look of how an NFL team operates.. It's also an impressive turnaround time because HBO films during training camp while also releasing shows during training camp. It's not real time, but it's a lot closer than what we're used to.

The Dolphins on Hard Knocks...are you gonna watch it this year? It could be decent but there's not a ton of star power on that team.

Does Arrowhead Stadium and the Kansas City Chiefs fans still have that reputation that we used to? That we're among the best fans in the NFL and we pack Arrowhead Stadium every home game during the fall?

Apparently, we do.

I was reading this piece from Stampede Blue about how the Colts are having some trouble selling tickets in the post-Peyton Manning era. Brad Wells writes this:

Continue reading this post »