Kansas City Chiefs Eric Winston Thinks Release Wasn’t Performance Based

October 14, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tackle Eric Winston (74) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

One of the newest members of the free agent pool is former Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston. As soon as he hit the market he became incredibly coveted and his name was linked with the Houston Texans and the Miami Dolphins.

Obviously league officials think Winston can still perform and help any team at tackle. He was ranked 9th best at the position last year. Eric Winston joined Danny Perkins on KCSP in Kansas City to talk about being released by two teams in one year.

“I think it’s just more of a philosophical thing. … I’m just assuming, from the way the draft’s shaping up and then they decided to hold onto Branden Albert, it looks like they’ll probably end up taking a tackle,” Winston assumed, via Sports Radio Interviews.

“And if that’s where they go, you’re not gonna pay three guys a bunch of money. So if this draft maybe was different, maybe my situation would be different, or if they decided to let Branden test the free-agent market, maybe it would have been different that way. You can never tell with these kinds of things. I think there’s more of a philosophical thing going in a different direction.”

A classy and professional response though someone as coveted as he is on the free agent market might be more grateful than bitter as he heads towards a huge pay day. But he has nothing but good things to say about the Chiefs.

“They probably wanted to go a little younger, and I respect that. … A lot of teams sometimes aren’t up-front about it, they were up-front. I thought they did it the right way, and I have no problems with them.”

But the Chiefs told Winston it wasn’t his play.

“They made the comment that they thought I played well last year. I don’t think this has to do with performance or anything else; I think it just has to do with more where they see them going, I think not only in free agency but probably in April as well. … They could have held me for a while into April and got to the draft and end up taking a tackle and then releasing me there, so I respect the way they did it.”