Chiefs take on Saints tonight in final tuneup
Preseason finale will help decide last 22 roster cuts
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
There are two kinds of players on the Chiefs roster today.
1. The veteran with no compelling reason to play in tonight's preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints. Fans won't be seeing much of this guy.
2. The guy who wonders if this is his last chance in the NFL -- the undrafted free agents, the late-round picks, the underperforming vets.
The Chiefs' final preseason game at home tonight at 7:30 p.m. is for the second group. While the fourth game is normally a stinker for fans trying to make last-minute fantasy football decisions, NFL coaches making real-life decisions are watching closely.
"You now have a team where guys are trying to make the team, some guys are concentrating on the week of opening day and are trying to get healed," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "Other guys know it's a big game. All through the league now there are a lot of players with anxiety."
Kansas City released 14 players on Monday and has to slash another 22 from its roster by Saturday.
"There are going to be some good football players that you are going to have to let go," Edwards said. "Players have a lot of anxiety right now and, understandably so when it's tough and you're down to the final game of the preseason."
Some players are cut, Edwards said, because they aren't talented enough. For others, the decision has as much to do with finances as football.
"Sometimes you're faced with situations that economically you can't do," he said. "You hope that players you may have to keep you get the best out of them."
Edwards indicated he would keep five wide receivers, meaning Chris Hannon and Nate Curry -- Nos. 6 and 7 on the unofficial depth chart -- could be gone.
At defensive tackle, the top five on the depth chart are James Reed, Ron Edwards, Lional Dalton, Ryan Sims and Jimmy Wilkerson. Junior Siavii, the Chiefs top pick (No. 36 overall) in the 2004 draft, is listed as the ninth (last) defensive tackle. He has been injured for almost all of training camp and the preseason. Siavii made 14 tackles in 14 games last season.
As much as the last preseason game is an opportunity for teams to evaluate their own players, video from other teams' preseason games can be just as valuable. Edwards said he tries to get as many players as possible into games and on video to give them exposure to other teams.
Edwards sometimes creates extra room to add another team's castaway.
"I've actually cut down to 52 players and sometimes 51, and I have two open spots," Edwards said. "And when I see someone on another team's practice squad that I like I may add him. That's how you build your roster from the back end after the draft is over."
And for those in group two, a cut could be an opportunity.
"You're not only trying to make this team but there are 31 other teams out there," Edwards said. "He might not be on this team but he might be on someone else's team."
