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KANSAS CITY, Mo. —By making four cuts over the weekend, the process of paring their roster to the NFL mandated regular season limit of 53 players has already started for the Chiefs.
Coach Todd Haley is hoping their remaining decisions are every bit as difficult to make.
"If these first few (moves) are any indication, it's going to be much more difficult,'' Haley said. "I think that's a good thing for our team.
"That bodes well for the team. The harder those decisions are, generally the more competition and the better team you're becoming.''
The Chiefs must be down to the 53-player limit by Saturday. They'll get one final chance to evaluate in Thursday night's final preseason game against Green Bay at Arrowhead Stadium.
The roster is taking shape and it's evident the Chiefs will lack depth at many positions, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines. Haley spent time on Monday lamenting that fact.
"We don't have enough depth anywhere,'' Haley said. "That's just life. It's becoming that way across the league. Coaches are never going to be happy with their depth. When you step back and you start to look at other teams, you realize even though you may be looking at another team you think is a real good team, you'll find some of the same depth issues.
"We're going to have to win games a certain way. They're not going to be pretty. We're going to have to do a lot of things right and one of those things would be to stay healthy.''
When the Chiefs get their roster to 53 players, it won't necessarily be set. They will scour the list of cuts from around the league and may make a few moves at that point.
"We have a lot more information on most of the (current Chiefs players),'' Haley said. "You tend to grow fond of them, develop relationships, get a comfort level with guys. So those are always difficult decisions to make. But we're on it. We'll do the work necessary and have been doing the work necessary to pull the trigger if we have to.''
Here's one estimate of what the Chiefs roster will look like on Saturday:
QUARTERBACK (3) —Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Tyler Palko.
Don't be surprised if the Chiefs go into the season with only Cassel and Croyle. But Croyle's preseason injury could scare the Chiefs into keeping three. The Chiefs also might look for a third quarterback to take Palko's place.
RUNNING BACK (4) —Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle, Tim Castille.
Fullback Mike Cox looks like he's out. He's not playing on some of the special teams and last week the Chiefs gave his main job as the lead blocker in short-yardage and goal-line situations to Derek Lokey, a defensive lineman.
WIDE RECEIVER (6) —Chris Chambers, Dwayne Bowe, Dexter McCluster, Terrance Copper, Jeremy Horne, Jerheme Urban.
Copper sticks because he's a standout on special teams and Horne because he's fast and has some potential. Despite the fact Urban was playing in the fourth quarter of last week's game, he's probably safe.
TIGHT END (3) —Leonard Pope, Tony Moeaki, Jake O'Connell.
There appears to be little for the Chiefs to discuss about this position. O'Connell dropped more than his share of passes but the Chiefs don't appear ready to give up on him yet.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9) —
Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Casey Wiegmann, Rudy Niswanger, Ryan Lilja, Ryan O'Callaghan, Barry Richardson, Jon Asamoah, Ikechuku Ndukwe.
This plan gives the Chiefs either Wiegmann or Niswanger as a backup at center, Ndukwe, Asmoah and Niswanger as reserve at guard and Richardson and Ndukwe as spares at tackle.
DEFENSIVE LINE (6) —Tyson Jackson, Ron Edwards, Glenn Dorsey, Shaun Smith, Derek Lokey, Wallace Gilberry.
Alex Magee would be a surprise if he's cut but only because he was the Chiefs' third-round pick last year. The Chiefs may keep him for that reason even if his play doesn't warrant that.
LINEBACKER (9) —Mike Vrabel, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Jovan Belcher, Andy Studebaker, Cameron Sheffield, Corey Mays, Demorrio Williams, David Herron.
This assumes Sheffield will be ready to play soon. If not, the Chiefs might keep Pierre Walters or more likely go with eight. The Chiefs like Herron as a special teams player.
DEFENSIVE BACK (10) —Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Javier Arenas, Mike Richardson, Maurice Leggett, Eric Berry, Jon McGraw, Kendrick Lewis, Donald Washington, Reshard Langford.
This assumes Leggett will be ready to play soon. If he's not, the Chiefs might keep Travis Daniels or go with nine. Ten is a lot of bodies for the secondary but the Chiefs will find a way to play all of them, even if just on special teams.
SPECIALIST (3) —Ryan Succop, Dustin Colquitt, Thomas Gafford.
The Chiefs have no choice here unless they go without a kicker, punter or long snapper.
