Kansas City Chiefs shake up front office, part ways with GM John Dorsey
The Kansas City Chiefs were full of news on Thursday afternoon.
First, they announced coach Andy Reid got an extension. Then they announced they are parting ways with general manager John Dorsey. The Reid extension was expected. The Dorsey firing was not.
Dorsey is done with the Chiefs, effective immediately. The team’s release said the two sides “agreed to part ways” after Dorsey was informed his contract wouldn’t be extended beyond this season. Dorsey is just the sixth general manager in team history, and had been with Kansas City since January of 2013, when he and Reid were brought in to turn around a 2-14 team. Dorsey was in the final year of his contract.
“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,” Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. “This decision, while a difficult one, allows John to pursue other opportunities as we continue our preparations for the upcoming season and the seasons to come. My family and I sincerely appreciate John’s work over the last four-and-a-half years, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
It’s a surprise considering the Chiefs are coming off a very good season. They went 12-4, won the AFC West and had the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. They lost their playoff opener to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it was a close game and still was a successful season for Kansas City.
Reid has always had a major say in personnel, so it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs’ front-office structure looks like going forward without Dorsey, the long-time, respected personnel man.
Either way, it’s a major shakeup for an organization that has become one of the NFL’s steadiest over the past four seasons.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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