KC Chiefs Blog

The NFL released the entire regular season schedule for 2013 and the Kansas City Chiefs will open up on the road against the rebuilding Jacksonville Jaguars.

Andy Reid’s first home game will come in Week 2 when the Chiefs welcome the Dallas Cowboys to Arrowhead Stadium. That NFC East opponent will be just a warm up for the main event, a showdown with Reid’s old team, the Eagles, in Philadelphia on national television the third week of the season.

Just for good measure, the Chiefs will follow up the Eagles game by hosting Eli Manning and the New York Giants. They won’t finish their tour of the NFC East until Week 14 when they travel to take on the Washington Redskins.

The Chiefs don’t face a division rival until Week 6 when the Oakland Raiders come to town. It’s then another month before an AFC West matchup Week 11 in Denver against the Broncos. That kicks off a stretch of three-straight division games and five of seven to finish the season.

All in all, there’s a lot to like about the Chiefs schedule. It’s the fifth weakest strength of schedule with their opponents 2012 winning percentage sitting at .473. The downside to that is three of the teams with easier schedules are the Raiders (.469), Chargers (.457) and Broncos (.430, easiest in the league).

Before anyone wants to hand Peyton Manning a Super Bowl trophy, the last seven years the team with the easiest strength of schedule has only made the playoffs twice (2012 Patriots, 2006 Bears).

See The Chiefs 2013 Schedule

On the heels of his tryout during a three-day minicamp, LB Orie Lemon has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lemon entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the Dallas Cowboys in 2011, but didn’t make it onto the field until last year. That’s when he played in five games, picking five tackles, including four against the New York Giants in Week 8.

The Chiefs had Lemon and former Kansas State TE Jeron Mastrud in town for the minicamp, but so far have just added the linebacker, something that has been a trend in Kansas City lately.

Before inking a deal with Lemon, the Chiefs had recently signed linebackers Frank Zombo, Zac Diles and Akeem Jordan. Clearly head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton are doing what they can to address the depth behind starters Tamba Hali, Justin Houston and Derrick Johnson.

The only Kansas City Chiefs player refusing to show up for the first minicamp under head coach Andy Reid could finally be on his way to a new team. The Chiefs have had “extensive talks” with the Miami Dolphins, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

GM John Dorsey has been looking for a second-round pick in exchange for his franchise player and the Dolphins currently own two, picks 42 and 54. It’s Miami’s 11 total picks that put them in the spotlight as one of the teams capable of trading into the top spot to grab a left tackle.

Instead of putting together a huge package for the No. 1 pick, spinning the 54th selection for the proven Albert would be a much simpler deal for both sides to complete. It would also allow Kansas City to recoup the pick sent to the San Francisco 49ers in the Alex Smith trade.

While the report states no deal is imminent (“the process has just begun”), Albert is expected to take a physical with the Dolphins medical staff. You don’t get that far in discussions unless you’re close to a deal.

The two sides have more than a week to continue working on a deal, with the second round set to kick off next Friday at 5 pm.

The Kansas City Chiefs players were back on the field Tuesday as the team kicked off a three-day voluntary minicamp. While every team in the league is forced to use the word “voluntary”, all are expected to attend.

Naturally it’s news when a player doesn’t attend and that’s no different with the Chiefs and franchise left tackle Branden Albert. The veteran was the only player not in attendance, as rumors of potential trades swirl.

Head coach Andy Reid briefly touched on Albert’s absence.

“I understand the business,” Reid said, according to The Star. “But we don’t really concentrate on the guys that aren’t here. We concentrate on the guys that are.”

It’s a stock answer, but in it points to why Albert staying home isn’t a big deal. Sure, we’d all like to see the starting left tackle in the building learning Reid’s offense. However, as Reid points out, he’s concentrating on the players that are lining up.

That means the team will get a longer look at guys like Donald Stephenson in Albert’s spot and both Jeff Allen and Geoff Schwartz on the ride side. Meanwhile, getting Allen time at tackle (where he played at Illinois) gives Schwartz reps at guard when he would normally be standing on the sidelines.

As the Chiefs go through the draft next week and free agency immediately after, it’s huge for Reid and GM John Dorsey to have as much intel on their current roster as possible. Albert’s absence is giving them more tape on Schwartz, which could impact what they do when they are debating late round picks and free agents.

The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off a voluntary three-day minicamp Tuesday with nearly perfect attendance. They even had two non-roster free agents participate, according to Adam Teicher.

Tight end Jeron Mastrud and linebacker Orie Lemon took part in the minicamp, looking to earn a spot on the roster for training camp. Mastrud played his college ball locally at Kansas State, while Lemon starred at Oklahoma State.

Mastrud was an undrafted free agent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010, but was unable to make their final roster. After a day (yes, a day) on the New England Patriots roster, he moved onto the Miami Dolphins.

The former Wildcat ended up playing 36 games (six starts) the last three seasons. In that time he caught just one pass for eight yards. If anyone would know what he can bring to the table, it would be new Chiefs tight end Anthony Fasano, who played with Mastrud for each of his three years in the NFL.

Lemon entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the Dallas Cowboys in 2011, but didn’t make it onto the field until last year. That’s when he played in five games, picking five tackles, including four against the New York Giants in Week 8.

If either player catches Andy Reid’s eye, you should see them ink a deal shortly after this minicamp comes to a close on Thursday so they can join the Chiefs for OTAs next month.

The Kansas City Chiefs added a second free agent linebacker in a week, this time inking Akeem Jordan, the team confirmed Monday. They had signed free agent Zac Diles on Friday.

Jordan, the former undrafted free agent out of Division I-AA James Madison, had spent his entire six-year career with Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles. During his time with the Eagles, the linebacker started 34 of 82 games and racked up 184 tackles.

His best season in Philadelphia came in 2009 when he appeared in 12 games (10 starts) and had 71 tackles, six passes defensed, two interceptions and his only career sack. Jordan also played in five playoff games for Reid.

With Tamba Hali and Justin Houston locked in on the outside, Jordan will be competing for a spot behind them both on the depth chart, a spot filled last year by the released Andy Studebaker. Another veteran free agent, Frank Zombo, will be vying for the same role.

Having such a long relationship with Reid, Jordan should have a leg up on Zombo or anyone else fighting for one of those final spots at linebacker.

As the Kansas City Chiefs continue to try and figure out who they will be taking with the first overall pick in this month’s NFL Draft, they will also be weighing offers from teams interested in acquiring the pick.

With new GM John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid working without a second round pick following the Alex Smith trade, they will no doubt be looking for ways to restock the draft shelves. And the Miami Dolphins — owners of 11 picks — could be the team to help with that task.

In addition to having an abundance of selections, the Dolphins are also still looking to fill the spot left at left tackle by Jack Long’s departure. Miami GM Jeff Ireland knows he has what it takes to get a deal done.

“I’ve got enough ammunition to get to the first pick if I wanted to, but I don’t see myself doing that, personally,” he told the Palm Beach Post.

But Ireland made an interesting note when talking to the paper about drafting linemen early.

“If I get another (Mike) Pouncey and another Jake Long, I would do it every draft. I wish I had a whole team full of Mike Pounceys and Jake Longs, to be honest with you. I know what I’m getting every single day with those guys.”

Owning the 12th pick in the fist round, the Dolphins aren’t going to get a “can’t miss” guy on the line unless somehow Central Michigan tackle Eric Fisher falls. He could, however, get the best lineman available in Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel by moving into the top spot.

Obviously talking about trading up in the draft isn’t usually the way to go about trading up, but as we’ve seen over the years, Ireland isn’t exactly the most conventional general manager.

I think it still makes the most sense to stay put at the top of the draft and take Joeckel, but would be happy to move back into the 8-15 range and recoup the picks lost in the trade with the San Francisco 49ers.

The Kansas City Chiefs added depth to one of their weakest positions Friday when they signed former Kansas State LB Zac Diles.

After entering the league as a seventh round pick of the Houston Texans in 2007, where he spent four seasons. Diles also spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans.

His best season was in 2010 with the Texans when he appeared in 15 games (10 starts), racking up 82 tackles.

Despite only starting one game over the last two seasons, Diles is coming to a Chiefs defense that currently has no depth to speak of at inside linebacker. Depending on what they are able to add in the draft, the veteran could be in a great position to land a spot playing next to Derrik Johnson.

Obviously the NFL Draft will give us a better picture of what the Chiefs defense will look like during training camp, but with no depth to speak of at inside linebacker, Diles could have a real chance to land a spot on the Chiefs defense.

Once the dust settles from the Super Bowl, suddenly there is a new found optimism all around the NFL. After all, every team is in first place!

Though it isn’t difficult for players or fans to quickly slip into a pessimistic frame of mind when you are coming off a disappointing season, something we saw often last offseason with folks in Kansas City.

That doesn’t seem to be the case this time around despite the Chiefs winning just two games in 2012. And judging by the way the players are talking during their voluntary workouts, there won’t be any issues with the players moods.

LB Derrick Johnson made it clear there’s only one “R” word we should be using when talking about this year’s team.

“It’s definitely a reloading year; college is always for rebuilding,” Johnson told the Chiefs official site.

Besides “rebuild vs. reload”, Johnson sees another major difference between college and the NFL: the ease in which teams build chemistry.

“In the NFL, it’s different from college, where everybody is going to class together (and) everybody’s together. That’s what you have, but here in the NFL, people have their own lives. People are 30-years-old, people are 22-years old, people are married, people are unmarried, some have kids and some don’t, it’s one of those things that you have to work even harder to build that team camaraderie in the NFL.”

The defensive leader is saying all the right things in April and hopefully that rubs off to the rest of the team and carries over to training camp and beyond.

The Chiefs official site has plenty more from Johnson, including his thoughts on new quarterback Alex Smith and training camp.

The Kansas City Chiefs are hosting free agent safety Sherrod Martin for a two-day visit, according to Aaron Wilson.

Martin arrived in town Thursday and will spend Friday with the team as well. He is looking to land with a a new team after spending his first four seasons in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers.

The veteran is no stranger to Arrowhead Stadium, having ended his 2012 season there when he tore both his ACL and MCL.

Martin first entered the league as a second-round pick out of Troy in 2009 and had been incredibly durable. He appeared in 59 of 60 games before his knee injury, racking up 199 tackles and seven interceptions. The safety picked off three passes in two different seasons and posted a career-best 85 tackles in 2010.

There’s no telling how far along Martin’s rehab is, so even if he signs with the Chiefs he might not be a factor in Bob Sutton’s defense until the season starts. Not to mention the Kansas City secondary is all of a sudden pretty crowded and we haven’t seen how many draft picks/undrafted free agents will jump into the competition.