Dawn of a New Era

Posted: February 7, 2009

Well, the rollercoaster ride has finally come to a halt and it is official: former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley is the new head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, effectively ushering in a new era of Chiefs football.

We all know Haley's credentials. He grew up in a football family, with his father -- Dick Haley -- serving in the Pittsburgh Steelers front office during the Steelers glory years, which featured 4 Super Bowl championships. Haley would watch game film with his father and even served as a ball boy for the team.

Todd Haley began his NFL coaching career in 1995 with the New York Jets, where he began his relationship with new Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, who served as the team's director of player personnel from 1997 to 1999. Haley worked in the scouting department, served as assistant quality control coach, and was the wide receivers coach under offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Haley is widely credited for developing Jets receiver Keyshawn Johnson into one of the league's top wideouts.

Following his stint with the Jets, Haley moved to Chicago where he served as wide receivers coach for the Bears, developing Marty Booker into the Bears first Pro Bowl wideout in over 30 years. In 2004, Haley took over as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, catapulting the Dallas offense into one of the best in the league. Since Haley's departure, the Cowboys offense has shown a significant drop in production.
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Welcome Todd Haley

Posted: February 5, 2009

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer is announcing tonight the Chiefs have reached an agreement with former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley as the next head coach of the team. A press conference will likely be held tomorrow.

Haley had been rumored to be the front-runner for the Chiefs position for the last few weeks, following speculation that University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan might also get some consideration.

It seems the carousel is finally over, but there will be plenty to talk about in the coming weeks and months as the Chiefs have some very important decision to make, starting with forming a new coaching staff and the determing the status of disgruntled stars Tony Gonzalez and Larry Johnson. Stay tuned! Things are starting to heat up!
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Patriots Tag Cassell

Posted: February 5, 2009

The New England Patriots are announcing today that they have placed the franchise tag on quarterback Matt Cassell, effectively preventing Cassell from negotiating freely with other NFL teams seeking his services.

The tender is a one-year, nearly $15 million figure -- an average of the top five salaries of NFL quarterbacks. Combined with starting Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's salary, this will comprise about 25% of the team's salary cap for the 2009 season. Throw in the salaries of other Patriots Pro Bowlers like Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Richard Seymour and New England may be headed for some serious salary cap trouble.

After an announcement only a few days ago that Tom Brady will be ready for Kickoff 2009. there was speculation that the Patriots would tag Cassell in hopes of finding a trade partner. Applying the tag to Cassell may lose the Patriots some leverage though, as few (if any) teams would be willing to give up two first round picks for Cassell.

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