The agent for free-agent wide receiver Brian Hartline went on a Miami radio station Friday morning and mentioned the Kansas City Chiefs as being among the teams interested in his client. Hartline was recently released by the Miami Dolphins.
The agent, Drew Rosenhaus, suggested Hartline may wait until after the free-agency signing period starts next week to pick a destination.
"He's got some options right now," Rosenhaus said. "We may wait until free agency starts and you've got the merry-go-round. You've going to start to have teams lose receivers and there are a lot of guys that should sign quickly like Torrey Smith and Jeremy Maclin and Randall Cobb. There's going to be quite a bit of movement and a player of Brian's stock could move up as teams lose guys."
I thought Hartline would have been a great fit for the Chiefs in 2013 when he was a potential free agent and Andy Reid had just arrived as head coach. But Hartline signed a new deal at that time with the Dolphins instead.
Hartline's production dropped off greatly last season, and the Dolphins evidently felt he was no longer worth the $5.9 million he was scheduled to make this year. After catching a total of 150 passes in 2012 and 2013 and going over 1,000 yards in each season, Hartline slumped to 39 catches for 474 yards last season.
It's worth the Chiefs' time to investigate why. Rosenhaus also mentioned the Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans as potential landing spots for Hartline, so more teams than just the Chiefs believe his drop in production last season is reversible.
In any case, Hartline may not be the No. 1 wide receiver the Chiefs desperately need, but he could be part of the solution and an upgrade over Donnie Avery, A.J. Jenkins and perhaps even Dwayne Bowe.