Interesting article here. Not a huge fan of Verderame but he was at the Super Bowl and he does go to the combine. I think he gets some tips, albeit from Terez (who is a nice guy).
Here is the most interesting part of the article. 2021 and 2022 would be extremely difficult to manage.
Originally Posted by :
What the Chiefs can do with their money
Looking at Kansas City’s cap situation, it can release wide receiver Sammy Watkins and linebacker Damien Wilson, clearing out $18.5 million in space. Combined with rollover money and already existing room, that’s enough cash for Veach to tag Jones, re-sign a few other pending free agents and extend Patrick Mahomes.
Speaking of Mahomes, the 24-year-old quarterback is likely to soon be the highest-paid player in the league. This is another important factor to consider.
Let’s play GM for a moment and do the following to the Chiefs’ roster:
•Cut Sammy Watkins
•Cut Damien Wilson
•Cut Cam Erving
Extend Patrick Mahomes on a five-year, $200 million deal
Use franchise tag on Chris Jones
Allow $10 million for free agents and draft picks
Keep $2 million in emergency space
Using the Jared Goff and Carson Wentz extension structures as a template, Mahomes’ cap hit would approximately be $11 million this season. Factor in Jones’ tag and the $12 million outlined above, and Kansas City is laying out $35 million.
The Chiefs could do it. But while it’s palatable for 2020, what about 2021 and beyond?
If Kansas City gave Mahomes the aforementioned extension, his cap number would be enormous in 2021, potentially the full $40 million figure. If the Chiefs also signed Jones to Clark’s exact deal, the cap number would be $22.7 million in 2021.
If we account for a slight rise in the NFL salary cap both this year and next, it’ll be around $210 million. Under these parameters, Kansas City would be looking at the following cap hits in 2021:
Patrick Mahomes ($40M)
Frank Clark ($24.2M)
Chris Jones ($22.7)
Tyrann Mathieu ($19.7M)
Tyreek Hill ($15.7M)
In total, the top five players on the Chiefs would be earning $122.3 million, or 58 percent of the salary cap.
Going into this offseason with a projected $200 million salary cap, only one team is currently allocating more than 50 percent to their top five players: the Los Angeles Rams at 54 percent.
Kansas City can always create cap space with extensions and releases, but tying up such a large chunk of money in five players is dangerous. The Chiefs would be largely unable to sign any other meaningful free agents for a few years — including their own — while being completely reliant on the draft to restock departing talent.
In his three years at the helm, Veach has proven to believe in acquiring top-shelf talent and filling in around them with low-cost, high-upside veteran deals (see: Damien Williams, Stefen Wisniewski, Mike Pennel) and rookie deals.
Jones certainly fits Veach’s profile. The question is if he fits into Kansas City’s payroll.
Originally Posted by tk13:
He's already won a Super Bowl. That ship is sailed, he's a household name now. Worst case he's firmly in that Marino, Rodgers, Farve camp, and they have no problem getting endorsements.
I just don't see any way Mahomes doesn't get the biggest contract ever. Everyone compares to Brady but he only started taking discounts later, his first big contract wasn't a discount.
He deserves every dime he and his agent demand. Home town discount is a fan’s fantasy. [Reply]
The Pats traded the best DT in the game at the time, on the last year of his rookie contract, to the Raiders for a 1st round pick. The Chiefs have to adhere to that mentality. If they can keep him, great. But his value drops as his salary rises imo.
As a team, the Chiefs can’t afford to fall in love with players. (Except Pat, and maybe TK.) [Reply]
We all would probably agree that Jones > Clark, at least by a little bit. But without trading for Clark, we probably don’t win the SB. But because we traded for Clark, we probably will have to trade Jones. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
Weird how this stuff works out.
We all would probably agree that Jones > Clark, at least by a little bit. But without trading for Clark, we probably don’t win the SB. But because we traded for Clark, we probably will have to trade Jones.
Fair. And hats off to Veach.
The inside/outside pass rush combo is fantastic, but this decision is all about economics. The only way I'd keep Jones is on a one year tag deal, but I'm sure he would be pissed. [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
I’ve got mixed feelings about it.
I do hate that the current cap situation somewhat punishes teams for drafting well and in particular drafting good QBs.
At the same time though, the cap is what’s keeping the NFL from becoming the NBA, where big money players simply choose who they want to buddy up with, and MLB where the richest teams simply buy all the good players.
So while it would help the Chiefs currently, I think it would be a bad move from a league wide perspective and might be detrimental to us down the road once we go back to being an unappealing small market team without a generational quarterback that everyone wants to play with.
It would have to be restricted. One player for each team eligible for this “separate cap” and a max salary of $50M for that player. If you are a team lucky enough to draft that player, you happily fork over the $45-50M and then have plenty of salary cap to build a proper team. The main salary cap would prevent the NBA type of stuff you are talking about. [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
So if Mahomes says, “Brett I want to take less money to help the team”, then Veach should say “No Pat, I insist on us making it harder to build a roster around you.”?
I don’t get your logic there. Why wouldn’t you let Mahomes take a pay cut if he’s willing to?
That'd be awesome.
It shouldn't be the expectation, though - as it's been for a lot of folks in the fandom. I'm not calling anyone out here specifically, but it has been an annoying talking point making the rounds in a lot of areas of the fandom. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
Weird how this stuff works out.
We all would probably agree that Jones > Clark, at least by a little bit. But without trading for Clark, we probably don’t win the SB. But because we traded for Clark, we probably will have to trade Jones.
I wouldn’t say that at all. Jones plays a more valuable position but he isn’t as accomplished or as flexible IMO.
Clark has averaged double-digit sacks a season in the 4 years he’s been a starter. He can destroy any TE (see Kittle from the SB), he can rush inside or outside and he’s a more complete player.
Jones is excellent at rushing from inside, but he’s not that great of a run stuffer and only has half the amount of years accomplished as Frank does. Frank also has a dawg’s mentality which was crucial for this defense mentally.
It’s very close, but I see why they traded for Frank despite having to pay Jones. [Reply]
This article is trying to explain how we keep Jones, but it's pretty much saying we can't keep him. After those cuts we have $10m for the draft and free agency? The draft could be $4-5m, so we somehow have to get a starting LB and two starting corners out of the draft and $6m of cap space, while also needing a DT, WR depth and making no improvements to the O line and not bring Wis back? [Reply]
