Chiefs fire G.M. John Dorsey

AP

In a surprise announcement at what is ordinarily the slowest time of the year in the NFL, the Chiefs have fired General Manager John Dorsey.

The Chiefs issued a statement saying Dorsey is out.

“I notified John that we would not be extending his contract beyond the 2017 season, and after consideration, we felt it was in his best interests and the best interests of the team to part ways now,” owner Clark Hunt said in a statement.

That announcement came about half an hour after the Chiefs announced that head coach Andy Reid has signed a contract extension. That will obviously lead to speculation that perhaps Dorsey and Reid weren’t on the same page, and that Reid won a power struggle within the organization. Dorsey recently made the surprising decision to cut an old favorite of Reid’s, Jeremy Maclin.

Dorsey is the third G.M. to be fired since the start of the new league year in March, following Washington’s Scot McCloughan and Buffalo’s Doug Whaley.

83 responses to “Chiefs fire G.M. John Dorsey

  1. Technically you are correct that Dorsey is the 3rd GM to be fired this off season. But remember, the Colts’ off season started before the playoffs and the architect of that great squad was fired in December.

    Ironically, Ryan Grigson is in Cleveland now, Go figure.

  2. good move..he was a terrible hire

    pioli left him with some good stuff
    but some gms do not get the market
    and salary allocation at all

    caserio appears to be in line for a potential
    very wise move for kc

  3. That will obviously lead to speculation that perhaps Dorsey and Reid weren’t on the same page, and that Reid won a power struggle within the organization
    ===

    Was there a struggle?

    Reid was hired before Dorsey. I take that to mean Reid would have bottom line say on personnel.

  4. That’s actually pretty unexpected. He had been doing a decent job-my guess is that PFT’s right. Reid and Dorsey must not have gotten along.

    I wonder if they had Maclin make the call…?

  5. Would have been Nice for this to happen when we could still promote Chris Ballard. Brain Dead Stuff going on here.

  6. WOW!! I wonder if Reid is gonna take over HC/GM duties…Dorsey a top 10 GM in the league imo. Although I think he botched the Maclin decision, probably was the final straw with KC

  7. reid is the new gm, shocker, NOT! Great in the reg season, minus clock mgmt and play calling skills, crap in the playoffs!
    have fun kc!
    -eagles fan since ’84

  8. Timing is very odd. If this had been in the works for awhile you have to imagine they dont let Ballard walk. Something tells me Reid wasn’t very fond of Dorsey and the Maclin move was the last straw or the only straw.

  9. sbchampsagain says:
    Jun 22, 2017 4:17 PM
    It’s a shame he didn’t get fired via voicemail the way he did Maclin.
    =======

    Enough with this. I mean, seriously.

    It was not the intent of the Chiefs to cut him via voicemail. They called him to give him the news and he didn’t answer the phone because he was on a plane.

    What if they had chosen not to leave him a voicemail and then the news had leaked out to the media? Would it have been better for him to find out he was cut by seeing it on ESPN?

    They wanted him to hear it from them, and did what they had to do.

  10. Rumors have been floating that Dorsey may be going back to Green Bay.
    ===

    Ted Thompson is only 63 years old, and Eliot Wolf has the EXACT same personnel backround as Dorsey.

    I guess if the Packers Executive Committee isn’t willing to give Wolf the reigns at his age (35).. or whenever that time comes in the next few years.

    Ijust don’t see it. It’s not a natural fit at this point for Dorsey to return. Not unless Thompson is through.

  11. I am always laughing at these supposed great protege types who get hired away from supposed side-arms of these supposed great GMs.

    Ted Thompson hasn’t had a defense in almost a decade yet somehow Glenn Dorsey is to be considered great?

    And now, Ballard in Indy? Laughable.

    Why don’t you win a division first and then pretend you’re pretty good?

  12. Has Andy ever won anything?????????
    ===

    Super Bowl in 1996 as an assistant in Green Bay
    2nd among active coaches in wins

    Hasn’t won a Super Bowl as a head coach, but he was responsible for 2 pretty impressive turnarounds in Philly and KC.

  13. .
    With Dorsey fired and Ballard gone to the Colts, I wonder who’s going to make the personnel decisions? It’s a mystery.
    .

  14. From the outside looking in, this was a lose, lose, lose situation. Dorsey lost his job, The Chiefs lost two decent to good GMs in one offseason, and Ballard lost a chance to GM a more talented Chiefs team instead of the Colts. Odd that way this played out. I am guessing Dorsey will end up back in Green Bay to fight with Elliot Wolfe for the next GM spot. I have no idea who the Chiefs will go after. Maybe the will follow the Broncos and Niners route and bring in a former player… my vote goes to Christian Okoye.

  15. Dorsey was a terrible GM that absolutely killed them in the salary cap… take a look at overthecap.com and it’s unbelievable how much money he guaranteed Houston, Berry, Fisher, Maclin, Hali, Johson, Smith, etc… As of today, they have only 48 players under contract for next season and currently sit 2 million over the cap.

    Looking at his 4 drafts before 2017; he did well with Marcus Peters. Past that, he did good with Kelce, Dee Ford and possibly Tyreek Hill. The rest of the picks are back ups or a starting bust in Erik Fisher (#1 overall).

  16. The NFL. Where the GM makes personnel moves, the owner feigns ignorance, the fans and coach grumble, and the owner fires the GM. You know GMs run moves by ownership for approval…it’s their money. But after a deal that turns out bad, they fire the guy the agreed with.

  17. wordsmith513 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 5:01 PM
    The Chiefs made a decision. No matter how you wrap it, it looks like an internal squabble. And I don’t think Reid has won a SB.
    ===

    Reid won a Super Bowl as an assistant. He helped mold Brett Favre from an out of control lunatic into a Hall of Famer. He is far and away the most successful coach in the history of the Eagles. He is second in wins amongst active coaches. He’s made the playoffs 12 out of 18 years (much, much better than coaches including Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, and others). He took the Chiefs from 2-14 to 11-5 in ONE SEASON.

    He has his faults (big game coaching, clock management, mixing in a salad now and then), but he certainly has accomplished more in his career than Dorsey.

  18. The Chiefs gave Andy Reid control of the personnel, what a colossal mistake.

    This is amazing.

  19. Rick Spielman must be feeling like sheep in a Minnesota bar full of Viking fans, nervous, very nervous.

    Given their love of all things ex-Packers, Dorsey could easily replace Spielman and I would have to say, that would be an improvement.

  20. He helped mold Brett Favre from an out of control lunatic into a Hall of Famer.

    .. much, much better than coaches including Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, and others
    ====

    Both False.

    Reid took over as QB coach in 1997.

    Favre had already won 2 MVP Awards, and had been a starter for 5 seasons.

    .. and Shanahan won 2 Super Bowls.

    People forget how absolutely dominant that 1998 team was. They crushed their opponents. Hands down better than any Andy Reid-coached team.

  21. The Chiefs gave Andy Reid control of the personnel, what a colossal mistake.
    ====

    With personnel control in Philly he went to 5 NFCC Games, including 4 in a row, and went to the Super Bowl in 2004.

  22. Sounds like this guy thought his job was more secure than it was and asked for a bit of security before being shown the door.

    Maybe GB will take him in as the General Manager of the Defense since Ted has no idea how to evaluate talent on that side of the ball?

  23. Uh…here it comes. Andy Reid will be the de facto GM cause he has to have his hand in everything. This is how the Eagles eventually tanked. Reid’s middling eye for talent kept this team from winning multiple Super Bowl’s while his stubbornness to adjust his in game gameplan prevented them from going to multiple Super Bowl’s. I think Andy Reid is a fine coach when given time to scheme and he has developed several quarterbacks to very good careers. It’s just too much work to be head coach and gm. He tried it once and it failed.

  24. This has to be over the decision to move up for that QB. Nothing else could have split a franchise and make an owner choose but something like that since he was such a polarizing prospect, and undoubtedly Reid was the one pushing for it while I couldn’t see Dorsey all in on that.

  25. Andy Reid will be the de facto GM cause he has to have his hand in everything. This is how the Eagles eventually tanked.
    ===

    How did they tank?

    5 NFC Championship games. 1 Super Bowl. Playoff wins most every year… took him only 3 years to get that team to elite status.

    Its a shame he didn’t win a Super Bowl, I have to suffer through Mike McCarthy. I get the frustration.

    He didn’t tank. He just couldn’t beat great teams in his era. Tampa, The Greatest Show on Turf, Belichicks Pats…. how many teams in this era have to say the exact same thing?

  26. Dorsey was a good judge of talent, but a horrible negotiator. Contracts like Charles, Houston and Berry have killed the Chiefs cap. He also gave up way too much moving up in the first round to get Maholmes.

  27. Dorsey is well connected and will land on his feet. Nobody is doubting that. Andy Reid is one of the smartest football guys around. He’s also well connected. Andy knows the league inside and out. He probably has someone already in mind to come in and run the show. I thought Patrick Mahomes was the unquestionable #1 player in the country last year, so the future looks very bright. Everybody involved will be alright.

  28. I didn’t renew my Chiefs Season Tix because of the way the Chiefs handled Maclin.

    Beyond Tyreke Hill, there is zero talent in the Chiefs WR corps.

    Also didn’t like the way the dumped Jamal Charles.

    Thanks John Dorsey for really screwing the Chiefs over.

  29. The Philly media kept polluting the minds of the viscous fans that Andy Reid wasn’t the man and it was time for them to move on.
    HOW IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU? Your a dumpster fire now.
    K.C. did the right thing. Andy Reid is a kind caring man who can also be a tough guy. All I know is his players will go to WAR for him and leave it all on the field. That is rare in today’s game. Nice FIRE by K.C. That GM lost the war.

  30. Same thing happened around 15 years ago. The Eagles fired Tom Modrak, extended Reid, and gave Reid full authority over personnel. Look for Reid to be running the whole show in KC. Bob LaMonte, his agent, has done this before.

  31. IF Andy Reid was really behind his termination, I would think it would take far too long, burn through too much clock, and wind up with no time for Reid to recover the on-side kick.

  32. John Dorsey is highly regarded in GB. He has that 1st experience under his belt now. He knows what he would have done differently. There’s nothing like an on the job training. I think he would be a better GM in waiting than Wolf just because of the experience. He knows talent.

  33. vegaskid21 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 6:08 PM
    Dorsey was a good judge of talent, but a horrible negotiator. Contracts like Charles, Houston and Berry have killed the Chiefs cap. He also gave up way too much moving up in the first round to get Maholmes.
    ************************************
    Just so ya know vegaskid, most GM’s do not negotiate contracts. That’s the job of the Vice President of Football Administration/Player Finance. He’s the “CAP” guy.
    I’m sure the GM has some say. Probably the team pres too.

  34. aarons444 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 5:33 PM
    He helped mold Brett Favre from an out of control lunatic into a Hall of Famer.

    .. much, much better than coaches including Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, and others
    ====

    Both False.

    Reid took over as QB coach in 1997.

    Favre had already won 2 MVP Awards, and had been a starter for 5 seasons.

    .. and Shanahan won 2 Super Bowls.

    People forget how absolutely dominant that 1998 team was. They crushed their opponents. Hands down better than any Andy Reid-coached team.
    =====================

    Reid joined the staff in 1992, the same year that Favre arrived. He may not have been the actual QB coach until 97, but he was part of the offensive staff that helped develop Favre from the very start, and Favre has credited him as such.

    And I wasn’t saying Reid was a better coach than Shanahan, I was saying his percentage of seasons making the playoffs is much higher than Shanahan’s over the same period of time. Which is a fact.

  35. Dorsey’s contract was thru the 2017 season, Thompson’s contract runs thru the 2018 draft. Wolf has not proven he can lead an organization. I would not be surprised if he is hired as an advisor this season with the Packers and works with TT on the draft. Next spring TT will move to Texas and run the southwest scouting area… he has already said this his want. Sometimes two plus two does equal four.

  36. Just read that Dorsey bought a home in Door County last year… He is a Packer thru and thru… Let me be the first to welcome him home.

  37. aarons444 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 4:36 PM
    Rumors have been floating that Dorsey may be going back to Green Bay.
    ===

    Ted Thompson is only 63 years old, and Eliot Wolf has the EXACT same personnel backround as Dorsey.

    I guess if the Packers Executive Committee isn’t willing to give Wolf the reigns at his age (35).. or whenever that time comes in the next few years.

    Ijust don’t see it. It’s not a natural fit at this point for Dorsey to return. Not unless Thompson is through.
    __

    Not a natural fit for Dorsey to return you say? He’s well regarded among the Packers organization and I believe his kids still live in the area. In addition, it’s been floated that the Packers think he’d be a better fit as the next GM than Wolf. That’s plenty of reason to think a reunion is possible.

  38. bigdawg24 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 6:32 PM
    I didn’t renew my Chiefs Season Tix because of the way the Chiefs handled Maclin.

    Beyond Tyreke Hill, there is zero talent in the Chiefs WR corps.

    Also didn’t like the way the dumped Jamal Charles.

    Thanks John Dorsey for really screwing the Chiefs over.
    __

    Why is Maclin getting so much love from Chiefs fans? He’s a #2 on a good offense at best. With Dump Off Smith unwilling to chuck the ball more than 7 yards, Maclin had no use in that offense. He wasn’t a real threat and the emergence of Hill basically paved the way for Maclin and his contract to be shown the door.

    Charles is a geezer who hasn’t seen the field in years, so what about his departure didn’t sit well with you?

  39. phila eagles version 2.o

    eagles got good, and in order to keep reid, lurie agreed to reid’s demand for consolidated power ie both HC and GM and fired then GM tom modrak

    same thing just happened in kc. reid probably said, “if you want to keep me, i want consolidated power.”

    good bye john dorsey

    kc was exposed last yr in a very winable afc div gm at home vs pitt. just like eagles were exposed in nfc champ gms under reid…2001-2003…at stl in a gm eagles led at halftime, then at home to tampa bay and carolina

    kc is on the slow boat to….divisionally, oak will dominate and kc will fight denv and other afc teams outside of div for WC

  40. The way Reid gushed about Mahomes, compared him to Farve, it doesn’t make sense that it was Dorsey’s decision and Reid objected to it.
    More likely that Dorsey didn’t want to give up the draft choice with the better crop of QBs coming in next year, many of whom are more polished than Mahomes.

  41. Please dear lord, let Andy take over the GM duties for the Chiefs. It will be so much fun to watch him try to get his selection in on time on draft day. Go Andy GO!

  42. Is it just me, or is the whole timing of firing/hiring GM’s and coaches gone wacko?

  43. aarons444 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 5:43 PM
    The Chiefs gave Andy Reid control of the personnel, what a colossal mistake.
    ====
    With personnel control in Philly he went to 5 NFCC Games, including 4 in a row, and went to the Super Bowl in 2004.
    ********************************************
    If winning regular season games and then choking in the playoffs is your thing, then you’re in business with this guy.

    He is exactly like Marvin Lewis and Marty Schottenheimer.

  44. Rumor is Dorsey wanted a huge raise and that, coupled with cap/dead money issues led to Dorsey being let go. I think it’s a mistake. He drafted and found a lot of good football players layers. Rebuilt the chiefs that were trash when he took over. I hate how Dorsey handled the jamaal and maclin cuts, the salary cap and not signing big $$$ players early. I think Reid won a power struggle and will hand pick someone he knows to be the gm. But I think chiefs are not better off today without Dorsey.

  45. Not a natural fit for Dorsey to return you say? He’s well regarded among the Packers organization and I believe his kids still live in the area. In addition, it’s been floated that the Packers think he’d be a better fit as the next GM than Wolf. That’s plenty of reason to think a reunion is possible.

    5 1
    Report comment

    ———–

    No offense, but if Dorsey is “well regarded” among the Packers organization, then the Packers will continue to waste Aaron Rodgers’s HOF career.

    They are a middling roster and have been for years.

    I think it’s funny how the media says something, fans assume things, and somehow a team like the Packers is seen as some juggernaut when they allow 30+ points a game every year.

    Dorsey can’t hold BB or Caserio’s jock.

  46. “tylawspick6 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 5:08 PM
    that trade on draft day did him in

    mahomes has bust written all over him”

    No. Even if Mahomes has bust written all over him(which very few people that know QBs have said) – it would take Clark Hunt, Andy Reid and Dorsey agreeing to make that pick. So, no, that’s not what did him in.

  47. And I wasn’t saying Reid was a better coach than Shanahan, I was saying his percentage of seasons making the playoffs is much higher than Shanahan’s over the same period of time. Which is a fact.
    =====

    I can’t, and won’t toss out the 2 Super Bowls Shanahan won. And his 1998 team has a case as the best of that decade.

    Ask Denver fans if they’d trade 1997 and 1998 for a bunch more Wild Card and Divisional round wins?!

  48. Not a natural fit for Dorsey to return you say? He’s well regarded among the Packers organization and I believe his kids still live in the area. In addition, it’s been floated that the Packers think he’d be a better fit as the next GM than Wolf. That’s plenty of reason to think a reunion is possible.
    =====

    I agree with you that Dorsey is an easier sell than Wolf as Thompsons replacement.

    But where do you put Dorsey if you bring him back today, or this year? To the LETTER, Wolfs resume is the same as Dorseys. Its just not an easy fit.

    … if they do bring Dorsey back though, it’s pretty clear he’s the heir to the throne.

  49. Reid joined the staff in 1992, the same year that Favre arrived. He may not have been the actual QB coach until 97, but he was part of the offensive staff that helped develop Favre from the very start, and Favre has credited him as such.
    =====

    Favre had been through 2 QB coaches at before Andy (Mooch, Mornhinweg)

    I love Andy, I’m still sick he didn’t take over for Holmgren when he left for Seattle. But its a tough sell painting Reid as a main factor in Favres development. The heavy lifting was done by 1997. Favre was MVP, and the Packers were at the top of the mountain.

  50. But where do you put Dorsey if you bring him back today, or this year? To the LETTER, Wolfs resume is the same as Dorseys. Its just not an easy fit.
    *****************************************
    He could be an assistant to the GM or maybe called a consultant. There’s always the chance Dorsey and Wolf could be GM and Asst GM. Eliot could use a couple more years of experience. He’s only 35.

  51. Clark: John did you just extend Andy?
    Dorsey: Yes wasn’t I supposed to?
    Clark: Uh Well we were going to use this year’s one and done in the playoffs as grounds to let him go.
    Dorsey: …
    Clark: Excuse me i need to set out and make a phone call.
    2 minutes pass. Clark Hunt returns.
    Clark: John you should go home and check your voice mail.

  52. Andy was hired as HC by Hunt before Dorsey was hired to be the GM that offseason. Which seems backwards.

    Basically Andy is “the guy”, and if there were ever to be a rift between Andy and whomever the Chiefs GM is, Andy wins.
    Besides, Andy was going to eventually get the GM duties like he did in Philly. At minimum he will get to handpick the eventual replacement

  53. tylawspick6 says:
    Jun 22, 2017 4:47 PM
    I am always laughing at these supposed great protege types who get hired away from supposed side-arms of these supposed great GMs.

    Ted Thompson hasn’t had a defense in almost a decade yet somehow Glenn Dorsey is to be considered great?

    And now, Ballard in Indy? Laughable.

    Why don’t you win a division first and then pretend you’re pretty good?
    ———————————————————————
    The Chiefs won their division last year so there’s that…

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