“We’re going to continue to talk to Brandon and his agent,” Pioli said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. “If we can come to a deal that makes sense for both sides, then hopefully we’ll be able to keep him here.”

But a deal with Carr may be unrealistic now that the Chiefs have signed veteran free-agent cornerback Stanford Routt to a three-year contract worth almost $20 million. The Chiefs last fall extended the contract of starting cornerback Brandon Flowers. That deal will pay Flowers an average of $9.75 million over the next five seasons.

So the Chiefs are already heavily invested in their secondary and their defense in general. Six of their seven highest-paid players for 2012 are defensive players and three, Flowers, Routt and safety Eric Berry, are defensive backs.