Kansas City, Mo. ? Trent Green soon will be facing something he’s never known as Kansas City’s starting quarterback: competition for his job.

Green, who turns 37 in July, showed signs in November and December of slowing in a productive career that saw him throw for more yardage in 2001-05 than anyone but Peyton Manning.

Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said Thursday he had not changed his mind about Green being the starter heading into what is certain to be an offseason of changes at Arrowhead Stadium. But it was certainly not a ringing endorsement of a quarterback who threw nine interceptions and seven touchdown passes after missing eight games with a severe concussion. Green also had three turnovers in each of the last two games.

“A lot of things could change,” Edwards said in a season wrap-up meeting with the media. “But right now he’s the starter. And right now when we start the 2007 season, there’ll be competition. And I think that’s the key.”

Edwards and general manager Carl Peterson both said major personnel changes were in store for Kansas City, which finished the regular season 9-7 in Edwards’ first year and was embarrassingly bad on offense in losing to Indianapolis 23-8 in the playoffs.

“There will be some tough decisions, no doubt about it. There will be some unpopular decisions at times,” Edwards said.

For more than a decade, the Chiefs’ approach to offseason improvement has been to patch holes, without any major personnel overhauls. This has allowed them to avoid the kind of 3-13, 4-12 seasons that sour fans and get coaches and front office workers fired.

But it also has meant no playoff wins since 1994, and the offense is creaking at most positions with 30-something starters, particularly on the line. Many fans say the team should rebuild and start over.

Peterson declined to tip his hand.

“Regarding player personnel, Herm and I together with our coaches are in the process of determining who we would like to come back,” Peterson said, “who we’re going to let go to free agency to see what the market is.”

It’s unclear what perennial Pro Bowlers Will Shields and Tony Gonzalez will do.

Shields, who almost retired last year, is expected to give Peterson his decision after he competes next month in his 12th Pro Bowl.

Gonzalez, an eight-time Pro Bowl tight end, turned 30 this season and is an unrestricted free agent who has said he would take a chance to get to the Super Bowl over extra money.

Peterson said he spoke with Gonzalez’s agent on Wednesday night.

“We’ve been making proposals and counter proposals. Will we get it done? I’m always optimistic,” he said. “If we can’t get it done, we do have the franchise tag, which I’ve used before on Tony. They know that and we know that. I’m still very optimistic that we’ll get a multiyear deal done.”

Kansas City quarterback trent green throws during warmups before a game in St. Louis this season. Green, along with the rest of the Chiefs' starters, could face job competition before the 2007 season kicks off in September.

But Edwards did make it clear he’d be retooling for the long term.

“I don’t know if you blow it up,” he said. “Obviously, we have some hard decisions to make. But they’re not that hard. They kind of take care of themselves if you do it methodically and you look at what you want to look as a football team two years down the road and further. That’s the whole key. It can’t be one season. It has to be what are you going to look like next season and the season to come.”

As he has done often in his first season, Edwards seemed to take a few swipes at his predecessor, Dick Vermeil, who built a top-of-the-line offense but managed only one playoff appearance in a five-year reign. Statistically, the offense under Edwards dropped from No. 1 in the league to the middle of the pack and was very different from the exciting ground-gobbling attack of the Vermeil era.

“I don’t care if we’re in the top five in offense. I really don’t,” Edwards said. “Those are stats you put up when you don’t go to the playoffs. ‘We had the top offense, we had this circus out here.’ That makes everyone feel good.

“But I’d rather go to the playoffs than have the top offense. I want to win playoffs. I want to win championships. I’m not about stats. I’m about getting to the playoffs and winning.”