Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli went on 810 WHB's Border Patrol this morning after the team officially announced Romeo Crennel as the new head coach at a Monday press conference. Some of the topics were repeats of what we heard on Monday but the guys did ask Pioli about some free agents.
And when we mention Chiefs free agents this year, we're usually talking about the two big fish -- WR Dwayne Bowe and CB Brandon Carr.
"These are guys that are key components of the past and hopefully the future," Pioli said told Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty. "They're players we have a great deal of respect for. We're going to try to continue to talk to those guys and, again, it's a matter of what those players want to do with us as well."
So this confirms what we basically already knew: the Chiefs want Bowe and Carr back in KC next season. They're both scheduled to be free agents which means KC has to work out a contract with them or slap the franchise tag down to secure the rights to at least one of them. It sounds like contract discussions are ongoing but we don't really know the specifics of where we're at with them.
Pioli also noted the obvious about free agency: not only do the Chiefs have to want a free agent, the free agent has to want the Chiefs. It's a two-way street (and I'm hoping the Chiefs mentioning that yesterday and today isn't a situation where they're greasing the skids for Bowe and/or Carr's exit).