Of the 14 players cut, 6 were from the offensive side of the ball:

TE Tom Crabtree, G Darryl Harris, WR Taurus Johnson, WR Ashley Lelie, RB Javarris Williams and WR Rodney Wright.

Also from the offense, G Colin Brown was placed on IR.

The remaining cuts, from the defense, were:

CB Jackie Bates, DE Dion Gales, DE Bobby Greenwood, DT Derek Lokey, S Bernard Pollard, S Ricky Price and LB Zach Thomas.

I am 99% sure that these are not actually their “final” cuts, thus the oxymoronic title.  Not only has Todd  Haley been clear that the current Chiefs are competing against every player in the league, but also Kansas City sits third on the waiver wire so they will get most players they put claims on.

Pollard is obviously the name that jumps out.  He should have plenty of teams lining up for his services.  I’m really bummed, he’s a solid player.

The other cuts on defense were expected.  Once the retirement rumors started with Thomas you knew his time was up here.  I thought Lokey might get some run in the middle, but it looks like the team will go with just Edwards and Tyler and rotate in the ends on passing downs.

On offense, I really thought Lelie did enough to make the team.  The Chiefs are still in dire need of a burner that can hold onto the ball (meaning Quinten Lawrence doesn’t count).

Colin Brown wouldn’t get through waivers, so the Chiefs stash him on IR for the season…  Smart move by Scott Pioli.

On the Chiefs WRs:

“It’s a good group of guys, talented.  And with coach coming in, his Super Bowl experience, we’ve got a chance to win, it’s something special.”

Are you too late to get into the mix?

“I don’t think it is.  Especially with the coaches bringing me in, they must not think so either.  They think I have a pretty good shot.”

How long until you know the playbook?

“A couple days.  Especially with the way camp is and the way everything is kind of drilled on you so hard, you can’t help but to absorb it.  Everybody kind of runs similar concepts, they might not call it the same, but once you see it on the field and through the pictures, and start putting the process together, you can just put a different label on it.  It shouldn’t be too hard picking up the plays.”

This has to be a fun offense to come in to under Coach Haley?

“Especially as a receiver, you want to catch balls.  With Coach Haley and you have (QB Matt) Cassel here, showing what he did last year, it’s nice.”

How did you stay in shape while you were waiting for a new team?

“Running whenever I can.  I’ll go play basketball.  Whatever I can do to keep that competitive edge, I’ll do.  It’s kind of hard when you’re by yourself, to motivate yourself to keep running while you’re waiting for that call.  You just have to stay hungry and be ready.”

Lelie has played in 107 games (59 starts) during his seven-year NFL career (2002-08).  He has caught 217 passes for 3,749 yards (17.3 avg.) with 15 TDs and rushed 20 times for 172 yards (8.6 avg.).  He has appeared in four postseason contests (three starts), tallying 10 receptions for 152 yards (15.2 avg.) with a TD.  Lelie entered the NFL as a first-round draft choice (19th overall) of Denver in 2002.  He has seen action with Denver (2002-05), Atlanta (2006), San Francisco (2007) and Oakland (2008).

The Bellflower, California native finished his collegiate career at Hawaii as the school’s all-time leader in receptions (194), receiving yards (3,341) and touchdown catches (32).  Lelie totaled 1,713 receiving yards and 19 TD catches as a junior, the highest single-season marks in Western Athletic Conference history to earn all-conference accolades.  He lettered in football, track and basketball at Radford High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

To make room for Lelie on the roster, the Chiefs waived WR Jeff Webb.  Webb played in 31 games (three starts) in three seasons with Kansas City.

There were stories circulating the end of last week that the Chiefs had Lelie in for a workout, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.  It also doesn’t exactly excite me.  He’s big, has had some success in the league and is still just 29 years old.  The problem is that he hasn’t had any of that success since 2004, when he caught 54 passes for just over 1,000 yards.  Since then he hasn’t been able to stick with a team and only managed 11 catches for 197 yards last season for the Raiders.

It’s clear with the signings of Amani Toomer and Lelie that Todd Haley and Scott Pioli are looking for more out of their wide receivers, but I’d be shocked if they found much with Lelie.