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Trent Green or Carl Peterson?
I'm know he's not always the most popular guy in KC but I have to side with Carl Peterson in this particular case.
Let's examine the reasons why Trent Green is angry. He's basically pissed off that he is not the Chiefs starter and that he is not sitting in Miami right now practicing with the Dolphins. All Trent Green wants out of this deal is to go to Miami. And since Carl Peterson is really the only roadblock in his way, he's taking out his anger on him.
What Trent Green doesn't understand is that Carl Peterson does not care about Trent Green playing for the Chiefs next season. Trent has publicly repeated that he will not play with the Chiefs and that he more than expects to be in Miami at the start of the 2007 campaign. Why give into Trent Green's position when he has made it clear where he'll end up?
When you really think about it, I'd venture to guess that most Chiefs fans that are siding with Trent Green are using an excuse along the lines of "But he's done so much for this team" or "Trent is a classy guy who deserves better". Are you kidding? When did our emotional concern for aging players who have said they do not even want to be here anymore outweigh our concern to improve this team as much as possible, i.e. a earlier draft pick?
Granted, the round of draft pick that we get is not much of a concern to me. The difference between a 4th, 5th or 6th round pick is basically luck in my opinion.
Regardless, Trent Green keeps eroding his position with his calls for "I deserve better". No Trent. You've gotten more than enough. The Chiefs kept you off of the journeyman backup path when they brought you here. They signed you to a $50 million dollar deal when you were 33 years old. They brought you back late last season when you shouldn't have even been on the field. They allowed you to seek out a trade when it was clear you were not the starter anymore.
If you want to talk about who owes who, I have to say that neither side can win that argument.
Which brings me to why I'm siding with Carl Peterson here. He is obligated to improve this team's position as much as possible and if that means holding out for a high draft pick, then so be it. We do not lose any ground by hanging on to Trent Green right now. He will not be back. The real villains in this whole fiasco are the Dolphins, who say they want Trent Green but aren't willing to pony up even close to enough to get him.
Stand firm Carl Peterson. Trent Green isn't the first or the last Chief to use the "I've done so much for this organization" card. Trent should be resting easy at night on the millions of dollars that he never would have had if it weren't for the Chiefs. But unfortunately he is not.