What Could Have Been For the Kansas City Chiefs

Remember 2005? Doesn't seem all that long ago - but lots of things have changed since then. We elected a new President. Personally, I've had children (thus reinforcing every parent's dream that their kids will receive offspring exactly like them - exacting some measure of revenge for tormenting my poor parents.) The economy crapped all over itself - and the war continues (the more things change...) In a much "smaller picture" view, remember the 2005 Chiefs season? 10-6 record, but no playoffs (thanks to a 13-3 Denver team). Dick Vermeil retired (one season too late). Shawne Merriman commited manslaughter on Priest Holmes, effectively ending his career - which paved the way for Larry Johnson to take over as starting tailback for the Chiefs. After that season, the Green Bay Packers offered the Chiefs a 1st-round and a 2nd-round pick for LJ in the 2006 draft. Read that sentence again. Right now, I think the Chiefs would take Al Davis' corpse for LJ. (Wait...what? Really? Still alive, huh? Man - is my face red.) The Chiefs (specifically Carl Peterson) declined the offer - and pretty much sent the Chiefs franchise into a death spiral that has no end in sight. If the Chiefs were the Titanic, then this non-deal was the iceberg. With that 1st-round pick (#5 overall), the Packers took some guy named A.J. Hawk, the all-world middle linebacker coming out of college who immediately became the Packers' starting MLB, and team leader. You might remember this draft as the "Mario Williams or Reggie Bush?" draft. You may not remember the rest of the people that came after Hawk - because frankly, they're terrible. Michael Huff (jury's still out), Donte Whitner, Ernie Sims, Matt Leinhart (!), Kamerion Wimbley, Broderick Bunkley, Tye Hill, Jason Allen, Bobby Carpenter, Laurence Maroney, Davin Joseph, and some guy named John McCargo, who I think just delivered my Federal Express package here at work. Now, there were some hits in the first round - as is usually the case. Jay Cutler, Haloti Ngata, Chad Greenway, Antonio Cromartie and Manny Lawson have all played at or above expectations. The Chiefs drafted Tamba Hali, and immediately inserted him on the other side of the defensive line from someone...who we will get to momentarily. With the 2nd-round pick (#36 overall), the Packers traded the pick to the Patriots - who turned that pick into WR Chad Jackson...illustrating that Scott Pioli managed to mangle late picks back then, too. Later in the second round, there were a few guys that might have helped the Chiefs - Demeco Ryans, Marcus McNeil, Devin Hester, Greg Jennings, and some guy named Maurice Jones-Drew. The Chiefs took Tom Brady assassin Bernard Pollard, who joined the hit parade of "2nd-round picks no longer with the team after 5 years". I don't want to play the "here's what could've been" game with picks and everything - I'll leave that to Joe Posnanski and his Albert Pujols infatuation. But stay with me while I prove my point - I'll get there eventually. If we had traded LJ, we could've had AJ Hawk, Tamba Hali, MJD and Bernard Pollard. Not bad at all. Let's move onto 2007. LJ had been run into the ground in 2006, acting as the workhorse for a team that fell ass-backwards into the playoffs. He held out in 2007, and eventually became the highest-paid player in team history. 2007 was an unmitigated disaster - Trent Green got hurt, Willie Roaf retired, John Welbourn was on the team...the list goes on and on. But the single biggest news item of 2007 was that LJ got paid, because... 2008 - I still hold my head down in shame because of this year. If the Chiefs are dead, then 2008 was the murder weapon. Coming off a franchise-worst 4-12 record, things couldn't get much worse - then they did. LJ wanted out (the fifth or sixth time of 1,993,085 instances this has occurred), but the Chiefs had some hope. Jared Allen was the NFL leading sack artist in 2007, and was mired in a brawl with Peterson and company. Long story short - Allen wanted more money, but had two strikes against him in the NFL substance-abuse/DUI program (a lot of people forget this), so Peterson was reluctant to hand him a big contract. Actually, he couldn't hand him a big contract - because all of the team's money was tied up in Trent Green (eventually traded) and LJ. However, Allen was willing to take less money to stay in KC, which he loved (by all accounts). So, Allen was traded to the Vikings for a 1st-round pick, and two 3rd-round picks. Those picks eventually became Branden Albert, Brad Cottam and DeJuan Morgan. (I will allow Chiefs fans to unbend some paper clips and jab them into their eyes before they read this next paragraph. Are you sure you want to continue? Ok - you've been warned.) The Chiefs hit a home run with their first three picks in Glenn Dorsey, Albert and Brandon Flowers. Well, a home run with Flowers. Albert is like getting on base with a seeing-eye single, and Dorsey has been like taking a fastball to the twig-and-berries region - but he's been improving. However, with their 3rd-round picks, the Chiefs simply mutilated any chance they had at putting a competitve team on the field. Here's who we took: #73 - Brad Cottam - could've had Jermichael Finley or Mario Manningham #76 - Jammal Charles - could've had Steve Slaton #82 - DeJuan Morgan - (keep in mind, we just spent a 2nd-round pick on a safety two years prior) - could've had Tashard Choice...and honestly, I wouldn't be mad at them if they had taken Charles here. So here's the team we had: RE - Alphonso Boone DT - Ron Edwards, Glenn Dorsey LE - Tamba Hali OLB - Demorrio Williams, Rocky Boiman MLB - Derrick Johnson CB - Brandon Carr, Brandon Flowers S - Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page Here's what could've been - RE - Tamba Hali (his natural position) DT - Glenn Dorsey, Alphonso Boone LE - Jared Allen LOLB - Derrick Johnson MLB - A.J. Hawk ROLB - Demorrio Williams CB - Flowers and Carr S - Pollard and Page Sigh - that "could've been" defense looks very promising - much better than watching the Giants sleepwalk through four quarters, not even really trying to win. The offense could've featured MJD, Greg Jennings, Steve Slaton, Marcus Mcneill and Mario Manningham - coupled with Dwayne Bowe, and I would say that's a decent receiving corps (and I'll assume that the greatest TE of all-time is still on the team as well.) With that offense, those weapons and that running game - well, I'll make the lame, obligatory, lamer than "what's the number to 911?" joke of "God, I could've played quarterback with that team. However, in this case, it's probably true. When Brett Favre unretired in 2013 in his quest to play for all 32 teams, he could've stepped in on that team and guided us to a 14-2 record. Thank you, Carl Peterson - thank you for your 20-year "5-year plan". Thank you for bungling every single draft pick since 1991. Thank your for chasing away any marguee free agents that ever would've wanted to sign here. But mostly - thank you for absolutely murdering this team with the biggest non-trade in franchise history. You've truly accomplished something, sir - you've left a legacy of crapping on your fans that will carry over into the next decade - and not many fired GM's can say that. Congratulations. I hate you. Follow me on Twitter for more Chiefs news and updates.