by on May 17th, 2012 at 9:15am
The Kansas City Chiefs have three open roster spots and that number could be smaller today or tomorrow if free agent S Yeremiah Bell picks the Chiefs.
Bell’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told WQAM the finalists for the former Miami Dolphin are the Chiefs, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans. A deal is expected to happen soon.
“I expect to get a deal done for Yeremiah in the next 24 hours,” Rosenhaus said in an interview with the station.”
If he does pick Kansas City, Bell clearly believes he will be able to jump ahead of incumbent Kendrick Lewis in the starting lineup.
“He’s certainly looking to continue as a starter … Each of those scenarios is very promising for him,” the agent said.
The 34-year old Bell visited with the Chiefs on Wednesday after being cut by the Dolphins after the season. He has led Miami in tackles four consecutive seasons, including 104 in 2011. During his eight years in the NFL, Bell has failed to appear in 16 games just twice (2004, 2007).
by on May 16th, 2012 at 11:23am
The Kansas City Chiefs moved closer to the roster limit of 90 Wednesday when they came to terms with four free agents. DB Dominique Ellis, TE Martin Rucker and LB Leon Williams all took part in the Chiefs rookie mini-camp over the weekend. The fourth player, OL Rich Ranglin, was previously in the AFL on the KC Command.
Ellis earned his tryout with the Chiefs after spending one year at NC State and two at South Carolina State. After impressing during the mini-camp, he will look to try and find a spot on the depth chart at safety, a position in full rebuild mode behind Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis.
Rucker and Williams both played for Crennel while he was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. The Chiefs brought Williams in for a workout last season, but he left town without a deal.
Williams was drafted by the Browns in 2008 and have appeared in 57 games, the latest with the Dallas Cowboys in 2010.
During his time with the Command last season, Ranglin was named the AFL’s Offensive Lineman of the Year. He also likely caught the eye of Scott Pioli during college playing for the GM’s alma mater, Central Connecticut State University.
Last year the Chiefs took a chance on another CCSU Blue Devil in undrafted free agent WR Josue Paul.
With the addition of Ellis, Ranglin, Rucker and Williams, the Chiefs roster sits at 87, giving Pioli room to make more moves between now and training camp.
by on May 15th, 2012 at 7:04pm
Just days after he departed Kansas City without a contract, free agent TE Martin Rucker says he has come to terms on a deal with the Chiefs. Rucker had participated in the Chiefs rookie mini-camp Friday and Saturday on a tryout basis before leaving town without taking part in Sunday’s final workout (only one tryout player made it onto the field Sunday).
The former All-American tight end at Missouri was originally a fourth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2008. He played under Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel while in Cleveland before moving on to Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars.
During the mini-camp, Crennel talked about Rucker’s inability to stick in the league.
“He made a good effort with us while he was in Cleveland, but he wasn’t able to make an impact. As this tight end position – in colleges and in the NFL – transitions, sometimes guys get caught in between. I think that he was one of those tight ends who was a big tight end that was flexed out quite a bit, so I think sometimes the team you get with playing that position makes a difference.”
Rucker will look to stick on the roster as depth behind Tony Moeaki and Kevin Boss.
by on May 14th, 2012 at 8:00am
The Chiefs offseason program continues this week in Kansas City with seven roster spots still open. Could GM Scott Pioli add former Indianapolis Colts TE Dalls Clark to the roster with one of those openings?
SI’s Peter King thinks the Chiefs are the best option if Clark decides to play in 2012.
If I had to make an educated guess right now, I think the leader in the clubhouse is Kansas City. Imagine if Clark, who visited the Chiefs May 1, could give Tony Moeaki a breather for 300 snaps this year, with Kevin Boss in the rotation as well. Moeaki’s been injury-prone in his college and pro careers, so the Chiefs will try to find the right number of snaps for him. But a three-tight end rotation of Moeaki, Boss and Clark would be solid, if the Chiefs wouldn’t be hurt too much on special teams without major contributions from the tight ends.
When he’s on the field, Moeaki is a nasty weapon for Matt Cassel, but the concerns about his health when the Chiefs drafted him have proven to be legit. Boss was a nice addition and he’ll help, though he was never the sort of receiver Clark was with the Colts.
During his best season in 2009, Boss caught 42 passes for 567 yards. Last year in 11 games playing for a bad Indianapolis offense, Clark was able to haul in 34 passes for 352 yards and is just two seasons removed from 100 catches.
I think the three TEs would work well together, with all of them able to play just enough snaps to stay effective. The Chiefs should have enough quality special teams players to make up for carrying three tight ends that won’t help out on coverage units.
by on May 13th, 2012 at 9:25pm
During the Kansas City Chiefs rookie minicamp that kicked off on Friday, there were 10 tryout players that joined five first year veterans, eight draft picks and 15 college free agents to make up the 38-man roster.
However, after the first two days of the minicamp, the team sent home those invited on a tryout basis. All except for one: Hampton QB David LeGree.
Head coach Romeo Crennel said sending the tryout players home was part of the plan all along.
“What we told them, and we told their agents when we brought them here, that it was just a tryout and we’d probably send everybody home and then we’re going to talk about it and decide or determine if we want to bring anybody else back.”
As for LeGree, he was able to get the extra day to show off what he can do thanks to him being the only quarterback in the minicamp. Could that time on Sunday at the Chiefs facilities get him a contract?
The Kansas City roster already includes three signal callers, but has seven spots available and will likely want to bring a fourth into training camp.
Crennel knows LeGree had a tall task ahead of him and was impressed with how he handled it, despite struggling from fatigue down the stretch.
“I thought to his credit, being the only quarterback in camp and having to learn all the offense and expecting him to learn where everybody was supposed to line up and what they’re supposed to do, I thought he did a good job with it.”
by on May 11th, 2012 at 11:46am
The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their rookie minicamp on Friday and started off by signing half of their draft picks to four-year contracts.
WR Devon Wylie (4th round), RB Cyrus Gray (6th), DT Jerome Long (7th) and WR Junior Hemingway (7th) all put pen to paper before putting on a helmet for the first time.
No matter if they sign their deals or not, the Chiefs four other draft picks will all take part in the minicamp. Players can participate even without a deal, though all should get done sooner rather than later thanks to the rookie wage scale in the new CBA.
Last season Kansas City third round pick Justin Houston was one of the final rookies in the league to agree on terms. In addition to the rookie wage scale, an entire summer of negotiations, if needed, make that scenario unlikely for any team.
by on May 10th, 2012 at 6:27am
The NFL Network kicked off their countdown of the Top 100 current players as voted on by their peers on Wednesday. The countdown started with players ranked 100-71 and featured the first Kansas City Chiefs player to be featured with LB Derrick Johnson coming in at No. 78.
The Chiefs had five players in the Top 100 last year, but Johnson wasn’t one of them. An All-Pro season in which he broke the franchise record for tackles was enough to help him debut so high up the list.
Jamaal Charles (33), Dwayne Bowe (45), Tamba Hali (64), Brian Waters (67) and Eric Berry (93) were the Chiefs that made the cut last year.
Johnson was a clear snub in 2011 but wasn’t much of a surprise given the lack of overall respect shown to Hali after he led the AFC in sacks. This time around it’s good to see Johnson get some well deserved recognition!
We will get to see players 70-61 next Wednesday on NFL Network and it will be interesting to see where the rest of the Chiefs best players show up. Specifically, how did a year away from the game change the standing of Berry and Charles?
by on May 9th, 2012 at 6:00am
The 2011 Kansas City Chiefs season had plenty of low moments, but none were worse than the torn ACL suffered by running back Jamaal Charles in the second game of the year. The blow to Charles was the cherry on top of a season-ending knee injury sundae started by tight end Tony Moeaki and safety Eric Berry.
The Chiefs offense came to a screeching halt without the league’s most efficient back on the field and Kansas City was unable to defend their AFC West title. The silver lining of the Charles injury and subsequent struggles for the Chiefs is the young star has never sounded more determined.
Speaking with The Star’s Adam Teicher, Charles had a combination promise for the Chiefs fans and warning for the rest of the league.
“If you’re worrying about me not being the same, just look out for me this year,” Charles said. “I’m hungry. I want it this year. I’ve got the passion for it. I just can’t wait to play football.”
The confidence he brings to the table isn’t just for the health of his knee, but the Chiefs as a whole.
“I feel like this is a year for us that we can go all the way.”
Despite getting so much talent back from injury, the Chiefs and every other team in the division will be overshadowed by Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. That should help Charles and the Chiefs play up the “us against the world” feeling leading up to the season.
by on May 8th, 2012 at 8:49pm
The Kansas City Chiefs got back into the swing of “Transaction Tuesday” by signing free agent defensive end Ropati Pitoitua. The 6’8″ Pitoitua was released by the New York Jets last week after the team drafted DE Quinton Coples with their first round pick.
Pitoitua went undrafted out of Washington State in 2008 and made New York’s practice squad as a rookie free agent. He made the jump to the active roster in 2009, but missed all of 2010 with a torn achilles tendon, an injury that was covered in the Jets appearance on HBO’s “Hard Knocks”.
After returning to the field last season, Pitoitua played in 14 games and recorded 19 tackles with one sack.
Along with backup offensive tackle David Mims, Pitoitua is the tallest Chiefs player.
It’s hard to gauge the chance of any fringe player this early in the offseason, but it’s hard to ignore a guy with this sort of unique size and speed.
by on May 8th, 2012 at 6:21am
It had been quite a while since we talked about former Kansas City Chief Ryan Sims around here. Then the team selected Dontari Poe with the 11th overall pick in last month’s draft and comparisons to Sims and other Chiefs busts on the defensive line were top of mind once again.
After being traded by Kansas City to Tampa Bay following five disappointing seasons, Sims spent four years with the Bucs. He was in camp with the Seattle Seahawks last season, but failed to make the final 53-man roster.
All the talk about Sims got me thinking: what is the former sixth overall pick doing these days?
It turns out, Sims is getting into the bar business. According to GoUpstate, Sims is the new owner of Rome nightclub in downtown Spartanburg, SC and is changing the name to VI Bar and Lounge.
Yes, the name represents where he was selected by the Chiefs back in 2002.
You can check out the site for VI and if you’re in South Carolina on Memorial Day you can be there for the opening.
