Chiefs GM Scott Pioli A Popular Pick For NFL Executive Of The Year

It's nearing the end of the season which means...awards!

You all have been reading Arrowhead Pride, and you're Kansas City Chiefs fans, so talking about GM Scott Pioli as an executive of the year isn't exactly a surprise. But with 10 wins comes good things.

"But Pioli gets this award for not only trading to get Matt Cassel last season but also giving him a long-term deal," writes Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, who tabbed Pioli as executive of the year. "That was rolling the dice then. But Cassel has paid off in a big way."

"More than anything," writes Clark Judge of CBS Sports, "his strongest move was solving the most important position. He had a conviction with Matt Cassel when others did not and he was smart to acquire him and smarter to lock him down to a long-term contract."

Well, this makes our previous criticisms of Cassel a bit silly. The discussions we've had about him in September and October are completely different from the ones we've had the last two months.

The Cassel move is the one everyone is loving right now but these guys also mention all the additions -- Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster, Javier Arenas, Tony Moeaki, Kendrick Lewis, Ryan Lilja, Casey Wiegmann, Shaun Smith and of course many members of the 2008 draft class.

The theme this year has been "fit". Everything seems to fit together really well with the Chiefs and things are working out almost as if they were planned (which, well, they were). That's a credit to Pioli.

If there were odds on executive of the year, I imagine Pioli would be among the favorites.