Last Thursday, Jarrad Page asked to be traded from Kansas City. Why?

Money is only one of the reasons.

Page, according to several reports, has not being getting along with the Chiefs coaching staff. It dates back all the way to the 2009 training camp. Essentially Page was called out by Todd Haley following a preseason game because he had sat it out due to injury. That may have contributed to it, however I suspect there was an issue even earlier. Many players were irritated with the attitude of Haley in his first year.

Page would like to be a starting player. In Kansas City that may not happen. Two safeties were drafted by Kansas City this year, Kendrick Lewis and Eric Berry. The Chiefs are hopeful about both Berry and Lewis. Page may not fit in anywhere.

Money is also an issue. The tender offer for Page is $1.7 million. He might think he’ll be able to do better if released into the open market. Right now the market for free agents is soft. Just ask O.J. Atogwe. Page isn’t exactly a household name.

There are several reasons why Page wants to move on. I would guess all of the above reasons are playing a partial role.

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On Thursday Kansas City announced that they had signed Justin Rogers, free agent linebacker.

Rogers (6’4″, 246 pounds) played in a total of 31 games over the 2007 and 2008 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. He had three tackles along with 34 stops on special teams. Rogers also played in one playoff game for the Cowboys. In 2008 he was third for Dallas with 18 tackles on special teams. He entered the NFL originally in 2007 as the 180th pick overall and six round draft choice for New England.

At SMU, Rogers appeared in 43 games, 33 as a starter. He had a total of 184 tackles with 32 for a loss, a blocked kick and five forced fumbles. Rogers finished his career at SMU as the second ranked in all time sacks with 19.5 He was an all district player two times for Commerce High School located in Greenville, Texas.

On Wednesday the Chiefs put Jackie Battle, running back, on injured reserve. In 2009 Battle played in five games for Kansas City. He had 21 rushing yards on seven carries along with six tackles on special teams.

According to the Kansas City Star, Brandon Alberts, offensive lineman, and Andy Alleman, reserve lineman, didn’t practice with the team on Wednesday. It was still uncertain whether either of them will be able to play this weekend against Washington. It could leave Kansas City short. Last week against Dallas the Chiefs had only seven offensive lineman dressed for the game. Right now the only other roster choice for Kansas City is Ikechuku Ndukwe. During the last two games Ndukwe hasn’t suited up.

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On Sunday the Chiefs will be honoring running back Priest Holmes during a pregame ceremony before the team’s game versus the Dallas Cowboys. Priest Holmes played in sixty five Kansas City regular season games, finishing his career as the Chief’s all time career leader in yards rushed (6,070), rushing touchdowns (76) and total touchdowns (83). Priest also owns a whole host of single season records for the Chiefs, including points (162 in 2003), running back receptions (74 in 2003), and 2,287 total yards from scrimmage set in 2002.

The festivities on Sunday will cap a week full of events for Holmes. Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser on Thursday awarded Holmes with the Mayoral Proclamation and acknowledged his accomplishments both on as well as off the field.

The Associated Press named Holmes, three time Pro Bowler, the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2002 after he rushed for 1,615 yards in 14 games. In 2001 Holmes became only the third Kansas City player to be the NFL’s leader in rushing. He had 1,551 yards while debuting with the Chiefs. He also leads the Chief with 1,521 career touches from the line of scrimmage and is in second place for 100 yard career rushing games with twenty four.

Off the field. Holmes’ work as a community and youth advocate through his Priest Holmes Foundation earned him a lot of respect from the community in Kansas City. In 2008 the Scholarship and Standards Program from his foundation awarded 19 scholarships to high school seniors.

In 1997 Holmes came into the league with the Baltimore Raven as a free agent rookie, following his outstanding collegiate career with the University of Texas. In 2007 he was enshrined into the Hall of Honor at the University of Texas. During his collegiate career as a Longhorn, Priest had 1,276 rushing cards on 252 carries (an average of 5.1 yards per carry) along with twenty touchdowns. He enrolled at the University of Texas after excelling as a member of San Antonio’s Marshall High School.

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