"Hiring a head coach is only the first big choice the Chiefs will make in the next few weeks. Then come the decisions on whether to re-sign the 22 players who don't have contracts for the 2012 season.

Some are frontline players such as wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs' leading pass catcher for the last three seasons, and cornerback Brandon Carr.

Others are less crucial but still useful players such as linebacker Jovan Belcher, safety Jon McGraw and pass rusher Wallace Gilberry. Then there's quarterback Kyle Orton, who led the Chiefs to two victories in his three starts at the end of the season.

"The team will get together and determine free agents that are on the list and prioritize those guys and try to go after them," interim head coach Romeo Crennel said last week at his season-ending news conference. "Just like every other team in the NFL, they are looking at the potential free agents and prioritizing those guys and determining who they may want to go after, so then we'll have to see how it plays out."