Kansas City Chiefs: Recapping the Latest Buzz Heading into Training Camp

The Kansas City Chiefs are less than a month away from kicking off training camp as the team will conduct its first practice on Aug. 1 in St. Joseph, Mo. at Missouri Western State University.

After a very busy offseason, plenty of events have occurred with the team. From adding impact players, to dealing with an ongoing contract dispute and a big list of drafted players, the Chiefs have been one of the busier NFL teams this offseason.

In this slideshow, we go over the latest stories about the Chiefs going into training camp and what it means for the team.

Justin Houston and the Chiefs Have Yet to Agree to a New Deal

Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

Justin Houston's contract dispute goes back to last offseason. Fast forward to today, he logged 22 sacks and has yet to earn a new mega contract. For Houston, not receiving a new deal before his 22-sack season was the best thing to happen to him, as it has given him a lot of leverage in contract negotiations. 

Wednesday July 15 is the deadline for teams and players under the franchise tag to agree to a deal, otherwise, any player with the franchise tag must play the 2015 season under the franchise tender.

By the middle of next week, we may know more about the situation.

Houston did not participate in the Pro Bowl this past January and skipped voluntary OTAs for the second consecutive year.

It goes without saying that the Chiefs need Houston. Twenty-two sacks is a lot of production to lose. Houston is the only player in franchise history to have more than 20 sacks in a single season and is one of four to ever eclipse the 22-sack mark in a year, falling one sack shy of shattering the all-time record for sacks in a season.

General manager John Dorsey will be tested but also viewed closely through the next five days. If Dorsey can't come away with a new deal for Houston, fans and the media will become heavy critics of his.

Maclin Provides Encouraging Words While Working with Smith

Michael Perez/Associated Press

A new relationship between a quarterback and a wide receiver is a unique one in the NFL. Quarterbacks throw to their wideouts often and must be in sync with them on the field.

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is working with a new set of starting receivers after the team parted ways with Dwayne Bowe and Donnie Avery. Kansas City scored big when it came away with Jeremy Maclin, who is reuniting with head coach Andy Reid.

After completing offseason workouts and practices, Maclin said his progress with Smith has gone really well: 

"I don’t think I’ve ever been off to a better start with a particular quarterback in my life."

Maclin's comments come after spending six seasons playing with Mark Sanchez, Nick Foles, Mike Vick and Donovan McNabb.

But after spending 2014 with Sanchez as his primary quarterback and for Smith to go for all of 2014 without throwing a touchdown pass to a wide receiver, both Maclin and Smith needed change. 

Today, Maclin and Smith have built a good chemistry to start off and look to carry that over into training camp and the regular season.

Chiefs Add Local Football Player After Supplemental Draft

Orlin Wagner/Associated Press

NFL reporter Aaron Wilson tweeted that the Kansas City Chiefs signed former Kansas Jayhawks cornerback Kevin Short after the supplemental draft on July 9. Pro Football Talk reports that Short left the Jayhawks last September due to personal reasons and never played for the team after redshirting in 2013 because of academic ineligibility.

Short, a Florissant, Mo. native, played college football at Fort Scott Community College, which is just an hour-and-a-half south of Kansas City. At 6'2" and 190 pounds, Short has good size for a cornerback.

While playing at Fort Scott, he excelled as a defender, earning NJCAA All-American honors in 2012 and was named First Team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. He owns the record at FSCC for most career interceptions with 10.

Though he shined at the NJCAA, he has a lot of work to do if he wants to make it in the NFL. After not playing Division 1 college football, Short will need plenty of reps in training camp and the preseason in order to get a good grasp of the game with bigger competition. 

Within the past two years, the Chiefs drafted three cornerbacks in the first three rounds in Phillip Gaines, Marcus Peters and Steven Nelson. The Chiefs also have Sean Smith, an underrated cornerback. Short's chances of making the 53-man roster are small and spending time with the team on the practice squad may be the best fit for him as he tries to progress and pick up the game at a higher level.

Tamba Hali Continues to Train with Legendary Gracie Family

Peter Aiken/Getty Images

Since the end of his rookie campaign in 2006, outside linebacker Tamba Hali has been a student of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Gracie Academy in California, primarily led by Rener and Ryron Gracie.

If you don't know Rener and Ryron, their family is a big name in martial arts. Rener and Ryron are members of the Gracie family who created Brazilian/Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. They are very well known for posting their Jiu-Jitsu videos online (Gracie Breakdown and Gracie Academy) for everyone to see and learn about the sport of Jiu-Jitsu. 

Hali spends part of his summers in California to train with Rener and Ryron. Most recently, the Gracie Academy uploaded this video of Rener and Hali training together. At the end of the video, a couple of other NFL players, including Josh Martin of the Chiefs, were shown training as beginners. 

The Gracie Academy uploaded another video of Hali training with Rener and Ryron before the 2013 season. 

In these videos, Hali credits his Jiu-Jitsu training in helping to better himself in certain techniques as a football player.

Both videos are long, but if you have time, they are worth watching. It is impressive to see how intense Hali's training is, yet it explains why he is in such good shape and why he does well in the NFL.