6 Things That We Have Learned About the Kansas City Chiefs This Offseason

The 2012 offseason has been an eventful one for the Kansas City Chiefs.

They've hired a new head coach, added some valuable pieces through free agency and the draft and supported their starting QB. But they also failed to sign their best receiving threat to a new deal.

Here are six things that we have learned about the Chiefs offseason so far.

They Are Still Committed to Matt Cassel as Their Starting Quarterback...

After another offseason where the Chiefs failed to add legitimate competition for starting QB Matt Cassel, it's safe to say that they are sticking with him for at least another season.

Although this was likely not the popular choice for many Chiefs fans, KC didn't have a lot of options to go with as far as bringing in another quality signal-caller to compete with Cassel.

It's very clear that Chiefs GM Scott Pioli is still confident in Cassel's ability to lead this offense in 2012.

This is a very important campaign for Cassel, considering that this could very well be his final shot to be the starting quarterback for Kansas City.

And Added Many More Weapons on Offense to Help Him Succeed

With the Chiefs currently possessing one of the weaker starting QBs in the league, it's important that they surround him with a lot of talent.

During the offseason, they did a great job of doing just that.

They landed TE Kevin Boss, RB Peyton Hillis and RT Eric Winston via free agency and added slot receiver Devon Wylie and RB Cyrus Gray in the draft.

When you add a healthy Jamaal Charles and one of the better receiving corps in the league to the mix, Cassel should have more than enough offensive weapons to work with in 2012.

They Made It a Priority to Improve Both the Offensive and Defensive Lines

While he was in New England, Pioli had a reputation of being a mastermind at building up the Patriots' offensive and defensive lines for all those years.

Now, it appears that he is finally starting to do that in Kansas City.

With the recent additions of Winston, OG Jeff Allen, OT Donald Stephenson and DT Dontari Poe, the Chiefs should be set at many of these positions for the future.

Although the defensive line could still be somewhat of a work in progress this season, KC might have one of the best O-lines in the entire league.

They Still Seem to Be Unsure About Locking Up Dwayne Bowe to a Long-Term Deal

Heading into this offseason, one of the biggest priorities for the Chiefs was signing wideout Dwayne Bowe to a long-term deal.

Unfortunately for either Bowe or Kansas City, that has yet to take place.

It could be that the Chiefs are unsure about giving the 27-year-old receiver a new contract, or maybe the two sides just can't seem to come to an agreement at this point.

Either way, the team needs to pony up the cash to lock-up Bowe to a multi-year deal as soon as it can.

They Used the Draft to Mainly Add Depth, Rather Than Find Immediate Starters

Going into this year's draft, it was unclear whether the Chiefs were going to target sure-fire starters or just simply build depth for their roster.

After reviewing their 2012 draft class, it's obvious that they weren't looking for immediate impact players in New York City.

In fact, first-round pick Dontari Poe could very easily end up being the only player from this KC draft class that will start at his position this year.

By using this approach, it shows that the Chiefs brass thinks this team is getting closer and closer to becoming a championship-level team in this league.

Scott Pioli Is Putting a Lot of Trust in New Head Coach Romeo Crennel

This offseason got off to a roaring start for the Chiefs when they announced that Romeo Crennel was going to be their new head coach, replacing the departed Todd Haley.

By promoting Crennel, Pioli is putting a good amount of trust in the 64-year-old coach to get the job done for this franchise in the near future.

Pioli's also trusting him to continue to build up this young defense, including coaching rookie Poe to his potential at the next level.

That's a ton of trust to put into your new head coach, especially one who failed in his only previous head coaching job in Cleveland.

That being said, Crennel should be more successful leading the Chiefs, considering that he has a loaded roster to work with, and already has earned the respect of many of his players from his three-game stint as the team's interim head coach last year.