Andy Reid's first priority with the Kansas City Chiefs is uncovering a quarterback. Whether that comes through free agency, the draft or from the steaming rubble of last year's signal-caller group, the team must upgrade the position.
Last year's on-again, off-again starter, Matt Cassel is owed $7.5 million in 2013 and has two years remaining on the six-year, $63 million deal he signed in 2009. He played himself out of a job last season -- and despite the talent around him, he's regressed -- but Reid hasn't made any decisions on Cassel's future.
"I'm going to just let that play out," Reid told Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star. "We're too early in the process to know that. We'll continue to evaluate it. We're evaluating him just like we do a free agent. That's what you do, and the thing about that is it takes time. I think he realizes that. That's how it works when there's a change."
There's no way the Chiefs want to sink this kind of money into a quarterback who ranked 32nd among qualifying starters last season.
Cassel has earned far more money than he's worth, but there's no clear second option here. Brady Quinn is uneven at best, while Ricky Stanzi and Alex Tanney are projects. The Chiefs possess the No. 1 pick in the draft and hold the option to nab West Virginia's Geno Smith, but taking any of these quarterback prospects with the top pick is a stretch.
Selecting someone in the later rounds might be the answer for Reid, whose reputation for tutoring quarterbacks will be tested early in Kansas City.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
