In what is one of the toughest weeks of an NFL personnel man's entire year, Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey spoke to the media on Monday about where he sees this roster compared to previous years after making some tough decisions to get the roster down to just 53 players.
"I think this is a better football team," Dorsey explained. "All along we've talked about setting the competitive depth at each position. I think we've done that.
"I think we got to the point where we actually had to release guys that were capable of playing the National Football League. I think that's what you kind of strive for."
Two of the players the Chiefs released were quickly scooped up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in linebacker James-Michael Johnson and offensive lineman Eric Kush.
"Those decisions were very hard," Dorsey said.
Besides improving the team for immediate results, Dorsey and his staff strengthened the future of the roster in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks for veteran safety and special teams ace Kelcie McCray, who netted the Chiefs an extra fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
"If you can improve your roster to the point of people calling you up and wanting to orchestrate a trade with you, that's the objective of every personnel guy," Dorsey explained. "You want to get great depth, that's kind of what you're looking for year in and year out."
One area the Chiefs have been particularly successful throughout the years is with undrafted free agents.
Last year, the Chiefs had Albert Wilson, Daniel Sorensen, Cairo Santos and Charcandrick West, who all went undrafted and contributed in some way for the team last season.
"You always want to hit one or two guys of the undrafted guys," Dorsey said. "This roster has pretty good depth. There's a great competition here and there's a great camaraderie amongst this group.
"Moving forward, there's a couple guys on the practice squad and hopefully they will develop as time goes on."
Whether they're developed on the practice squad or the active roster, Dorsey and his staff feel good about the group they've built for this coaching staff to work with and compete with in 2015. "All along we've said, 'We're going to be competitive in the AFC West and we're going to be competitive this year.'"
