Chiefs coach Herm Edwards did his best not to sound like a lame duck as he summed up his third year, a 2-14 season that probably will not merit a fourth go-round in Kansas City after a 4-12 campaign the previous year.

Even Edwards had to acknowledge there was little beyond player evaluations he could do while awaiting the hiring of a new general manager.

Whoever team chairman Clark Hunt hires -- and that hire will come from outside the current organization -- will have to make a decision, with Hunt having final approval, on Edwards' status.

In his season-ending press conference Monday, Edwards was the captain of the sinking ship still insisting he did the right thing this year in rebuilding an aging Chiefs team from scratch with virtually no help from free agency. Playing as many as four rookie starters on defense, and two other starters with less than two years of experience, the Chiefs set a team record for most yards allowed (6,291) and a league record for fewest sacks recorded (10).

"There are still pieces missing, but that can be corrected in the draft and some in free agency," Edwards said in making his case that his young team made progress this year.

"I thought for the last couple of years we've drafted very well. These players (from the last two drafts) have all been starters for the most part. They will be the future of this football team."

That, of course, depends on the evaluation a new general manager makes of the players drafted by Edwards and outgoing president/GM Carl Peterson. And until those evaluations are made, a lot of players are as uncertain of their futures as their coaches are.

"I try not to think about it," said third-year free safety Jarrad Page, a productive young player whose future should be safe. "So many scenarios go through your head. Who could it be in the end (as the coach)? What kind of guy would it be? I don't know."

Neither does anybody else. And until Hunt makes his biggest move since assuming control of the team following the 2006 death of his father, Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, his club remains in limbo.

"I'm not free to do anything right now but evaluate our players," Edwards said of his current duties. "When we find out who the GM is, he'll come in and decide what he wants.

"We'll just do what football coaches do. We'll do our job. We're going to continue to evaluate our players and get ready for the Senior Bowl. Start looking at college players.

"I'm not going to defend how I coach. I don't need to do that. My tenure will tell you how I coach, and it's not on one year, one season or two seasons. It's cumulative. That speaks for itself."

And a 15-33 record over three seasons doesn't argue a strong case.