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 Cave Johnson:
Heard from a source at the AFCCG tailgate (not going to disclose) that Jones wants $54M guaranteed and that Pat was willing to take a discount to keep him.
But I still think the draft capital we get in return is exactly what this team needs more than anything, in fact I think our lack of low round picks this year really limits Veach's ability to move around in the draft. All that changes if we trade Jones.
So before the cap increase we can be up to nearly 44M in cap space.
After extending Mahomes, I'd really prefer to spend a little money on the offensive live if you could install a guy like Brandon Scherff at one of the guard spots I think you do it. He's young and can rebuild around him. Fisher and Schwartz are both here for the next couple years, but we need to start looking at the long term shape of the line. For now I think I roll the dice on LDT, but if I could trade him for something I'd do it, even if its just draft picks or something.
Besides some low end free agents, we we have to plug some holes in the secondary. I think keeping Fuller is more important than Sorenson. I'd love to keep Breeland but not sure that is going to be possible. I guess we will see if he wants to stay here, if not I think we sign a vet like Harris.
In the end I still just don't see how you can pay Jones and do the rest of this. And regardless of what we do, I think we have to get cheap at entrain positions, like full back, punter, WR outside of Hill, and RB.
I like the idea of cutting Sorenson IF they're keeping Fuller and converting him to S. With Fuller, once Thornhill is back and healthy, you have three S who can be used to cover the slot, or used as the deep safety, who are fast and tackle well and can be used as box safeties as needed in the 3-safety nickel.
Sorenson is actually OK to me at his current cap number for next year if they don't think they can play in the Fuller market, as it's pretty small/reasonable.
I like the rest of that, though I probably cut LDT as well as/instead of Erving and keep Okafor (who was kind of coming on before tearing his pec and would cost more to cut this year than keep). [Reply]
Gotta find a way to make it happen, our interior rush was nonexistent when he was out... and there’s no guarantee some rookie can step right in [Reply]
They can absolutely keep him with the anticipated rise in cap coming. Remember, that first year tends to be a team friendly cap number in these situations [Reply]
I think the fact Clark Hunt seems in no hurry to extend Mahomes in spite of the fact that he gets more expensive every year says a lot. Also the fact he is on the finance committee means he probably knows something we don’t. Because of this I expect QB salaries to impact the cap differently which should free up money for us to sign Jones long term. [Reply]
Can we franchise him two years in a row? If we can, I just do that. I don't know why teams don't use the franchise tag more liberally. I'd franchise tag mother ****ers left and right if I was an owner. I realize you only get one a year, but I'd damn well make sure I'm using it almost every year. Man, they would hate me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tredadda:
I think the fact Clark Hunt seems in no hurry to extend Mahomes in spite of the fact that he gets more expensive every year says a lot. Also the fact he is on the finance committee means he probably knows something we don’t. Because of this I expect QB salaries to impact the cap differently which should free up money for us to sign Jones long term.
I think you're on to something here.
Plus, think about who some of the most influential owners in the league are.
Jerry Jones: Who is about to be stuck with a mediocre QB eating up a bunch of their cap.
Robert Kraft: Who is about to be stuck with an old QB eating up a bunch of their cap.
Stan Kroenke: Who is already stuck with a mediocre QB eating up a bunch of their cap.
Clark Hunt: Who stands to gain a lot by a separate QB cap.
I think this is something that may actually happen because the power brokers are going to demand it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Can we franchise him two years in a row? If we can, I just do that. I don't know why teams don't use the franchise tag more liberally. I'd franchise tag mother ****ers left and right if I was an owner. I realize you only get one a year, but I'd damn well make sure I'm using it almost every year. Man, they would hate me.
It costs money to use the franchise tag. You have to pay the average salary of the the top five players in the league so it’s still expensive. [Reply]
But I still think the draft capital we get in return is exactly what this team needs more than anything, in fact I think our lack of low round picks this year really limits Veach's ability to move around in the draft. All that changes if we trade Jones.
So before the cap increase we can be up to nearly 44M in cap space.
After extending Mahomes, I'd really prefer to spend a little money on the offensive live if you could install a guy like Brandon Scherff at one of the guard spots I think you do it. He's young and can rebuild around him. Fisher and Schwartz are both here for the next couple years, but we need to start looking at the long term shape of the line. For now I think I roll the dice on LDT, but if I could trade him for something I'd do it, even if its just draft picks or something.
Besides some low end free agents, we we have to plug some holes in the secondary. I think keeping Fuller is more important than Sorenson. I'd love to keep Breeland but not sure that is going to be possible. I guess we will see if he wants to stay here, if not I think we sign a vet like Harris.
In the end I still just don't see how you can pay Jones and do the rest of this. And regardless of what we do, I think we have to get cheap at entrain positions, like full back, punter, WR outside of Hill, and RB.
Yeah I think that this pretty much puts things in perspective. If we pay Jones, we will have very little money to do anything else, even if we get rid of some of the other guys.
I love Jones and wish we could keep him, but it’s either him or the ability to add 3 other solid players+ a cost controlled 1st rd pick.
Ideally I’d like to get a 1st for Jones and use our first 3 picks on defense, WR and IOL. It’s just too good of a WR class to not take one early, especially when you’re replacing a $21 million luxury with a cheap cost controlled player. [Reply]
Look, we all see how incredible Jones is and the impact that he had on the interior pass rush from game to game. There was a clear drop off there with the games he didn’t play in. But the conversation isn’t as simple once his price tag goes up 18-20x what it was this season.
Now the debate becomes is Chris Jones alone > 3-4 other starters that would come via draft pick compensation and the cap space that moving on from him would save. I don’t have that answer definitively, and it could go good or bad either way depending on unknown circumstances.
We could keep Jones and if he continues to dominate and remain healthy, it may turn out to be the right call. Or his body could break down incrementally to the point where it resembles other bad contracts of the past.
If he’s traded, it could turn into 3-4 other quality starters that help them get better in those positions to win another SB, or they could make shitty draft picks and signings to where it doesn’t work out at all.
The Chiefs are either keeping a great player at the expense of being a little worse in a few other spots, or vise versa. It will be bittersweet either way. Logistically though I expect them to move on if they get a decent offer. [Reply]
