Our beloved Chiefs aren't playing today but as they say, the show must go on.  Here's some reading material for the morning.

• RockMNation walks us through Missouri's loss last night in their post game podcast.
• Jason Whitlock on the possibility of a Tony Gonzalez trade: "But the Giants’ front office, sitting on a Super Bowl title and feeling no urgency to win, isn’t all that interested in giving Kansas City fair compensation."
• Joe Posnanski on the possibility of a trade not getting done: "At one point this season, Gonzalez told me he would retire at the end of the year rather than go through this kind of losing again. At another point, he admitted that he could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Again, he said these things quietly, away from the cameras, and he asked me not to write it yet."
• Bob Gretz tells us that Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Philadelphia and New York are interested in Gonzalez.
• Bigknoxy shares a video with us that is, uh, interesting to say the least.
• From the mothership on our rookies from prominent college teams accepting losing.

Use this thread for any and all football talk.  I am headed to Austin next week for the MU/Texas game so last night was a big let down for me as I was anticipating a potential #1 vs. #3 matchup.

I'm sure everyone has heard the rumors swirling recently regarding potentially sending Tony Gonzalez to the New York Giants.  Remember, at this point they're just rumors.  Nothing has been confirmed so anything you see here will be clearly labeled as a rumor or a confirmed story.

Let's take a look at a few different sources of the rumors.

Jay Glazer:

Why would a team trade a man many consider the greatest tight end of all time? The Chiefs are rebuilding and by the time they turn around their fortunes, Gonzalez's time in this league could be over. Why let his career end on a rebuilding team? He and team President Carl Peterson are extremely close. If they can find a trade that would work for all parties, it would actually be quite honorable for a team executive to not hold a player hostage in his final years on a rebuilding team. Get something for him to assist with the rebuilding process. He'll forever be loved in KC regardless.

Pro Football Talk on KSHB rumors:

Though we haven’t confirmed that KSHB is reporting this information, we’ve learned separately that, indeed, an effort is afoot to move Gonzalez out of Kansas City.

I haven't found anything from KSHB about their report.

Check out this google search to see how quickly these rumors gain steam.

So, what's the validity of all these stories?  I would imagine there's some there.  We've heard in separate rumors from local talk show radio hosts that Tony allegedly requested a trade before the Broncos game.  I've heard that the trade request didn't happen until this week.  The trade deadline is week 6 so if a deal is going to get done then it will happen soon.

Historically Carl Peterson has dragged these things out but with a quick deadline approaching, something has gotta give.  Considering we are in a full rebuilding mode, it would be silly for him to turn down a deal that could help this team in the future.

Let's hear what everyone thinks about this.  To gain some perspective on compensation let's keep in mind that Jeremy Shockey, who is 28 years old, was traded over the offseason for a 2nd and 5th round pick.  So, the story goes that the Giants could drop their 2nd and 5th round picks they received from the Saints for a minimum 1 1/2 year rental for Gonzalez.

Also, I found this quote from Tony about a month ago regarding the rebuilding effort. 

“There’s nothing we can do about it. I think coach has made that decision, you know as far as getting rid of the older guys on the team, to go younger, and that’s fine with me. I think with the guys he brought in here, I’m definitely happy with it. At first I was frustrated – I was a little pissed off to tell the truth – because I’m winding down in my career and I’m thinking ‘this is not what I signed on for last year when I redid my deal’ after seeing the guys that they brought in and after the draft, it’s making a lot more sense. We’re a pretty good football team. There’s no doubt about it.”

There's definitely a hint of anxiousness in him.  I know he wants to win.  I'm not going to say we owe it to him to trade him to a contender, but I am going to say that we owe it to the team to do whatever it takes to make this team better and a trade with draft picks in return might accomplish that.

And some of us listen.  Highlights from yesterday's session with the media.  I tried to highlight what Herm was actually saying and avoiding the fluff.

On how Brodie Croyle looks:

“Yeah, he’s just rusty. That’s what’s good about the bye week, we’ll have another day tomorrow and next week we’ll have three more practices. That’ll be good for him. He looks strong, his arm looks strong."

On the bye week with so many young guys:

I know it helps us a lot because there’s so many young guys. If you think it about it, they’ve played nine games already, that’s almost a college season.

On DaJuan Morgan's strengths:

“He’s a pretty good tackler, he’s very sudden when he reads it. I think he’s playing a little cautious right now, because he’s not confident. That comes with playing. You have to play these kids."

On Jamaal Charles not breaking a big one yet:

“He hasn’t been in the game a whole lot. He hasn’t touched the ball a whole lot. It has to do with a lot of things. Plays, lots of three-and-outs for us, too many three-and-outs. He’s dropped a couple balls when it could have been a big play, so that’s part of it too. I think he’s becoming more comfortable in what we want him to do.”

On 35 year old Muhsin Muhammad zipping past the defense:

“He took a bad angle. The guy caught it, cut across the grain and they made a big score. It’s part of the learning process too.”

On Tamba Hali and the rest of the pass rush:

“He helps you, no doubt. That and the inside guys making sure the pocket’s pushed. Our line has not been good at times on pass rush. You always have to keep the pocket tight, you can’t let the pocket open up. When you’re a tackle, the basic rule is you never want to rush outside the hashes because it expands the pocket too much. You want the pocket to close so the quarterback can’t step up. When you get your tackles outside the hashes, the quarterback can step up because he feels no pressure in the middle of the pocket. So we have to get that adjusted and try to do a better job about that too.”

Maybe Jamaal Charles could be utilized more to avoid three and outs?  And the guy is a track star, fast is fast regardless of the level of competition.  I'm just very anxious to see him in the game more and more.  You've got a weapon, now let's see what he's made of.

Larry Johnson

Everyone says he can not be traded because of the cap hit.  Let's take a look at why this is true.  Here's the breakdown of the hit we would take if we traded him before the week 6 deadline.

Prorated 2008 salary: $1.7 million

2009 salary: $4.55 million

Prorated Bonus ($12.5 million over 6 years and prorated in 2008): $9.68 million

Total Cap Hit in 2009: $15.93 million

This is my understanding of the cap hit we would take if we traded him.  Of course, after 2009 that number would drop drastically.

Tony Gonzalez

This is intriguing but only because we know Tony still has it.  The facts are, though, that he's 32 years old and hasn't committed to playing beyond 2009.  I could see him being sent to a contender looking to be pushed over the hump.

But would the Chiefs do it?  Unlikely.  Right now he and Bowe are our only consistent offensive threats in the passing game.  And our passing game sucks so we need Tony more than anyone else.

Damon Huard

Believe it or not, Huard has some value.  He's a proven back up at the most important position in the league.  Unfortunately for us, like Tony we need him more than anyone else.  We can not, repeat can not continue this season without Huard.  Croyle is unlikely to stay healthy for the next 11 games which would leave Tyler Thigpen or someone off the street to lead our team and we've seen how catastrophic that can be.

Patrick Surtain

I'm down for moving him.  He's in the 4th year of a 7 year deal signed in 2005.  Brandon Carr has proven he can hang in the secondary so Surtain seems to be a stop gap until the rookie is ready to take his spot full time.  On top of that, there's been talk of Carr taking Surtain's spot at some point this season anyway.