Now they are letting LJ float around in space. He is arguably the second best RB in the NFL and definitely the second best in the AFC.
Call me a sucker but I believe in loyalty. If a RB leads the team in attempts and yards and has as many receptions as my No.2 Wideout he deserves a raise. I think that is common sense and I think it shows appreciation.
Larry Johnson is the entire Chiefs offense. He was the reason they won 9 games last season.
This off-season (of course this has happened previous off-seasons) there have been many instances where veteran pro-bowl players have been cut, shortchanged, or left incommunicado with GM’s and team owners. The Bears, Chiefs, Jacksonville, Miami, Steelers, and even my beloved Jets have dealt with players indecently. In corporate if a worker performs they reward him or her with a bonus and a raise, but in the cut-throat NFL a player that performs has to hope that they are on the team the next season (forget about the bonus or raise). Larry Johnson is probably the biggest name player with the problem of not being amply provided for. The guy ran the ball over 400 times; what the heck do you want him to do run it 500 times? Give the guy a raise his current salary is half of Chester Taylor’s, and let us all be serious he is better than Taylor in every aspect of the RB position, by far.
Owners and GM’s need to show more loyalty to players that have performed for them. I understand that football is a business, but a million, two million, 5 millions dollars extra is not a big deal, at least to the owners of these football teams they have hundreds of millions of dollars if not a few billion. Stop being cheap.
I like Herm, and I like his defense-run mentality. But, I think you are right he has the perfect piece to his scheme in LJ.
Herm has not made any public statements, except for the fact that LJ needs to be a better receiver. What the heck the guy has to run the ball 410+ times a season and catch 100+ balls. In that case he deserves more than Peyton Manning. The Chiefs are stupid. He caught 40+ balls last season more than their second wideout. Why do they not just get a better WR?
Herm Edwards is the problem. He pretty much ruined the Jets, and he is doing the same with what was a very good Chiefs team. Herm is a nice guy, but his record speaks for itself, and it's not pretty.
Herm slowly and methodically ruined the jets without knowing it. The same will happen to the chiefs. They will have thier moments but then just become average. You get that from average coaches that were average players... average
I understand that Herm wants to build a new team. But he is a run-defense coach. Who ran the ball 410+ times last season. The one person you would expect Herm to chase after is Larry Johnson, just because he is not afraid to carry the ball 30 times a game.
This whole scenario makes little sense. In fact, it is an illogical decision on the part of the Chiefs.
Last edited by rwemersonrw on July 10th at 4:07 PM.
i agree with the comment give larry more money. he definatly deserves it. and i like herm, and its nice to see someone come to the chiefs and think defense. nothing against vermiel but that defense was bad. the chiefs need a reciever. i think it would turn their offense around. tony is good but its hard to throw to him when hes covered by two guys every play. kennison is fair. he would make a decent number 2 reciever and a great number 3 reciever. what are they gonna do with samie parker? anyone know? i like him cause hes fast but he needs big time work on his hands. is he gonna play next year or are they giving it to webb? and what do you guys think of bowe? and did anyone hear a rumor about LJ for steve smith?? i heard that while and ago and that made me laugh. steve smith is better than average but LJ is worth more than steve smith
Gonzalez is the man! I think they did not use him enough last season because he was a blocker on so many downs. Hopefully he will get more receptions this year, but there are a lot of questions concerning the O-line of the Chiefs because of age. Thus he might be a blocker on a lot of downs again, and that is a shame because he is the best TE in the game - in my opinion. We will just have to wait and see.
Regarding Parker, believe it or not, he might have to fight to remain the number 2 wideout because, like you said he struggles with drops. He only had 41 receptions last season, but a lot has to do with paucity of plays devoted to passing.
Bowe was rated the number 2 receiver on many draft boards this season. He was my second favorite receiver this draft, second to CJ of course, nonetheless he is very powerful and will easily dominate small cornerbacks. He set a school record for receiving TDs in one season, and LSU has a lot of history so that is a big deal.
Webb was said to have been performing really well during practices last season, and that he should more playing time, but he is still last on the WR depth chart.
i agree tony is the man. im glad he'll be a chief for life. as far as the best tight end in the league is without question the best. i get sick of hearing about gates. hes above average but not the best. he cant block great on one play and then catch a great pass on the next. he just plain cant block. well as far as parker goes. id like to see him stay. hes fast and maybe they could work him in somewhere. do you remember everyone said the chiefs o-line was going to suck this last season cause roaf left and well larry was just short of the leading the nfl in rushing. he have to have a lot of carry's to do it but the o-line was better than they were made out to be. this year i think they will be better than evryone thinks. i wish turley would stay healthy. i would have liked to see him a chief again
Vonnie 58
Turley is good, but he was supposed to be retiring this season. I guess he has some gas left in the tank.
I thought you might be interested in this article concerning the trend with running backs and guaranteed money. http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story /10262309
Vonnie 58 by the way the David Smith from Footballoutsiders.com posted an article (on the fox website) ranking o-lines and had the chiefs ranked 26. I was not sure if you heard or not. later.
I'm going to have to call you a sucker. Loyalty does not exist in any business. Employer/employee loyalty disappeared circa 1975.
I'm the first to say that LJ deserves a raise. He knows he's gonna be ridden hard and hung up wet. He can and should hold out.
But does that mean the Chiefs have to or even should pay him? No. The gate swings both ways.
I have yet to see a player so indispensible that they singlehandedly turned an NFL team. With a 16 game schedule (maybe 17 soon) management must take into account paying all 53 players, not just one.
I sincerely hope for LJ and the Chiefs, that they come to accord. But they might not, and that would be for business reasons. Then life will go on. The Chiefs will continue to sell out arrowhead, and LJ will get a raise from a team that feels it can afford his asking price.
I think it is more Chiefs management than Herm Edwards. The way they messed around on the Trent Green situation... and now the LJ status shows that arrogance and penny pinching is more important than winning games in the fornt office of the Chiefs. As much as I believe in honoring a contract...in this case the performance so vastly out performs the contract... that it is simply good business sense to make a new deal. LJ knows he is always one shot to the neck ( Priest Holmes) away from retirement and knows the time is NOW for his big pay day. I just hope that Chiefs front ofc is so arrogant that they end up trading LJ to Packers before end of camp.
DrSports
You do not "have" to call me a sucker. hahahahaha!
Anyway he did single-handedly turn around an NFL team, for he accounted for about 50 percent of their offense last season. If he was not a Chief last year they might have drafted in the top 5 this past draft. He owns the Chiefs. But, the Chiefs managers also know that Chiefs fans are so loyal that they will not stop going to games no matter what their record. Much respect to Chiefs fans, they are definitely among top 3 fans in football.
I am a life-long KC fan and a liitle bewildered by the ownership for the Chiefs. If I had the money I'd write the check for LJ right now! He's earned it, and will problebly continue to earn it for years to come. I hope and pray that we are all making mountains out of mole hills and that it just a matter of "P's & Q's" on the contract....and now that "The Priest" is returning, I can only imagine the havoc Herm's Ground Attack will cause! The AFC West is so tough that every team in it needs at least 3 or 4 major impact players just to survive! If Management doesn't recognize that simple fact, I suggest someone do a thorough background check on them to ensure their various educational degrees aren't fakes. I'll still watch 'em...but I won't be happy.... :)
It really doesn't matter whether L.J. or Preist is the running back. THE REAL PROBLEM IS CARL PETERSON. The Chiefs will be a mediocre TEAM AS LONG AS CARL PETERSON IS IN COMMAND.
I've been a Chiefs fan from day one and nothing upsets me more than for them to lose.
Is there anyway that we can get a complete boycott of a Chiefs home game to get the Hunt's attention that a change needs to be made at General Manager???
Thanks for the opportunity to get this off my chest.
cctchiefs
Well I guess you could ask Lions' fans how to protest, at a home game, they are professionals. I wonder how much gas Priest has left in his tank.
It seems that Jason Witless has Many suckers, er, followers and believers, as do those that think like him.
It's all Carl Peterson's fault. Everything is. It must be HIS fault that the Chiefs even HAVE LJ, since he overruled Vermeil to draft him while they still have Holmes setting records.
It must be HIS fault that the team has only had 4 losing seasons in the 18 that he has been in charge, and 2 of those 4 were when a new coach was hired and tried to install new systems. (Cunningham/Vermeil.
I'm sorry, but I am old enough to have suffered through practically every game of the 15 miserable years from 73-88 before 'King Carl' came in.
If you can name another organization with that kind of winning record since the advent of free agency, it would be a SHORT list, and I would be surprised to see any of those teams having dumped their GM or President.
I don't mean to just stand up for Peterson, but he has done a really good job of making the Chiefs competitive, even thought many people don't personally agree with how he's done it.
Johnson and his agent demanded big money when he was drafted, saying that he would be worth it. He is now in the process of showing that they were correct, but they are not ready to complete the deal, by honoring the last year and showcasing his skills to both the Chiefs and all of next year's bidders for his services.
Has YOUR team ever been burned by a player demanding more money and then not living up to it, either by underperforming or injury?
But hey, Johnson may not honor a new contract either, maybe Carl knows that,
dan
Good post! I agree the Chiefs have definitely been contenders since I can remember. But, I think they should pay Larry Johnson because he is that important to the team at this point.
If you told me earlier that Larry Johnson wanted more money and was planning to hold out until he got it or was traded then that would be a different story, but with Herm as the coach and the system that he likes to run they just do not seem to be ready to handle this season without LJ. LJ is the 2nd best back in the AFC - without question - and I think he deserves a raise. Do you know why? Because the way he has been carrying the ball he will not be able to walk when he is 40. I think that he should be compensated for that and the fact that at this point the Chiefs really need him to be out on that field. But it does not look like that will happen.
