Chiefs and Free Agency: Day 3 recap

When the free agency bell rang at midnight Friday, NFL teams were off and running. The Chiefs, however, were a bit more conservative, going after center Jeff Faine and kicker Josh Brown. Unfortunately, they missed out on both.

Faine was the first to go, shortly after midnight, when he signed a mega-deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. By the end of the day, Brown became the highest paid kicker in the league by agreeing to sign with the St. Louis Rams.

The Chiefs had a high degree of interest in both players, but could not compete with the dollars offered by Tampa Bay and St. Louis.

With $28.3 million in cap space, one might think the Chiefs would be more aggressive. Despite Kansas City’s early misses, however, Herm Edwards has a plan. The first 72 hours of free agency isn’t a time to panic.

The Chiefs weren’t shut out over the weekend. They claimed Dallas Cowboys fullback Oliver Hoyte off waivers and later inked formed Atlanta Falcons linebacker DeMorrio Williams.

Hoyte, the Cowboys starter a year ago, could take the place of Boomer Grigbsy, who was not offered a one-year tender by the Chiefs this past Thursday. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the moment but would like to return to Kansas City. Meanwhile, at least four other NFL teams have shown interest in him.

Hoyte comes in at 252 pounds and fits the mold for blocking backs that new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey covets.

On the other side of the ball, it became clear early that the Chiefs were not going to ignore their defense despite the fact they have some gaping holes to fill on the offensive line.

They were aggressive in getting Williams into town and not letting him leave until the two sides hammered out a contract. According to our source, Williams’ reported contract numbers – five years, $16 million, $5.5 million guaranteed – are not accurate. The real figures are lower.

Once Williams’ signing was made public, speculation ran rampant that he would start next season. Per our source, that’s also not accurate - heading into May’s OTAs, Williams will backup Donnie Edwards at weakside linebacker.

Next on the Chiefs radar is former Buffalo Bills tight end Michael Gaines, who was in Kansas City Sunday. He has not been offered a contract at present, but could be a replacement at blocking tight for Jason Dunn, cut earlier this month.

This week the Chiefs will likely bring in some offensive linemen now that Faine is off the market. The tackle position doesn’t offer much, but there are two names who could wind up in Kansas City - Kwame Harris and Max Starks.

At guard, ex-Dolphin Rex Hadnot was in Cleveland on Sunday, with no word of a finalized contract. He visited the Texans Saturday, who also did not offer a deal. The other man of interest to the Chiefs could be former Colt Jake Scott.

The free agent class at the center position is weak, with only Brett Romberg and Alex Stepanovich as potential young replacements for Casey Wiegmann.

In other Chiefs News:

There was a report that the agent for Jared Allen, Ken Harris, was in Kansas City over the weekend. However, there is no news on the contract front at the moment and we could not confirm if Harris was in town to meet with the Chiefs. Allen will be in Kansas City this weekend for the grand opening of Jared Allen Sports Arena and Grill.

Last week a report on Fox Sports Radio indicated Allen might be traded to Philadelphia, but our source inside the organization told Warpaint Illustrated the Chiefs have no plans to trade their franchise player.

• NFL.com reported Sunday night that former Broncos placekicker Jason Elam isn’t likely to return to Denver, and could visit the Chiefs in March. Stay tuned to Warpaint Illustrated for any further developments.