A Three R’s Dream-scape: Reasonable Roster, Record Repercussions, and Wrath-o-god!

The Ides of March are upon us. I am having a Tussle with Day Light Savings today. This difficulty affects me twice annually. Tomorrow is indeed the Ides of March – Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera, vinyl spinning in the background: Wagner’s great comedy playing in my mind, the myth of Characters floating before my eyes and the voices majestic, rising and fall in the background, spun from the vinyl on the turntable. It is interrupted with another vision of the characters and voices at the Met spinning while the knives flash in my mind. I see the knife of Brutus. Stirb oh großer Cäsar(Die great Caesar)! What Odd thoughts I just had with both visions, a comedy and tragedy in the same moment. Gaius Julius Began the conquest of Gaul on July 13th 100 BC and fell to the knives in the Senate in 44 BC on the Ides of March. Strange history, ideas, music, and my struggle long ago to master the notes with my Clarinet for Die Meistersinger.

Sheesh. What a flight of thoughts. On to Football in the dream-scape – Onward with the three R’s of Fun!

A Reasonable Roster

It won’t be perfect but it will play its operatic version in the NFL in 2022 and as I write this, Wagner is playing in the background. I am going to get the crystal ball out and foresee what this means. Note: Items 1 & 2 could be reversed. It is true that I do not wish to see either player depart in Free Agency. There is a good possibility though, that Brett Veach could seek to garner the services of CB Jeff Gladney. See comments in the presentment about Jeff Gladney as well.

1. The Chiefs will retain Tyrann Mathieu who gets an offer making him one of the top five paid Safeties, a decision that makes sense to him because he also has a good chance to earn another ring. In an article here at A1 I wrote about the importance of Mathieu. Review that, here: https://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-how-important-is-tyrann-mathieu/ -This was buttressed on Saturday at ArrowheadPride – see the article, here: https://arrowheadaddict.com/2022/03/12/why-mistake-let-tyrann-mathieu-free-agency-chiefs/ Or, vice versa with items one and two below. Mathieu will be 30. Ward is only 25.
2. By making this move, Charvarius Ward is sacrificed to Free Agency but the Chiefs counter that by signing back Mike Hughes and attracting Jeff Gladney to help bulk up the Cornerback room.
3. Act One: Defensive Ends – Somehow, someway, Brett Veach lures Melvin Ingram and signs him to a 2-year deal. Mel knows it’s twilight time and how he fits with the chiefs. That brings Brett Veach to Act 2 for the defensive ends.
4. Act Two: Defensive Ends – Adding a second Defensive end takes place soon after, resolving the end pieces. It could be Chandler Jones or Emmanuel Ogbah, or Zadarius Smith. Or Heavens! What if Von Miller decides to make the leap to the Chief’s winning ways? At any rate, the veteran additions will augment the youth movement. See Act 3.
5. Act Three: Defensive Ends – The DE Youth Movement. This be comprised of Josh Kaindoh, Malik Herring, AND the insertion of a rookie to the room. We just won’t know who that player is until the end of April. Sure, Mike Danna, Joe Jackson, and Austin Edwards. Heavens, Alex Okaofr could return and be an inexpensive but experienced rotation player. But the Draft Pick will be the significant newcomer in the Youth Movement.
6. The need opposite Chris Jones could be part of the Veach solution via Free Agency as well. It’s a difficult task sorting through the capable DTs for a fit to the team–an Interior Lineman who is adept at both the pass rush and runstopping tasks from the interior. The draft might also be in the over-all plan as seen from 10,000 feet. How about Veteran Fletcher Cox? Veach is aware players that I mention are nearing career endings except Chandler Jones observed in Act 2 above.
7. The last move will likely be signing JuJu Smith-Schuster. This time Patrick Mahomes doesn’t have to entice him — JuJu wants to be on the receiving end of Patrick’s aerial attack and he wants a ring, too.
8. Brett Veach cuts Frank Clark with a post-June 1 date and the Chiefs staff does the usual magicians work behind the scenes creating cap space by contracts tendered, restructured and refined. This includes a long-term contract for Orlando Brown, while restructuring the contracts of Patrick Mahomes, Ty Hill, and Travis Kelce — all gaining cap space.
9. Meanwhile, Chiefs free agents are re-tendered(ex. Andrew Wylie). Some players return, and others disappear into the NFL Nethersphere. Others will move in to play significant roles, some move up the roster as well as the rookies soon to enter the Kingdom.

Another reason the two positions keepers might be changed is that Ward is only 25. Mathieu will be 30 this season. Whichever way it goes, I prefer to keep youth. Here is where the mind-rip comes in. Because I love Tyrann Mathieu too. According to PFF, Ward Came to Dallas as a UDFA and traded to the Chiefs before his second year began and was an immediate starter. You recall to the INT in the AFC Championship game that would have iced the win in 2018, save for Dee Ford lining up offside, negating the INT, forcing the Overtime. Patrick Mahomes never touched the ball as the 49ers won the game on their score in the OT session. In 2021, when in man-up coverage, Ward allowed a 38.3 completion percentage — the best mark in the NFL. He was also named the Chief’s Most Improved Player for 2021 as well. PFF gave him an overall grade of 71.2. He improved by a measure of 6.9% over 2020. Then, there is also this from NextGenerationStats:

Jeff Gladney is no longer a Viking — he is a free agent. He was in legal issues but found not Guilty on Felony Assault–read the story here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/former-vikings-cb-jeff-gladney-found-not-guilty-on-felony-assault-charge/ar-AAUTRqL

Gladney was a first-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings. He logged 16 games in 2020 but none in 2021 due to the felony charges. He fits the Veach profile of getting previous Round-one picks and bringing them to the Kingdom. Gladney was rated with a 6.40 prospect grade by the NFL in 2020 and drafted 31st in round 1. No matter what happens, Ward or Mathieu or neither, this is a good possibility in my view because of the Chiefs taking on players who have had legal troubles and handling them. No matter which way it goes for the Ward/Mathieu situation, getting Hughes back aboard is important and they have already re-tendered Deandre Baker. I see this and draft picks for the secondary nearly as important as the Defensive Line need.

A Free Agent DT? Players like Quinton Jefferson are available but who knows?

Record Repercussions

The upcoming season is going to see the race in the west play out far more significantly than the past six seasons. The Chiefs division opponents have all focused on upping their ante to overcome what has been a Kansas City Chiefs Juggernaut. Brett Veach has worked the free agent pool as if he were the master conductor. Then he will master selections in the draft to add to the pool of play-makers. It won’t necessarily be enough to fend off what the Chargers, Raiders, and Broncos have done for their football clubs.

Brett Veach will begin the new season on March 14th, knowing what the other AFC West teams have already done. Over the next 3 weeks, the Chiefs will do some “creative bookkeeping” and maneuver through the NFL’s quagmire of masterful manipulation of NFL team finance using real money, structures, and funny money. Somehow the above Free Agent acquisitions will occur with the approximate $55-60M that is created out of thin air.

What Brett Veach & Co. accomplish will reverberate across the draft into the season after the draft picks about whom we all speculate. Some may not be surprises to us. We will certainly be surprised when it’s all said and done. It will then all become clear to us how the Chiefs envisioned the actions to be taken as if they had their Magical crystal orb as they make all things fall into place.

The bottom line repercussion Veach envisions is that he counters all the other moves by AFC West teams and gives the Chiefs at least one more threat in the aerial game at the same time. Analysts, pundits, writers, and fans will all indicate the effort is futile and project the Chiefs will not win the AFC West in 2022. My prediction finds that Denver made the most strident changes and that they will finish 2nd in the AFC West.

Wrath-o-god(NFL)

While all this goes on in my Chiefs fantasy world, “reality” is merely something that exists at that moment. The reality I envision is out there at the “Outer Limits”. What the NFL has created is the circumstance each season is parity. What the teams attempt to do is upset that apple cart.

Besides the evening of teams via the cap — making it difficult to put together a roster talented enough to win it all, there exists the factor of the “Wrathful NFL Scheduling god”. This year, no favors are going to come to be in the AFL via the opponents selected for the Chiefs. and especially the AFL West. I won’t merely list the teams but refer to an article that addresses the toughness of what the Chiefs will face, here: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2022/1/11/22877728/chiefs-2022-nfl-schedule-strength-of-home-and-away-opponents

When it’s all said and done, the whole 2022 season presents a daunting task to the Kansas City Football club. Perhaps my dreamscape will collapse in the flow of time. Or perhaps a version of it will come to be. You can make the call on the question areas, the players who potentially fit, and what Veach will do, once he has the funds to work with. After all, this is a dream-scape, outer limits type deal. For Now.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne