Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2008 10:15 PM
Chiefs, Peterson left bad taste in Allen’s mouth
The other option — and the one that looks more and more likely now — is that the Chiefs will trade Allen. This too has its downside for the Chiefs. In a perfect world, nobody wants to trade a 26-year-old defensive end who led the NFL in sacks and is a star on a team decidedly lacking in stars.
But this is nothing close to a perfect world. And from this angle it appears the Chiefs don’t have much of a choice. Obviously, they cannot make a big bad deal — if they can’t get two high draft picks, they must hold on to Allen and make the best of things.
But if Minnesota or Tampa Bay is willing to trade two high draft picks for Allen, the Chiefs have to grab that. Let’s be blunt: The Chiefs are a bad football team. They went 4-12 last year. They need three new starting offensive linemen, a second receiver, a quarterback to compete with Brodie Croyle, at least one cornerback (and probably two), another running back, a kick returner, more help on the defensive line — I mean, just about the only the thing Chiefs don’t need is a punter. And if the offense doesn’t get better, they will wear out Dustin Colquitt, too.
With so many needs and with Herm Edwards’ philosophy of going with young players, draft choices are like gold. The Chiefs could really use another first-round pick (the Chiefs are in a weird place with their No. 5 overall pick — more on this Sunday). Truth is that inside One Arrowhead, there are some people salivating over those extra picks.
That said, the Chiefs obviously would rather not trade Allen. It is something they could regret for years. But they really made this choice a year ago, when Peterson called Allen a “young man at risk.” There may have been some truth in those words, but Jared Allen got mad and promised himself then that as soon as he could get away from the Chiefs, he would. When he was packing his clothes months ago, I asked Allen how long he thought he would be gone from Kansas City. He said, “Maybe forever.”
To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.
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