You can smell it in the air: football season is fast approaching. Great for football fans; heart-wrenching for some football players.
Here are some surprise moves the Chiefs may make in the coming week:
Cuts I thought that cutting Craphonso Thorpe so early among such a lackluster receiving corps was one of the more surprising moves for the Chiefs this offseason. Here are a few more surprise cuts that may or may not be forthcoming:
- Casey Printers: this guy seemed like a surefire bet; a guy the Chiefs would depend on to be the "QB of the future." Printers had a lackluster preseason and has fallen to #4 on the Chiefs' QB depth chart. The Chiefs will need to be absolutely convinced that Printers has very good long-term potential to justify holding a 4th QB on their roster.
- Junior Siavii: not that it's a surprise, but your draft value can only take you so far.
- Eric Hicks: Sure, Hicks was hampered by a shoulder injury much of the preseason. I think it would take a lot to cut a veteran like this, especially given his status in the locker room. However, Jimmy Wilkerson has come on very strong in the preseason and it's possible that Hicks might be sweating his job more than he ever has. However, more than likely, the Chiefs will bid adieu to Carlos Hall instead--it's hard to sack the quarterback when you can't even get on the field.
Keepers
There are a few underdogs that may have risen from the bottom of the pit and just might find themselves as one of the few, the proud, the select 53-man roster for the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Jarrad Page: Don't worry, it's no longer a surprise. He will be on the roster. Still, you have to applaud a 7th round pick who was good enough to earn a roster spot in his first season.
- Chris Hannon/Jeris McIntyre/Nate Curry: The Chiefs may lean towards keeping 5 WRs. Eddie Kennison, Samie Parker, and Dante Hall are locks. Jeff Webb, by all indications, is a lock for the #4 WR spot. The duel will be between Jeris McIntyre, Chris Hannon, and Nate Curry. It doesn't really matter who wins this battle: it's like asking yourself to choose which poison you'd prefer to drink. McIntyre, despite knowing the offense backwards and forwards was extremely ineffective. Hannon and Curry appear to have the edge. You might as well flip a coin to see which one of those two will win the roster spot.
- Rudy Niswanger: Johnathan Ingram is a swinging gate. Niswanger isn't much better, but he could move into Ingram's roster spot because of his versatility.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
