Trade Branden Albert? Chiefs will listen if other teams call

So Peter King of Sports Illustrated said this todayt about Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert:

I think, speaking of free agency, the tackle market sure has some good leftovers: Super Bowl left tackle Bryant McKinnie, Sebastian Vollmer, Eric Winston, Andre Smith (likely to stay in Cincinnati), and, if some team wants to trade for him, Kansas City's Branden Albert. The Chiefs will listen to offers for him.

Hmm. A few reactions to this...

1. Are the Chiefs trying to get this information out there?

2. Or is this just a throw-away line from Peter King that we're going to inevitably read too much into?

3. I HOPE the Chiefs listen to trade offers for any player. It's good business to always listen.

3. The only way trading Albert makes sense is if the Chiefs plan to use the top pick on a left tackle, such as Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher. That would take the Chiefs offensive tackle situation from Branden Albert and Eric Winston in one season to a rookie and Donald Stephenson (or another right tackle) in the next season.

4. Should the Chiefs trade Albert? I say no. At least not this year. The tackle market is team friendly this year so I would continue trying to hammer out a deal with Albert. The offensive tackle market means that the Chiefs may not get the value out of Albert that they would normally get. There may not be as much available talent at offensive tackle in next year's free agency, which would only serve to drive Albert's value higher. Do the deal with Albert now ... if you can.

5. Interesting to see that King quotes Chiefs GM John Dorsey in one section of his article, and supplies this nugget in another part of the article.

More reading:

Sean Smith is a perfect fit for the Chiefs defense

Geoff Schwartz is a guard who can play tackle

Steve Maneri isn't coming back

NFL free agency grades

List of all the Chiefs free agents