The Chiefs' Branden Albert trade could still happen

Sometimes we over-think things. The KC Chiefs situation with Branden Albert is one of those. Once you step back and think about it, it's simple really: Albert is a left tackle. The Chiefs just drafted a left tackle. Therefore, they're probably not going to commit to Albert.

The Chiefs didn't want to pay Eric Winston, who was getting $5+ million a year. You think they're exciting about paying nearly $10 million to a player who looks like he will be here at the most one more season? I doubt it.

The next logical step is for the Chiefs to trade Albert, as they've tried to do recently. The team has been so open about their talks with the Dolphins that it would seemingly be very awkward to bring Albert back next season. And Albert may not even attend the Chiefs offseason program (outside of the mandatory camp), which makes the process of returning to the Chiefs more difficult.

If you can get a pick for him, you do it. Yahoo! Sports' Jason Cole predicts that the Chiefs will ultimately move Albert -- for a 2014 pick.

The Chiefs are figuring that they eventually will get some interest from teams that didn't fill their left tackle needs in the draft (Detroit, San Diego and Arizona are still in that mix). Look for Albert to eventually move for a second-round pick in 2014.

If the trade rumors were correct, the Chiefs held firm on their idea that Albert was worth a high second round pick. I suspect they would do the same with a 2014 pick.

GM John Dorsey and the Chiefs are prepping this team for the long-term; this is not a quick fix. Because of that I do not see them paying $9.8 million to Albert this season. I think he ultimately gets traded to a team like Detroit who didn't get the tackle they needed in the draft.

More reading:

Chiefs post-draft depth chart

Grading the Chiefs 2013 draft picks

11 things we learned last weekend

Tracking the Chiefs UDFAs