"The old personnel man wants a promise you won't use his name. He will talk to you, and say exactly what he thinks, but doesn't want to be the one using a public forum like the local newspaper to tell Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli how to do his job.

It's just that the man spent a few decades being paid to evaluate NFL talent and he can't look at the Chiefs without seeing what he thinks is obvious.

"They need a quarterback," the man says. "Matt Cassel is fine, but look at the league now, the way things are, you need to do better than Matt Cassel. At least bring in someone to compete."

This is the Chiefs' major decision now. It is real, even if the decision-makers are maintaining their usual silence. Cassel is the incumbent, and there are no indications that the most important opinions on him are wavering.

But the costs of moving on have never been lower, the potential benefits never been higher, and the timing never better. The easy thing is to see that the Chiefs need to get better at quarterback.

The harder thing is thinking through the options and making the necessary sacrifices."