Making the grade part 2

The Chiefs signed Mike Brown last tuesday, putting the finishing touch on an offseason in which they basically did 2 things: drafted defensive lineman and brought in old guys named Mike.  I actually like the Brown signing.  He’s still a pretty good player when healthy.  And although I also like Pollard and Page, I’m still not entirely sure they should both be starters.  That combination has been wont to give up the deep ball these past couple years.  I’m not saying Brown will necessarily help with that problem, but bringing in a former pro bowler to provide competition and light a fire is no bad thing.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Brown start some games for us this year, probably at free safety.  I think Pollard is going to take another step forward and really lock down that SS spot.

Even though it took until mid-June, the Brown signing is right in line with the rest of our free agent acquisitions: old, cheap, character guys who used to be good.  Pretty much the definition of low risk, low reward.  Guys like Zach Thomas and Mike Goff won’t embarrass themselves, but neither will they turn this team around.  It’s tempting to say they’ll bring us closer to respectability, but I remember saying that in 2006 when the Royals brought in Reggie Sanders, Doug Mientkewitz, Mark Grudzielanek and Scott Elarton.  This offseason looks a lot like the football equivalent of that one.  The players in this version are probably better, but the fact remains you can’t realistically expect a few washed up veterans on their last gasp to keep a team afloat, much less carry it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like that Scott Pioli is willing to bring in veterans to fill holes.  The mere fact that its a departure from Herm’s chosen style endears it to me.  However, we have to be realistic when assessing these moves.  You can’t look at what these guys did in the past.  All that matters is what they’re likely to do for us in the present and future.  In the here and now, can we really count on Zach Thomas, Mike Vrabel and Mike Brown to lift this defense out of the depths to which it has sunk?  Probably not.  Can we count on them to be adequate stopgaps until we can recover from the Lie Guys’ disastrous “rebuilding” effort?  That seems more reasonable.

So we got a few veteran stopgaps.  Fine.  The problem is, thats all we did.  Scott Pioli showed no inclination towards markedly improving this team via free agency.  He was given a limitless supply of money (at least we hope he was*) and a team in desperate need of legitimate starters almost everywhere.  Rarely is a GM put in a situation like this one.  All the pieces were in place for a massive roster overhaul.  It seemed only natural Pioli would acquire as much talent and fill as many holes as he possibly could.  There was literally nothing stopping him.  Chiefs fans were set to enjoy an offseason more exciting than any in recent memory, an offseason that would atone for the misery of EPK construction’s recent “draft only” offseason.  For whatever reason, it never happened.

*It’s possible, and maybe even probable, that Clark Hunt is at least partially behind the Chiefs tight purse strings in recent years.  This frugality is no longer an aberration, its a trend.  At what point do we blame ownership for our consistent offseason failings?  Maybe not quite yet, but if we suck again this year and still aren’t willing to get after it next offseason, I’m gonna start pointing the finger at Clunt.

Here we are 6 months later, and all we have to show for hiring “the best personnel man in the game” are a bunch of senior citizens and 2 more rookie d-linemen who don’t sack the quarterback*.  Seems kind of anti-climactic to me.  Apparently this is just how Scott Pioli likes it.  See, he’s not a fan of the big-ticket free agent pickup.  Cool!  I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about done hearing people smugly lecture me about the supposed stupidity of going after upper echelon free agents.  It’s just so fucking stale, and it no longer even addresses reality.  Overspending on big names is bad, I get it.  We all get it.  No one was suggesting a Daniel Snyder style spending spree.  However, we have BY FAR the most cap space in the league (again) and a serious dearth of talent.  Not to mention we’re on the verge of an uncapped year.  Would a flurry of spending, even aggressive, risky spending, really have hurt us?  No, of course not.  It could only have helped.  When you’re this far under the cap and have a team this bad, the rules have got to change a little.

*I don’t know about you guys, but I’m really looking forward to hearing about all the double-teams our various fat losers are taking on this season.  Quick question: who eats up 1,000 blocks faster, Tank or Dorsey?

And this, more than anything, is what troubles me about Scott Pioli’s lack of action in free agency.  He signed a few veterans, brought in some special teamers, and made safe, low risk draft picks.  Basically, he acted like he was still in New England.  That’s a problem for me.  Kansas City isnt New England.  We may hope to be eventually, but for right now we’re a team with no stars, no chemistry, and no idea how to win.  We’re coming off the worst 2 seasons in franchise history and are in danger of becoming a total laughingstock, if indeed we aren’t already.  The way to address this situation isn’t to just do exactly what you did when you were with a championship team.  The strategy has to be specific to our current situation.  So far, it hasn’t been.  Instead of trying to make us into the Patriots, Scott Pioli has been acting like we’re already the Patriots.  It’s almost as if he thinks his mere presence is enough to make us a powerhouse.  That’s a dangerous attitude, one that I think is likely to lead to at least two more seasons of futility.

It may sound like I’m being too hard on Pioli, but what has the guy actually done to inspire confidence since he got here?  If we’d hired him to be head of security at 1 Arrowhead Drive I’d say he was doing a fabulous job, but this is the guy that’s supposed to turn our franchise around.  At first I thought he was up to the task.  Now I’m not so sure.  Pioli clearly isn’t the bold genius he was made out to be.  That’s not to say he can’t be a good GM*, but I seriously doubt he’ll be blazing any trails or discovering any new truths about the ever-evolving NFL.  I guess maybe thats what really bothers me about this whole thing.  What I want, more than anything, is for the Chiefs to finally be ahead of the curve.  For that to happen, we need a GM who sees through bullshit, takes innovative action, and ignores all the outdated cliches and meaningless platitudes that have completely permeated the NFL.  Unfortunately, Scott Pioli is probably not that man.

*I still think there’s a decent chance Pioli will turn this thing around, but its going to take a long time, if it happens at all.  He appears willing to take things slow and play it safe (rebuild!), and every year a new team proves that just isn’t necessary.  Things can change fast in the NFL if you’re willing to step it up and seize the day.  So far, with the possible exception of the Cassel trade, Scott Pioli hasn’t been.

Hey, maybe I’m wrong (I’m not).  Maybe Pioli is an innovator (he’s not).  But at the very least we have to admit his first offseason was far from a slam-dunk.  This team is still chock-full of holes.  Our record will likely improve slightly from last year, but this will be due more to Herm’s departure than anything else.  Scott Pioli was handed a golden opportunity to improve the Chiefs greatly, and in my opinion he didn’t come close to taking full advantage of it.  I know we haven’t actually seen the product on the field, but based on what we know so far I’m giving Pioli’s first offseason with the Chiefs a D.  Hopefully this team shuts my fat, bitter mouth.  Hopefully, but I doubt it.

Hatt.  Back.

PS Sorry for the inactivity of late.  That will change, I promise.  I’ve got 2 new posts in the hopper.  One addresses the Cassel situation, which you might have noticed I didn’t really touch in this post.  The other, well, lets just say it involves an old friend.

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