Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and fellow Chiefs scouts are winding down this part of the draft process and will begin to meet next week as we all wait for the college Bowl games to come along.
Pioli told Roger Twibell of 610 Sports this morning that the scouts will come back into town this weekend and 7AM-7PM meetings, six days a week, will begin.
Pioli and Co. will be talking about the prospects, comparing notes and setting up initial rankings. If there are any major discrepancies on a certain player, questions will be formulated so that they can get those answered as the Bowl games (December/January) and NFL Combine approaches (February).
He said he was able to make it to about 15 schools this college season and a few games as well. He also noted the talent in the Big 12 and the Big 10, which is nice for him because he's now in the midwest. Previously with New England, a trip to the midwest or west coast was more difficult with the distance involved.
(Note: You can tell Pioli is old school. He said the "Big 8" when referring to the Big 12 before correcting himself.)
"This is an exciting time for us," Pioli said.
Indeed it is. Along with the draft, free agency is approaching in a few months. This year is a little different, though, with the uncertainty of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Whether a deal is struck in the next few months will determine whether many players are available.
Pioli said "a lot of people are sitting and wondering" in regards to the CBA and free agency.
"We'll try to be active in free agency," he said. "If there is an opportunity to improve the football team, we'll do it."
I was wondering about the Chiefs schedule in the offseason thinking things might slow down a little bit. There aren't daily practices, injury reports and game plans but it appears the Chiefs GM, head coach and their scouts will stay plenty busy.