Chiefs looking to reach extension with Albert after trade with Miami dies

The Kansas City Chiefs have spent the past few weeks trying to convince the Miami Dolphins that they really need left tackle Branden Albert. A trade between the two teams appeared likely just before the draft last Thursday. Now, a week later, the trade appears all but dead, and the Chiefs are now turning their attention to working a new, long-term deal with Albert.

The Chiefs have 9.8 million reasons to try to get a long term deal with Albert in place, bringing down his huge salary cap number. The team will have to deal with the fallout of openly trying to trade their left tackle, even talking about the idea with numerous media outlets.

They also have to figure out how Albert fits in their offense now. Either the team will have their franchise tagged player playing right tackle, a position he has told the media he does not want to play, or they will put their first overall draft pick, Eric Fisher, on the right side of the line.

Either way, it does not make a lot of sense.

And, somewhere in there, is where Miami General Manager Jeff Ireland called Kansas City's bluff. During his appearance on NFL Total Access, Rapoport said the Dolphins never even offered the team the 54th overall pick everyone thought was the sticking point. Apparently, Ireland never went better than one of Miami's two third round picks. Miami had the leverage in the negotiations, knowing that Kansas City would have the backlog on the offensive line if they didn't make the trade, and knowing there were other options on the table for the Dolphins if a trade was not completed.

Now, the Dolphins have turned their attention to one of the free agent tackles available right now, and are leaving the Chiefs to deal with their overloaded depth chart. With those two third round choices, the Dolphins selected guard Dallas Thomas from Tennessee and, after trading out of the 82nd pick and back into the round at 93, cornerback Will Davis.

For the Chiefs fan perspective on the dead trade, check out Arrowhead Pride.