Why the Free Agent Blues?

As a a Chief's fan, since before many of you reached your first trimester in development, I have learned to hope for the best and prepare for the worse, during the majority of the time I have been a fan of this team. However, there is a new spirit of hope that seemed to start on the day we hired Scott Pioli.  Just look back at the conversatioins that dominated this site, as recently as last preseason.   We appeared to be a team with alot of weaknesses, and anxiously awaited some of those yearly Pro Bowlers be be obtained in Free Agency.  Well, Mr Pioli, and his subordinates seemed to have had other plans.  They saw some talent on the team, that had yet to perform to their potentials, and they were players that many of us had limited faith in, or had even written offf,,i.e:  Dwayne Bowe, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, Brandon Carr, Matt Cassel, Brandon Albert, Glenn Dorsey and Javon Belcher, to name some of the more prominent players, many who were leftovers from the Carl Peterson/Herm Edwards regime.  Despite 2009 producing a 4-12 season, our Head Coach kept telling us that he was seeing definte progress, and that "guys were starting to gett it."  (Yeah Right!  Just more damn coach speek).

So, needless to say, that when we saw guys like Ryan Lilja, Thomas Jones and Shaun Smith as being the results of who Pioli and the gang signed, there was a sense of deja vu among many of us.  Was Scott Pioli really just Carl Peterson in disguise?  I mean Tyson Jackson was the first player he drafted, and he sure didn't seem to be worth a number one pick.  Even with what appeared to be a successful draft, in 2010, alot of us thought " yeah, I'm sure a bunch of rookies are gonna turn this team around."  We all wanted more immediate gratification than what some unproven rookies could provide.  After all, remember our last, and only, Superbowl win was during the Nixon Administration.  We definitely don't need anymore failed 5 year plans!

So move ahead, after a successful , and unexpected 10-6 season, and a division championship (I did predict a 10-6 season.  I just had to to feed a few of you some shitburgers for my own ego).  So far, we are seeing a free agency period similar to last year.  There have been some needed holes filled, with players that aren't going to make alot of headlines by Chris Mortenson,  "The Professor John Clayton" and the "experts", who are infactuated withe the Jets, Pats, Eagles, etc., and their building of potential "Dream Teams."  Once again, our small, Midwestern team is flying under the radar.  I wouldn't have it any other way. 

You know that draft last year, that many of us felt was pretty sucessful?   Well, alot of those players will likely be major contributors this season. In addition to, that core group of players I mentioned earlier. They should only improve by just another year of experience in the Chief''s system.  If we should have learned anything from the Snyders and the Jerry Joneses of the league, trying to buy a championship rarely works.  The development of young, talented "good football players" has predominately been the way to develop a consistenly competitive team. There will be the rare exceptions, but we are following the strategy that teams like the Pats (although they did surprise me a little this season, with their free agent signings, but again, they didn't  break the bank to obtain any of the players, and it seems to be a high reward, low risk plan), the Colts, the Packers and the Steelers.  How many Superbowls did these teams combine to win over the past decade?  Let's trust our leaders, until they give us a damn good reason not too!