clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Chiefs want to be like Colts

By Brad Wells

One annoying bit of punditry that pops up every off-season is the discussion of the Colts "window." Is it closing? How much longer can it stay open? Have it already closed? Blah. Blah. Blah. I heard Mike Wilbon on PTI say Peyton Manning had only three more years left or his "window" was gone. Per usual, coming from idiot pundits who know jack about sports, the whole notion of a "window" is garbage.

Your "window" starts to close when you do not replace your old, core veteran nucleus with young, up-and-coming talent, or you've spent so much on winning "now" that cap hell is around the corner. Either way, your GM fked up.

However, when Bill Polian is the GM of a team, suggesting anything like a "window" is just a bunch of malarkey. The fact of the matter is like the Giants the Colts have one of the youngest teams in football. They have five key players over 30: Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Jeff Saturday, Anthony "Booger" McFarland, and Adam Vinatieri.

Five, out of a 53 man active roster which sports such under-30 notables as 2007 Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, Gary Brackett, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez, Tony Ugoh, Joseph Addai, Ed Johnson, and newest Pro Bowler Antoine Bethea. In fact, most of the defense, including the new and very much improved secondary, is very young. So, when I read about "windows closing," I sit back and laugh because the statement sounds more like wishful thinking on the part of the pundit and not based on facts.

Contrast this with a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, an organization that got very old, very fast. They've spent the better part of this decade trying to get themselves a title through free agency, bringing in talent like Ty Law, Priest Holmes, and Trent Green. Obviously, it hasn't worked, and now the Chiefs are turning to the Colts model:

The Colts are very unusual, in that a case can be made that they developed all 22 of their starters. Their opening groups on offense and defense for the playoffs had 19 players who joined Tony Dungy's team as draft choices or college free agents. Those that did not were C Jeff Saturday, LG Ryan Lilja and DT Raheem Brock. But Saturday and Brock never played even a pre-season game for another team, so they are counted among the developed starters. Lilja went through the entire 2004 pre-season with the Chiefs before he was waived and claimed by the Colts, where he played the last four years.

That's what Herm Edwards is talking about building. That's what Gunther Cunningham wants on defense.

They want a Chiefs team that is made of Chiefs.

As much as I enjoy reading Chris at Arrowhead Pride, we differ greatly on Chiefs President Carl Peterson. I personally think Peterson is one of the worst GMs in football, and his firing in KC is long overdue. The Chiefs have not won a playoff game in the modern salary cap era, and era that is defined by how well you draft. Peterson's draft record is abysmal in KC, and if he hopes to get younger and faster, he needs to learn real quick that the draft is where it starts and ends for all teams in the NFL.

Using the Colts as a model is a good start, but Carl Peterson is no Bill Polian. Until Peterson is replaced, the Chiefs aren't going anywhere. Also, when it comes to windows, how come no one is discussing the Patriots? Their coach is caught up in a scandal that could cost him his career, and much of their core veteran talent (Moss, Stallworth, Bruschi, Seau, Samuel) could be gone next year. What about their "window?"

More From Stampede Blue