Just some thoughts and Bold Predictions

Since the Stanford Routt signing a lot of ideas have been banging around in my head and I just wanted to put em out there and see what you guys think about it.

Would Bowe be a team player and push harder for a long term deal for the benefit of the franchise?

This is what I mean by this. Bowe has made it very public that he wants to stay in Kansas City and every interview he has done lately he speaks as though he is still part of the team. If I'm Kansas City I go to Bowe and I tell him something to this effect:

"Dwayne, we want you back and we both know that we are going to put the Franchise Tag on you before free agency starts if we can't come to terms. The tag is followed more than likely with a long term deal. So what I'm proposing here is that we get you signed long term so we can put the tag on Carr and pick up some picks via trade, which will help you and the offense improve."

It could work right? I think both sides know where each other are, skip the games and compromise on a contract that you will probably end up with even after all the stunts. Which brings me to my next thought

Brandon Carr is a goner one way or another

I think the most logical situation where Carr stays is where Routt is a utility secondary player. Moving from S, to corner as Crennel sees fit. Kind of like the Shaun Smith of the secondary, keeping everybody fresh while getting a big amount of snaps. A pseudo-starter if you will.

Still, it's a freaking long shot, you don't pay that kind of money for depth. That said, we are getting compensated for Carr no matter what. Hopefully it's a tag and trade situation where we have locked up Bowe long term. If not we will get a compensatory pick.

This is where people are getting ridiculous. I don't think that Carr will net us a third round pick. He is far from the best FA available, he honestly probably won't get the biggest FA CB contract. Grimes and Finnegan will command some serious coin on the market. I expect a fifth maybe a fourth in compensatory picks. Which is why a tag and trade will net us MUCH more. However,

Stanford Routt will probably make us forget Brandon Carr

Romeo Crennel has a knack for getting a lot out of his defensive players. Routt has unreal speed and receiver-like hands, getting a lot out of an athlete like Routt is going to create a major boom for our defense. I'm not going out and saying that he is going to rival Brandon Flowers but I definitely think that Routt will be good enough where we don't miss Carr.

It's hard not to feel like we are on the cusps of an exciting free agency period

The Chiefs are the big fish in the pond again, I know we have been for a while but this year there is a difference. The defense is near elite status and the offense is going to be getting back a lot of what made them special in 2010. It's probably more true this year than in years past, but the Chiefs are almost a team that can contend with the big boys week in and week out.

Pile that on to the fact that Pioli may be GM'ing for his life here and I think we may have a perfect storm on our hands here. I'm not expecting us to go all Redskins and sign every big name free agent on the market, I am however expecting Pioli to be a little less hesitant to make a splash in free agency.

Kyle Orton is the Chiefs best fit at QB, but Cassel is probably going to be our Starter and that's okay

Orton has one skill that he is elite in. The play action fake. In an offense that features players who can play the run just as well as the pass (Charles, Bowe, McClain, Moeaki) Orton's play action ability is a very useful, very dangerous weapon.

Still, the way that Crennel and Pioli have been talking, it seems like Cassel is going to be our starter next year. You know what though? I'm okay with that. Daboll has gotten a lot out of mediocre QB's and that's just what Cassel is. However, Cassel is consistently mediocre, whereas Orton is more like Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde. with how hot and cold he is. On Orton's best days he is among the Phillip Rivers and Matt Ryan's of the world, on his bad days you start saying Tebow is the better option.

I think that Daboll will be able to get a lot out of Cassel especially considering we will be running more hurry up, which Cassel has shown a knack for in the past.

The QB competition for Cassel will be Jason Campbell

Campbell looked like a solid consistent starter with Oakland last year before he went down with injury. He showed that with a solid running game he can push an offense as far as the coach needs him to. Also we would complete the circle of having every mediocre QB in the AFC West run through KC. Well, I guess we still need to give Billy Volek a go for that to happen.