Chiefs agree to terms with Ty Law

A little news bit for Swampy this morning...

The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed in principle to a contract with cornerback Ty Law. No word on what the terms will be.

Not sure what to think about this. Law came to Jacksonville for a workout. Word out of Jags camp is that he literally limped through the workout. Immediately after the workout, the Jaguars withdrew their interest. That was just a couple weeks ago.

I can't find anything to indicate that the Chiefs actually worked Ty Law out. If anyone sees a news story that said they did, let me know. He visited KC in March, but didn't work out then.

We'll see what the money situation looks like. That makes 3 new free agent corners for KC: Patrick Surtain, Ashley Ambrose, and Ty Law. Ambrose and Law are both coming back from injury.

Woohoo! I think we may just have a defense this year! Go Chiefs!

Oh pleasepleasepleaseplease let this rebuilding work. I hope we don't end up with a D full of worthless retreads.

huh? where did you read that?

ESPN insider says that the Jets and the Jags are still the frontrunners (and it was updated today).

Hey Swamp, I don't want hear that defeatist talk. These guys are stellar DB's and the progress of guys like Jared Allen and Scott Fujita will put the Chiefs D in the top 3, no doubt!

/blind optimism

I found this. Seems to confirm what legion was saying.

Hey Swamp, I don't want hear that defeatist talk. These guys are stellar DB's and the progress of guys like Jared Allen and Scott Fujita will put the Chiefs D in the top 3, no doubt!

/blind optimism

Go back to Kansas City you traitor!

The Chiefs have definately improved on D this year and in my mind are the biggest obstacle to the Chargers taking the west crown again (well that and the Bolts horrendus schedule). The only potential problem I see is that some of their key offensive players are getting a bit older and their offensive production could potentially (hopefully) slip a bit.

Don't foget last year's top pick: JR!

Duttybrew wrote:

I found this. Seems to confirm what legion was saying.

Nuh-Uh!

It appears from all accounts that Kansas City is putting on the full court press and the team hopes to work out a contract for the veteran cornerback over the next couple of weeks provided Law can pass a team physical.

Well Law was on PTI yesterday maybe it did help him to get a job. I skipped most of the interview though. I love the jump ahead button on my Replay.

belt500 wrote:

ESPN insider says that the Jets and the Jags are still the frontrunners (and it was updated today).

If ESPN Insider really did mention the Jags today as a Ty Law front-runner, then I'm glad I don't pay money for Insider. That's peddling old info. Because like I said in my first post, the Jags walked away from the Ty Law sweepstakes after he worked out for them. I mean, I just follow Jacksonville's local media online and was very aware of that.

The Jets were thought to be stepping up after Donnie Abraham's retirement. So at least that's halfway accurate, though it leaves out the "Ty Law's in negotiations with the Chiefs" part.

As for a news source, this is one of my favorite NFL news sources. It's just a section of a fantasy football site, but its news posts are relayed from local media in the various NFL cities. The Ty Law story was broken by a Kansas City radio station.

To quote the news story:

-- Chiefs; Law Agree in Principle to Contract --
Fri Jul 15, 2005 --from FFMastermind.com

Kansas City's 610 Sports' Rhonda Moss reports free-agent CB Ty Law and the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed in principle to a contract pending Law pass a physical showing that he is able to play on opening day. Law's agent and the Chiefs are speaking daily, and are very close in terms of dollars.

I'm not knocking your info man. I actually hope he goes to the cheifs. That means that he won't be playing us twice a year...not that I think he'll be as good as he was but, still an effective corner at least.

Just to show you guys what I saw:

The Jets responded to cornerback Donnie Abraham's retirement by intensifying their interest in Law, the New York Daily News reports. While the Jets also completed a trade for a disgruntled Cowboys CB Peter Hunter as insurance, Law remains a strong target.
The Jets are believed to be one of eight teams showing interest in Law, although his asking price -- reportedly about $6 million per year -- could be prohibitive. The Jets and Jaguars could be the front-runners.

While the Buccaneers reportedly have faxed Law a contract proposal, USA Today suggests the team's dire salary-cap situation makes its interest merely wishful thinking. The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, could be a more likely landing place, according to the paper.

Other teams that reportedly remain interested in the veteran CB include the Dolphins, Chiefs, Lions and Colts.

Law is coming off a broken foot that kept him out of the final 12 games of 2004, including the Patriots' Super Bowl victory.

belt500 wrote:

not that I think he'll be as good as he was but, still an effective corner at least.

Ty Law still has the ability. The concerns I would have is (a) he's still not running well (can he by September?), and (b) how well will he run/play in 3-5 years? Because Law's not looking for a short-term deal.

He's damaged now, but that doesn't mean he won't be ready to start the season. He's experienced enough, and his playbook will be simple enough to pick up (most of the time, it'll be the same play for him: man cover the guy on your side of the field).

belt500 wrote:

Just to show you guys what I saw:

OK, that's all right out of the New York Daily News (found the same thing on their own site). So it's not ESPN Insider with some old info, it's the NY Daily News. (I'm sure the contract faxing is new, but some of the speculation about other teams is old - the Colts haven't been seriously in the Law sweepstakes since the draft, where they spent their top 2 picks on corners... not that they'd have the cap space anyway).

*Legion* wrote:

The concerns I would have is (a) he's still not running well (can he by September?), and (b) how well will he run/play in 3-5 years? Because Law's not looking for a short-term deal.

He's not looking for a cheap deal either. I definitely think that Law can still be a very good corner but, I don't think that he's going to come back and be the #1 cornerback in the NFL. Where he seems to think he should be paid as such.

The good thing for the Chiefs, if they sign him, is that they can cut him! Hooray for non-guaranteed contracts!

belt500 wrote:

The good thing for the Chiefs, if they sign him, is that they can cut him! Hooray for non-guaranteed contracts! :)

Indeed - but Law knows that, and that's where the guaranteed money (signing bonus) comes into play. Contracts should rarely be judged on their overall "dollar" value, but on the money in the signing bonus. If they can get Law to play at a bonus they can swallow (maybe with some incentives sprinkled in), then more power to them.

Assuming that he will be ready on opening day, having Law and Surtain in the backfield with Ambrose as the nickel back is such an enormous improvement over last year. I mean, WOW! My opinion of the Chiefs committment to D has done a 180 this offseason.

You can't take Ty from me! Nooooooooo!!!!!

Duttybrew wrote:

Assuming that he will be ready on opening day, having Law and Surtain in the backfield with Ambrose as the nickel back is such an enormous improvement over last year. I mean, WOW! My opinion of the Chiefs committment to D has done a 180 this offseason.

I think the Chiefs still have issues with the front 4. They have a lot of bodies to rotate in the mix, but very few standouts. Junior Siavii is athletic for a big man, but still too raw to know if he's going to develop into a playmaker yet. Didn't break into the starting lineup last year, we'll see what training camp brings this year. Jared Allen, well, I love success stories from Division I-AA players. Fantastic rookie season. He doesn't strike me as a guy with the physical tools to evolve into a 12-sack guy year-in and year-out. He kinda reminds me of another Chiefs DE - Eric Hicks. Hicks is a workhorse player with limited physical upside that just gives you the best that his physical tools can provide. Reliable and a locker-room leader, but not someone opposing teams are fearful of when watching tape. Then you've got the starting tackles, Lional Dalton and chronic underachiever Ryan Sims. NFL.com's depth chart actually has reserve DE John Browning moving to DT, will have to watch for that in camp. Also, they went and signed Titans DE Carlos Hall, who was probably the player that the Titans most easily parted with in this year's cap purge. Another body for the rotation, but I don't know about beyond that.

There's a lot of guys here that you can't really badmouth per se, but you have to ask, "who are the guys that are going to grind on the top offensive lines of playoff caliber teams?". Maybe they can get someone to step up, but right now, there's no name on that depth chart that I would fear. Most of these guys were there last year, and they were wretched against the run (gave up 4.6 yards per carry, next to worst in the NFL). So we'll see where it goes. Of course, they were dead last in passing yards allowed per game last year, and having good covermen will help. But they can't cover receivers forever - the line needs to get pressure.

(gave up 4.6 yards per carry, next to worst in the NFL)

Woot! Go Saints!

Edit: Where'd you get the YPC stat? I can only find YPG. (I wanted to make sure my assumption implied above was true but couldn't...)

It's on the very page you link to, as "Avg."

And New Orleans is actually tied with KC and a few other teams for next-to-worst at 4.6 per carry. Dead last is Arizona with 4.7.

The Chiefs have looked "OK" individually, but the defense never coalesed (sp) into a decent one.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

*Legion* wrote:

It's on the very page you link to, as "Avg."

And New Orleans is actually tied with KC and a few other teams for next-to-worst at 4.6 per carry. Dead last is Arizona with 4.7.

Ah, got it. Thanks.

SwampYankee wrote:

The Chiefs have looked "OK" individually, but the defense never coalesed (sp) into a decent one.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

That's probably the way to approach that defense.

Of course, one might believe that the defense doesn't need to be top 10 in order for this team to win. With Trent Green throwing for crazy amounts of yardage (how does a QB throw for 4,500 yards and go completely unnoticed?) and Priest Holmes + the extra depth at RB when he's hurt carrying the rock, they will still move the ball. If the defense can stop losing the field position battle for them, then they'll be a tough regular season team. The defense has to really step up to be a playoff mover & shaker, but anything's possible.

No you're absolutely right. If the defense can give them just a bit of help in their shootouts, you're talking about playoff football. IMO, with the new talent, no matter how specious it may be, this is Gunther's year to put up or get the hell out of Kansas City football.

I have some cautious optimism towards the Chiefs but I have a feeling that their offense will not be nearly as prolific and that the D just wont have it. I want them to be good ( I am a big Vermeil fan), but I smell 9 and 7 for some reason. I think they will do well outside their division, but that they are going to lose at least one to each rival in the division and I think they will get surprised by a couple of non division opponents. I think they may be a wildcard but get bumped the first game and then Vermeil retires. KC's offense will begin a down hill slide post Vermeil.

Sun Sep. 11 NY JETS 1:00 PM ET Win
Sun Sep. 18 @ Oakland 8:30 PM ET Loss
Mon Sep. 26 @ Denver 9:00 PM ET Loss
Sun Oct. 02 PHILADELPHIA 1:00 PM ET Loss
Sun Oct. 02 BYE WEEK
Sun Oct. 16 WASHINGTON 1:00 PM ET Win
Sun Oct. 23 @ Miami 1:00 PM ET Win
Sun Oct. 30 @ San Diego 4:05 PM ET Loss
Sun Nov. 06 OAKLAND 1:00 PM ET Win
Sun Nov. 13 @ Buffalo 1:00 PM ET Win
Sun Nov. 20 @ Houston 8:30 PM ET Win
Sun Nov. 27 NEW ENGLAND 1:00 PM ET Loss
Sun Dec. 04 DENVER 4:15 PM ET Win
Sun Dec. 11 @ Dallas 4:15 PM ET Loss
Sat Dec. 17 @ NY Giants 5:00 PM ET Win
Sat Dec. 24 SAN DIEGO 1:00 PM ET Loss
Sun Jan. 01 CINCINNATI 1:00 PM ET Win