Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 7/16

Branden Albert, Chiefs Don't Agree On Long-Term Deal from KC Star

Albert will play the 2013 season under a one-year contract for $9.8 million, and then he will be an unrestricted free agent because he and the Chiefs failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract by Monday afternoon's deadline for franchise players to strike new deals.

Albert was not alone. Of the eight NFL players who were designated as franchise players by their teams, only one, Denver left tackle Ryan Clady, signed a new deal. Clady, a three-time Pro Bowler, agreed on Sunday evening to a contract for five years that is worth up to $53 million, with $33 million guaranteed.

Kansas City Chiefs Packing For Camp from The Mothership

"Well, actually for us, it started today," Chiefs equipment manager Allen Wright said.

"Today is the day we mentally turn the page for ourselves; we're in training camp mode. We'll move this first 18-wheeler up this morning, of field equipment. We'll take this stuff up there and get it set. Tuesday will be our equipment room truck, the next day the weight room, the next day, the training room. We're really in training camp mode."

KCChiefs.com Photo Gallery: Cheerleader Intro Video Shoot

Chiefs, Dolphins, Giants Among Teams With Reasons For Optimism from NFL.com

Go ahead and use a pen to circle the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams as teams that'll win more games this year than they did last year. You can do the same with the Detroit Lions,Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins ... but I suggest using a pencil when circling those.

If we're talking strictly in terms of win differential from 2012 to 2013, it's hard to argue against the Kansas City Chiefs. A relatively talented roster got Romeo'd last season (Crennel might be the worst head coach of the past decade) on the way to a woeful 14 losses. There's no chance that'll happen again this year, though, not with a new, high-profile head coach and quarterback.

Who Are This Year's Colts. Redskins? We Have Four Candidates from CBS Sports

What the Chiefs didn't have was a good quarterback or good hands. Their quarterbacks produced a dreadful 63.8 passer rating, and their 37 turnovers tied for last in the NFL. So the Chiefs went out and found Alex Smith, who ... surprise, surprise ... excels at minimizing mistakes, with just 10 turnovers in his last 25 starts and had a 19-5-1 record the past two years. Now it's time to start taking them seriously. I know, it's Alex Smith, and critics believe he was little more than a caretaker of a 49ers team driven by defense and Frank Gore ... except he wasn't. Look at the 2011 regular-season defeat of the New York Giants, when Gore didn't play in the second half. Smith won that game. Now look at the playoff defeat of New Orleans, when the 49ers were forced to scramble from behind. Smith won that one, too.

Are The Bucs Really The 24th Best Team In The NFL? from WTSP

ProFootballTalk.com ranks teams like the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins ahead of Tampa Bay. The Dolphins and Bucs finished with the same number of wins (7). The other three were worse in 2012.

Adding Revis, young, promising draft picks and having a motivated quarterback are not guarantees that you'll be a playoff team - but the CHIEFS? They won TWO games last season.

Pouncey Apologizes For 'Free Hernandez' Photo from TribLive

The Pounceys were celebrating their soon-to-be 24th birthday Saturday at Club Cameo in Miami hosted by Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers, a Delray Beach, Fla., native. A poster of the event promoted fellow NFL players Jamaal Charles, Brandon Albert, Rahim Moore, Pierre Garcon, Matt Elam and others expected to be in attendance.

Chiefs Ranked Higher Than Chargers In Power Rankings from Bolt Beat

Pretty typical around the league to see the Chargers rated in somewhere in the 20s on people's power rankings. I think the Bolts have a much better team than the rankings suggest, but I am as biased as all of you out there.

What is even more insulting to the pre-season ranking of number 22 is the pro football talk selection for number 21: The Kansas City Chiefs.

Starr, Favre, Rodgers: What A Great Picture It Would Make from Packers.com

Vic, you like Kansas City to improve. Is this because they now have "The Man"?

It's because I like their leadership. John Dorsey and Andy Reid will make a good team. Plus, I think the Chiefs' talent level is a lot better than people think. Watch these guys. Reid is a very good dink-and-dunk coach, and Alex Smith has a natural talent for that style of play. He was miscast in San Francisco.

HOF Memories: Chronicling The Birth Of The Super Bowl from The Canton Repository

Among the memories recorded in the Super Bowl Gallery are two early championship games in which Alliance's Len Dawson played quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs - Lamar Hunt's franchise before his death in 2006. "The most poignant scene had to be Bart Starr and Len Dawson entering the room together, sitting side by side, living, breathing, all these years later," wrote Repository sportswriter Steve Doerschuk about the gallery's opening ceremony during the 2009 Hall of Fame Festival.

Ex-NFL Player Charged With Leaving Toddler In Car At A Strip Club from Deadspin

Former University of Florida linebacker Monty Grow, who later played two NFL seasons as a defensive back for the Chiefs and Jaguars, faces a child abuse charge after allegedly leaving a 3-year-old girl in his car while he hung out at a strip club.