Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey came to the Scouting Combine without his coach, and he might not have his backup quarterback with him much longer.
Dorsey sounded like a man who was resigned to losing quarterback Chase Daniel in free agency, as Alex Smith’s backup looks for a chance to start elsewhere.
Asked Thursday if his backup quarterback was on his roster at the moment, and Dorsey could tell what was being put to him.
“I do. I know what you’re getting with here, you’re going with Chase Daniel,” he said. “We’ve had Chase here for three years. I think Chase is a very competitive player. I think we were very lucky to have him as our number two quarterback. Just a couple hours ago, I had discussions with his agent with regard to see where they were with the process.
“At the right price, I would try to retain him, at the right price. I understand the business of the game of football, and he’s going to want to be able to see if he can start. I do believe he’s capable of doing that, so that process will be ongoing. It will take a couple weeks here before we sit down and talk with his agent some more.”
There are people — including former Chiefs coordinator and new Eagles head coach Doug Pederson — who think Daniel can be a starting quarterback in the league.
And with Washington’s Kirk Cousins expected to get a franchise tag, there aren’t that many options in free agency that are clearly better than Daniel, who has two career starts and 77 pass attempts in six years in the league.
If he leaves, the Chiefs will be down to Smith and 2014 fifth-rounder Aaron Murray and Dominique Davis on their depth chart.