Wade, 29, played 12 games for Kansas City last year.

Wade has played for the Bears, Titans, Vikings and Chiefs during his eight-year NFL career.  Last season in Kansas City he grabbed 36 receptions for 367 yards and two touchdowns.

The Redskins currently have 10 receivers on the roster and have generally kept only five or six on the 53-man roster.  Santana Moss, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are likely locks, seventh-round pick Terrence Austin will get a chance to make the team as a return specialist and second-year player Marko Mitchell flashed last preseason and spent the entire year on the active roster.

Last season he was given more than his fair share of opportunities and couldn’t top his Week 2 debut of 72 yards

receiving.  Todd Haley also gave him a shot on special teams returning punts, but Wade averaged a very pedestrian 7.6 yards per return.

With Joey Galloway also now in the fold for the Redskins, Wade has a long road ahead as he tries to break camp in Washington.

Here are three players (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) from each team to keep your eyes on.

Chiefs

Offense: Chris Chambers

Will the No. 1 receiver please stand up.

With Dwayne Bowe out for the next month, the Chiefs need somebody — anybody — to be a playmaker if the offense has any hope of putting points on the board.  It’s a tall task, but one that Chambers just might be up to meeting.  In his two games with the team since being picked up on waivers from the Chargers, the veteran receiver has averaged nearly 23 yards per reception.  If Matt Cassel hopes to stretch the field, Chambers will have to be the one making the plays down the field.

For what it’s worth, Bowe — the man he is trying to replace — averaged 14.1 yards per reception.

Defense: Andy Studebaker

It looks like Mike Vrabel is going to be out at least the next few games with a knee injury and Studebaker will be taking his spot in the starting lineup.

Last week he took over for the veteran and recorded 6 tackles.  With Corey Mays, Demorrio Williams and Tamba Hali playing well at the other three linebacker spots, a lot of responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the young Studebaker.

Special Teams: Bobby Wade

With Dantrell Savage likely out of the lineup with an injury (no, not fumblitis) and Dwayne Bowe’s suspension, Wade will be back on the field and ready to make an impact.  If there is one area that the Chiefs have shown no improvement at all, it’s punt return.

Wade handled the duties every game he has been active, but due to a numbers game was inactive the last two weeks.  If Kansas City plans to upset Pittsburgh Sunday, they will need to get a big play from one of the return units.  With the Steelers focusing primarily on the kick return this week, that could open the door for Wade on punts.  If he can take one to the house, it would be the first time for the Chiefs in 55 games.

Steelers

Offense: Ben Roethlisberger

Coming off a game in which he only completed a JaMarcus Russell-like 50% of his passes in a loss to the Bengals, the Steelers signal caller will be looking to redeem himself.  He will get to try and do that against a Chiefs defense that will be looking to load the box up to stop the running game, giving him a chance to try and pick apart the secondary playing without a net.

He has only had three 300 yard games so far this season with all three of those coming in Steeler victories.

Defense: Tyrone Carter

How big of a difference will the Pittsburgh defense be without the services of Troy Polamalu?  The answer to that question lies with one man: Carter.

Last week the defense held against Cincinnati after they lost Polamalu, but it’s a whole different situation to know leading up to the game that you will be without your leader than being forced to step up at a moments notice.  The Pittsburgh unit is certainly more than one man, but if Carter has a subpar game, it will go a long way toward giving Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles and the rest of the Chiefs offense a chance to bust open a big play or two.

Special Teams: Jeff Reed

The Steelers biggest weakness this year has been their coverage on kicks.  Fans and media members alike have laid a lot of that blame at Reed.  And it’s not because of where his kicks have landed, but rather his pursuit and tackling of the returner.  Seriously.

Kickers aren’t paid to tackle, but I do think the idea of his lack of tackling ability might just be getting into his head.  Keep an eye on Reed as he heads down the field.  Not because I think he’ll light someone up, but if he does decide to try he just could knock himself out of the game.  If the Chiefs can play another close game, an amped up opposing kicker working on his tackling can only help matters.

Once again game balls go to the best of the worst.

Offense: Bobby Wade

Dwayne Bowe made the best catch of the game and was in the running, but like most balls thrown his way he let it hit him in the hands and dropped it.  That leaves Wade as this week’s recipient of the offensive game ball.  And that is an appropriate line because the offense was pretty offensive.

Wade finished the day with four catches for 66 yards, including a 24 yard scamper on the Chiefs only touchdown drive.  When an offense only puts up 82 yards passing, 66 is a great number to have next to your name.

Defense: Corey Mays

The fourth-year linebacker lead the Chiefs defense with 7 tackles with two of them coming on a huge goal line stand following a Matt Cassel interception inside put the Chargers on the Kansas City 2 yard line.  Mays did, however, also contribute to the San Diego’s first touchdown drive with an unnecessary roughness penalty.

I know there haven’t been a ton of positives to take away from this season, but finding out that Mays is a real player has to be near the top of the list.

Special Teams: Jamaal Charles

He may have only had an average day returning kicks, but compare that to the team effort as a whole and he looks like a superstar.  Late in the game Charles took a kick 45 yards and every game he seems one block away from finally taking one to the house.

Charles also had two special teams tackles on Darren Sproles.  The first was on the kickoff immediately following the Chiefs only touchdown of the day.  For the first time all day it seemed like Kansas City could have a chance to get back in the game and the kickoff unit had to make sure the Chargers didn’t take the momentum back right away with a long return by Sproles.  Instead of a long return it was a long catch and run by Sproles that took care of that, but the special teams unit did it’s job.  Later in the quarter Charles took out Sproles again on a Dustin Colquitt punt.

Don’t worry, Charles made plenty of his own mistakes.  In the fourth quarter he missed a block on Jacob Hester on a Colquitt punt.  Hester blocked the punt and recovered the ball for the touchdown that put an exclamation point on the 30 point blow out.

Here are three players (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) from each team to keep your eyes on.

Chiefs

Offense: Matt Cassel

He’s only shown flashes in his three games this season, but the Cowboys should provide him with ample opportunities to make plays down the field.  Yes, the Dallas pass rush can be deadly, but so far this year they have given up over 250 yards a game in the air, good (bad?) enough for 28th in the league.

The Cowboys will also be playing without starting strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh.  When he went out against the Broncos, Kyle Orton immediately went to work down the middle of the field.  With Sensabuagh out, Cassel should be able to make use of his favorite target, tight end Sean Ryan.

Defense: Tyson Jackson

Even though Jackson hasn’t been as visible as every one associated with the Chiefs would have liked, he could be very close to getting there.  Todd Haley has talked over the last few weeks about Jackson knowing what he needs to do and just needing to improve his technique to take the next step.

The problem this week is the young Jackson has to take on a very solid veteran in Marc Colombo.  The silver lining here is that the 34-year old has a bit of a nasty streak.  He’s been known to mix it up with his own players in practice and allegedly scuffled a bit with Brandon Jacobs after the Cowboys lost to the Giants.  The one thing I’ve heard a lot about but yet to see is that same kind of nasty streak from Jackson.  If there was ever a player to bring that attitude out of Jackson it could be Colombo.

Special Teams: Bobby Wade

The Chiefs desperately need to get a big play on special teams and the only person we (probably) know will be returning kicks of any kind is Wade.  Since signing in Kansas City he has been solid.  And on this team solid means he’s held onto the ball.  Now it’s time for Wade — and obviously to a larger extent his return unit — to get something going on punt returns.

Cowboys

Offense: Tashard Choice

With no Felix Jones and a less than 100% Marion Barber in the Dallas backfield, Choice will be the man getting the majority of the handoffs from Tony Romo on Sunday.  So far this season he has only averaged 4.2 ypc, but in limited duty last year he was good for over 5 ypc, including a 38 yard jaunt late in the season against the Giants that showcased his big play ability.

Choice is due to have a break out game and what better team to do it against than a Chiefs defense surrendering over 128 yards a game on the ground.

Defense: DeMarcus Ware

Talk about another Cowboy that is due for a huge game.  Ware recorded 20 and 14 sacks the past two seasons but has yet to get to the quarterback once in 2009.  In four weeks the Chiefs have given up 13 sacks and that has to have the Dallas defense — led by Ware — licking their chops.

Even with his early season struggles, Todd Haley will have to dedicate two blockers to Ware most of the game and that will open things up for the rest of the Dallas defense.

Special Teams: Orlando Scandrick

With Felix Jones likely out and Miles Austin starting at wide receiver for Roy Williams, the kick return duties could fall to Scandrick.  The second year player out of Boise State has four career kick returns — all last season — and did not take any longer than 25 yards.

Austin only fumbled once over the past three years while returning kicks and now all of a sudden ball security has to become an issue for the Cowboys if an unknown like Scandrick is handling returns.

Here are three players (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) from each team to keep your eyes on.

Chiefs

Offense: Matt Cassel

Will he or won’t he?  That is the $63 million dollar question.

If Cassel does make his regular season debut for the Chiefs, all eyes will be on his knee and if it prevents him from moving around in the pocket.  The way the Kansas City offensive line has performed in the preseason and last week, Cassel will have to bring his dancing shoes if the Chiefs want to throw the ball.

Defense: Jarrad Page

If there is a Raider killer on the Chiefs defense, it’s Page.  He has 4 of his 10 career interceptions in 6 games against Oakland.  With the Chiefs looking to stuff the running game and Zach Miller in the passing game, Page will have to play a huge role in both of those tasks.

Page has been up and down on the Kansas City depth chart early on this year and is currently up, starting at safety along with veteran Mike Brown.  There’s no better time than this week for the fourth year player to prove to Todd Haley that he is here to stay.

Special Teams: Bobby Wade

Have the Chiefs finally found their punt returner?

Haley seemed pretty confident in Wade’s ability to return punts in his press conference after the newest Chief practiced with the team for the first time.  Will three days of practice be enough for Wade to get a look?  He certainly couldn’t do any worse than Maurice Leggett.  And he has plenty of experience after returning kicks for the Bears, Titans and Vikings.

The key to getting time returning kicks is his ability to catch on — pun intended — with the receiving corps.  Something tells me that won’t be a problem since no receiver other than Dwayne Bowe has played with any sort of real consistency in the over the past three weeks.

Raiders

Offense: JaMarcus Russell

With the Kansas City Chiefs — hopefully — concentrating all of their efforts on stopping the Oakland rushing attack led by Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, Russell will get to work with one-on-one coverage on his receivers for most of the game.

Can he make the Chiefs pay?

Russell has been inconsistent at best throughout his short career and would take a huge step forward if he proves that he can deliver when a team dares him to try.  The problem he faces — other than accuracy — is a complete lack of a playmaker at wide receiver.

Defense: Richard Seymour

Last week Seymour was a Raider for all of 48 hours and was able to record 6 tackles and 2 sacks against the San Diego Chargers.  What do you think he’s capable of with an entire week of practice under his belt?

If you are keeping your eye on Seymour, get used to looking all over the field.  He started last week on the right side at defensive end, then moved inside to play tackle on a passing down.  This week you will see him play both ends as well as continuing to move inside on passing downs.

As I said on this week’s Red & Gold Report, Oakland would be best served to line him up outside of Chiefs right tackle Ike Ndukwe and let Seymour go to town on the latest addition to the Kansas City offensive line.

Special Teams: Hiram Eugene

Who?

Well, really you could put any player willing to return kicks here: Louis Rankin, Javon Walker or Johnnie Lee Higgins.  The only two players to return kicks for the Raiders, Nick Miller and Higgins, are both injured with Miller already ruled out and Higgins a game time decision.

Without Higgins that would mean Eugene, a safety, would get the call at punt returner.  The only issue is that he hasn’t returned a punt since his days at community college (2002).  If he has to handle Colquitt’s punts, the Chiefs could be in a perfect position to turn one of the Raiders’ strengths into a major weakness.

“I’ll put in as much time as possible to try to learn and get on the field as early as possible.  Other than that, it’s just about making plays once I get out there.  I’m just going to continue to work, and we’ll see where it falls on Sunday.”

Having Wade against the Raiders is also a priority for the Chiefs and coach Todd Haley.  Haley would like Wade to be available, if nothing else, as a punt returner, where the Chiefs have sorted through several candidates and found them all lacking.

But Haley may give a game-day roster spot to Wade only if he can do more than return punts, so the ability to master at least a portion of the offensive playbook is important.

“We’ve got to get him quickly into the mix,” Haley said.  “He’s got some punt-return ability.  He’s done it at a high level at times.  If we are going to use him as a punt returner, he needs to be able to play some other plays.  Five or six (punt returns) at the end of the day isn’t enough.  We’ve just got to get him up to speed fast.”

Wade has returned punts at times during his seven-year NFL career with Chicago, Tennessee and Minnesota.  He was one of the best in the league for the Bears in 2005.

“I’m looking for the opportunity,” Wade said.  “It’s something I kind of got away from last year.  I did it the year prior and all the other years before that.  The coach talked to me about it.  If that’s what they want me to do, I’m definitely ready.”

Backup quarterback Tyler Thigpen was a teammate of Wade’s in Minnesota’s training camp in 2007.

“He’s a great player,” Thigpen said. “ He understands the game real well.  We’re glad to have him here because he’ll give us another playmaker on offense.  He was kind of a slot guy.  Sometimes he played outside receiver.  He’s a guy that’s not afraid to go across the middle and make plays.”

It’ll be good to have a heady receiver out on the field.  Hopefully he can teach Mark Bradley how to pick up first downs when he’s near the sticks.

I know he’s a year removed from returning kicks, but he can’t do any worse than Maruice Leggett did last week against Baltimore.

If Kansas City plans on winning their first game of the season Sunday against Oakland, Bob Gretz has zeroed in on one area they must improve.

Third-down defense hurt the Chiefs in Baltimore, and not just on the TD pass from Flacco to Clayton that provided the winning points.  That was just one of 10 conversions in 17 attempts for the Ravens, or a 59 percent success rate.

All three of Flacco’s TD passes came on third down and two were on 3rd-and-8 plays.  In fact, the Chiefs defense forced Baltimore into 10 plays on third down that needed eight yards or more to move the sticks.  The Ravens converted six times; that’s a significantly high number for one of the toughest downs in football.

“We’ve got to get off the field on third down,” said Vrabel.  “You can give up eight or nine yards on the first two plays, and come back and make it up on third down.  We did the opposite, we did a good job on first and second down and gave it back on third down.  Third-down conversion rate can make up for a lot of mistakes you make.”

They also must be better against the run, first, second or third down.  In that winning touchdown drive, Baltimore got 24 yards on five carries.  Nothing outrageous there in those numbers, but they were just enough drips to help fuel a tsunami.

All of these factors are very important against the Raiders this Sunday.  Oakland hit 50 percent of its third down against San Diego on Monday night.  They can keep drives alive with the running game, as their trio of backs – Darren McFadden, Michael Bush and Justin Fargas – can all run inside and outside. Chiefs fans know this, as the Raiders ran for 300 yards last year.

The Chiefs want to get past what happened in the opener.  But they can’t forget the lessons of that game, and what they must do better if they hope to reverse the fortunes of this defense and the team.

I just want to see the defense pressure JaMarcus Russell.  The third down stats were ugly, but if they can push the Oakland offensive line around, the results will start to show across all downs.  Last week Joe Flacco had all day to throw and when there was pressure he easily side stepped the rush until he found a receiver.  Improve the overall pass rush and everything else will take care of itself.

Can you do your job as an NFL wide receiver if you don’t catch a single pass and actually drop the first two balls thrown your way?  Raiders first round pick Darrius Heyward-Bey seems to think so.

As far as Heyward-Bey is concerned, he wasn’t nervous one bit, and he didn’t play half bad.

“Did some good things, did some bad things.  Pretty good grade but could be better.  For the first game, it was solid.”

How so?  He’s glad you asked.

Heyward-Bey is the “X” receiver, so he’s got the “backside of things.”  His elite speed is supposed to pull a safety over in double coverage to make the field easier to see for quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Just by being out there, Heyward-Bey said, it makes a difference for others.  That’s what he said people outside the building aren’t seeing.

“I’m just sitting back doing my job.  That’s my job in this offense.  That’s what I do.”

Perhaps, but that doesn’t keep Raiders coach Tom Cable from wanting even more out of the No. 7 overall draft pick.  After all, teams don’t pay $23.5 million in guaranteed money for a decoy.

The Raiders need him to be a scoring threat who runs precise routes and catches every ball within reach.  In short, do what fourth-round rookie Louis Murphy did in his first NFL start.

I hate to give the Raiders credit, but Murphy was a steal in the fourth-round.  If you saw him play at Florida, it was evident when he got his chances that he could be a big time player.  Unfortunately for him he was overshadowed on that offense by Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow.  To be fair though, I’m sure Oakland only drafted him because of his 4.32 40 time.

Heyward-Bey, on the other hand, could take a few notes from Dwayne Bowe when it comes to getting out of your head coach’s dog house.  Listen, keep your head down and work until you do it the way it’s expected to be done.

Wade has agreed to terms on a contract with the Chiefs, Stanley said, although he did not elaborate.

The Tennessee Titans had also expressed an interest in Wade, who was released Thursday by the Vikings.

Even after taking a pay cut that reduced his base salary for the season to about $1.5 million, Wade was released and replaced by veteran Greg Lewis.  He likely wasn’t picked up by any other club because he would have been guaranteed his entire salary for the season with his new team if he were on the roster for the season opener.

Now teams can pay Wade on a game-by-game basis.

Solid pickup by Scott Pioli.  Wade has never been a big-time receiver in the league, but is familiar with Todd Haley from his time with the Chicago Bears.

Wade also has some experience as a kick returner.  Back in 2006 with the Titans he returned 50 kicks for 23.0 average.

If I were Bobby Engram, I would have my agent start making calls.