We told you a few weeks back that you needed to be cautious this year about Matt Cassel while preparing your fantasy football drafts. After all he is playing in a new city and the only true outside play maker is Dwayne Bowe. He no longer has the services of the dynamic duo of Wes Welker and Randy Moss to help make things easy for him.

Now we have another reason to be wary: he is injured.

According to a report from ESPN.com, Matt Cassel has sustained a sprained MCL and will miss anywhere from two to four weeks. It is very likely that he will miss Kansas City’s September 13 opening game against Baltimore and quite possibly even more time. Tyler Thigpen will start at quarterback in place of Cassel.

Since Cassel signed a $63 million ($28 million of it guaranteed) six year contract, he has been unable to dominate the incumbent quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Thigpen. In fact Todd Haley, new head coach for the Chiefs, had said a few weeks ago that Cassel’s starting job at quarterback was in question.

Cassel is now injured, through no fault of his own, and will miss some valuable time in building some continuity with a new offensive line early on in the season. This is not exactly an auspicious start for the man that the Chiefs were hoping they could build their team around over the next five years or so.

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Yesterday Todd Haley, rookie head coach for the Chiefs, fired Chan Gailey his offensive coordinator and took over that role himself, just 13 days before the season opens and with a quarterback situation that is very unsettled.

In Saturday’s preseason game Matt Cassel injured his knee in Kansas City’s loss to Seattle. Haley refused to discuss Cassel’s injury. Cassel has a guaranteed $28 million six year contract with the team.

Yahoo Sports, which cited a source from within the organization, reported that Cassel, the former Patriots player, could miss 2-4 weeks with a sprain to the medial collateral ligament of his left knee. The leading candidates for Cassel’s replacement are Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen, who have a combined NFL record when starting at quarterback of 1-18. During yesterday’s first team practice Thigpen received about 80 percent of all the snaps, however the final decision might be based on which quarterback plays the best during the final game of the preseason.

Haley, who was Arizona’s offensive coordinator for the last two years, declined to comment on whether or not there would be any significant changes made to the offense before the team’s September 13th opening game in Baltimore. Haley said that was something that he had put lots of thought into. He added that the advantage he had now is knowing what his duties were and he thought that this was in the team’s best interests.

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Adam Schefter from ESPN.com Insider reports that Tyler Thigpen, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, might be on the move.

Reportedly there are five teams who are interested in the 224 pound 6’1″ quarterback from Coastal Carolina.

It is believed that the Chiefs are on full side at the quarterback position with Brodie Croyle and Matt Cassel.

Thigpen really hasn’t been all that impressive with Kansas City and Croyle has been pressuring Cassel.

Thigpen could definitely be a valuable player to all five temas that are listed as interested in trading for him: Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Each of these five teams need a backup quarterback, with Thigpen looking like a good option.

Reportedly the Jaguars appear to be Thigpen’s best option as it appears, according to a Twitter from Jason La Canfora, that the teams has been attempting to work a trade out. Last year, Thigpen had a decent year, passing for 18 touchdowns on 2,608 yards along with 12 interceptions and a 76.0 rating.

As each day goes by, this year’s NFL off season just gets more and more interesting.

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Record: 4-12

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For Amani Toomer, retirement never was an option. He knew he was still capable of playing and still wanted to play. So the 13 year veteran continued to work out as the league’s training camps opened, waiting for a call.

The call came this week from Kansas City, who after inviting him for a workout, signed Toomer to a one year contract.

Toomer said he thought he was going to play. He just continued working out, assuming he would be playing, he said following his first practice on Tuesday with the new team. Ego-wise he said it bothered him, but that he just kept doing his thing, kept going, and now he was here.

The Chiefs chose not to go after Toomer when he was a free agent this off season, electing instead to open training camp with a group of inexperienced receivers. However, as the receivers continued dropping passes, they began to look for veterans to help.

On Monday, Kansas City invited D.J. Hackett, David Terrell and Toomer for a workout. They then closed a deal with Toomer prior to practice on Tuesday. Kansas City also claimed Vince Redd, linebacker from New England, off waivers. They made space on their roster by releasing guard Edwin Harrison and tight end Tony Curtis.

Todd Haley, Chiefs coach, said the team would do whatever they needed to do to improve the competition, and that bringing in a guy with the caliber of Amani after all he had done in the league would definitely do that. He said they worked him out and made the decision to sign him because he looked like he had plenty left in the tank.

Toomer’s first 13 seasons were spent with the New York Giants where he caught 668 passes for a total of 9,497 receiving yards and 54 touchdowns. His 2008 season with the Giants was decent. He caught 48 passes for a total of 580 yards with four touchdowns. The 34 year old receiver became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

After playing for a perennial playoff team, Toomer now joins a team that is a rebuilding phase following last year’s 2-14 record.

Toomer said he it was a good situation for him, with a great quarterback and new coach and that he was happy to be there. During his first practice he wore No. 13. He said he could feel the excitement and saw how the coaching staff was working to change the environment.

Toomer could immediately impact the Chiefs. Wily and tall, he will give Matt Cassel, the new quarterback for the Chiefs, another target besides Dwayne Bowe to pass to. He can also give an educational and steadying influence to the inexperienced receivers of Kansas City, who have continued to drop passes all throughout workouts in the off season as well as training camp.

Despite not knowing too much about the offense, the influence of Toomer was readily apparent during his first practice.

Haley said they needed to eliminate the drops and mentally do a better job, but that it was getting better. He said it seemed to him that there was more focus, and that when you add someone with the ability of Amani and what he had done while in the league that it was bound to help you.

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