INDIANAPOLIS -- Linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali are longtime standouts for the Kansas City Chiefs and each played well enough last season to be selected to play in the Pro Bowl.
But in football terms, they’re getting old. Johnson will turn 34 next season, Hali 33. Both players are potential unrestricted free agents.
That means the Chiefs are faced with among the most difficult decisions a franchise can make, ones that can impact them for years: when to say when on aging but still productive players.
General manager John Dorsey indicated at the NFL scouting combine that the Chiefs were interested in re-signing both players, going so far when asked specifically about Johnson to say, “We’re not going to let good football players go.