When the Chiefs sent a second round pick to the Patriots in the spring of 2009 to acquire quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel, the general consensus around the league was pretty positive, in that Kansas City had finally found a player they could work with for years to come at the QB position.

But after a lackluster first season, in which he matched his touchdown total with the same amount of interceptions (16 in both cases), and a poor start to this season, the Chiefs seem likely to move on in a different direction once the season is complete.

That expectation was brought out into the open earlier this evening, by NFL.com’s Jason LaCanfora, who put together a nice piece outlining the teams in need of an upgrade at the quarterback position.

It’s doubtful that the Chiefs will say anything at all with regard to Cassel’s true future with the franchise, given the veil of silence imposed by general manager Scott Pioli, but if Cassel continues to struggle it will be difficult for the team to continue to suppress any notions of his imminent departure in the off-season.

That said, Kansas City hasn’t exactly surrounded Cassel with premier talent at key positions, aside from running back, so any analysis has to take the lack of quality receivers and blocking from the offensive line into account before digging into Cassel’s production.

In any case, the Chiefs will almost certainly have to assess the quarterback situation with caution next off-season, taking a close look at just how far they’ll be able to go with Cassel at the helm.

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