Josh Looney of KCChiefs.com is reporting the Kansas City Chiefs have traded defensive tackle Tank Tyler to the Carolina Panthers for an undisclosed draft pick.
Update 8:40 PM - Kent Babb says it's for a 5th round pick in 2010.
Tyler was a third round draft pick in the 2007 draft. This means that only Kolby Smith and Dwayne Bowe remain from that draft class.
We have no clue what the draft pick is. I'm hearing people throw around a 5th or 6th rounder, which is just speculation at this point but it that makes some sense. Remember, though, the Panthers are desperate for defensive tackles.
The Panthers recently signed veteran defensive tackle Hollis Thomas because they've been reeling at defensive tackle. Starter Maake Kemoeatu was lost for the season on the first day of the training camp only to be following by the loss of his replacement, Louis Leonard, seven weeks later.
And now the Chiefs are desperate for defensive tackles. Funny...just yesterday we talked to Ron Edwards in the locker room about how difficult it is to play zero technique in the NFL. It was brought up that the rotation helps.
Dion Gales took nose tackle reps throughout training camp although he's currently on the practice squad.
On October 10th, we heard that the Chiefs had recently worked out three defensive tackles including William Joseph, Tim Anderson and Marlon Favorite. An LSU grad, Favorite, was coincindentally with the Panthers until the last round of final cuts. As we told you a few weeks ago, his signing could mean the Chiefs can line up an all-LSU defensive line.
Of course this now means that the Chiefs have one active roster spot available and one practice squad spot.
We've compiled a list of Tank-related stories for you after the jump.
(Thanks to acefan101 for the heads up)
Mock Draft Tracker Update #3
The Chiefs need help at DT and WR, the choice comes down Tank Tyler, Dwayne Bowe, and Sidney Rice. I think it is about time the Chiefs finally invest in a wide receiver and I like Rice better than Bowe, primarily because of Rice's speed.
Kansas City Chiefs Sign Tank Tyler and Herb Taylor
The agent for each player said his client agreed to terms of a three-year contract. Still without agreements were first-round wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, second-round defensive lineman Turk McBride and fifth-round kicker Justin Medlock. The Chiefs also continued to work on a contract extension for running back Larry Johnson. The sides were still far from an agreement, making Johnson unlikely to be with the Chiefs on Thursday when they leave for training camp in River Falls, Wis., or Friday, when they will practice for the first time.
The Chiefs Defensive Linemen Appear in Reality TV Show
This may be the ideal Sunday morning post. Here are two clips of Tank Tyler and Turk McBride, who we should just get used to calling Tank & Turk as if it was one person. This is something about a reality TV demo.
Chiefs NT Tank Tyler: 'Why wait? We have to aim high'
"I'm kinda the anchor in the middle. I'm right in front of the center so i'm holding him up. I got close to contact which is great for me. I can attack faster. I have to be on the guard all the time. I'm thinking I'm gonna play a little bit of everything, from down in the nose tackle out to three technique on third down."
Kansas City Chiefs NT Tank Tyler: 'We can't allow them to score'
"The thing that gets to me is when the offense got things going scoring a touchdown and pushes us ahead in the game, our defensive mentality, I feel that it has out of this world for the other team not to score because now the game is dependent on us. The offense put us in the position to be leading the game and we can't allow them to score. "We let them do that repeatedly yesterday on a few drives. That kind of disturbed me."
Chiefs Make Changes at Right Tackle, Nose Tackle
There's also a new starter at nose tackle: Ron Edwards Tank Tyler has been the No. 1 nose tackle since the beginning of the season and started the first two games. Edwards got the starting nod against the Eagles on Sunday.
Chiefs Work Out Three Defensive Tackles
We're not quite sure if this means Todd Haley is unhappy with the nose tackle position. It appears that he's at least willing to search for an upgrade, or maybe just depth to supplement the current tackles Tank Tyler and Ron Edwards. I've previously given my support to Tyler who appears to have the tools to win the job.