I appreciate Watkins being open about this. Curious to see if the Chiefs would be cool with him skipping OTAs if we signed a team friendly extension. I do think this really cools the trade market for him. Going to be interesting.
Originally Posted by :
Sammy Watkins spent part of the week leading up to Super Bowl LIV musing that he might take a year off from football if the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
Two days after K.C. hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after knocking off the San Francisco 49ers, Watkins told SiriusXM NFL Radio that he is still considering some sort of break from the game this offseason, whether he's a member of the Chiefs or not.
"At the end of the day, I think the Kansas City Chiefs are in control as far as contract talks, you know? A guy of my stature, I'm still young, I still think I have a lot of good football in me. But as you know, it takes a toll on the body, the mental, the physical and I'm gonna really weigh my options out and see if I need to sit out the whole OTAs or something like that, just to get my mental back and be with my kids and family," Watkins said. "It's been a long season for the last two years. We've been in the playoffs, going all the way to the third round last year, then won the Super Bowl. So I honestly think mentally, physically, soulfully, spiritually, I need some downtime. So I will talk to coach [Andy] Reid about it.
"I don't control the contract, a trade or if they're going to give me a bigger contract. That's not my worry. I'm not really focused on the money aspect of it. I'm really focused on my health, mental health and really checking in on and making sure I'm OK with my life, my family, my wife, my kids. Once I figure that out, I think I'll be fine."
After four seasons with the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams, Watkins signed a three-year deal worth $48 million with Kansas City during the 2018 offseason. After two so-so regular seasons and two spectacular postseasons, during which he dealt with injuries and played in 29 games, Watkins has one year left on his deal and is owed $14 million in 2020. However, if the Chiefs were to move on from Watkins, they would take on only $7 million in dead cap.
All this begs questions in the offseason as to whether K.C. want to retain Watkins at that price, whether the Chiefs will try to trade the receiver or whether they will renegotiate his deal. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported last week that Kansas City is more likely to trade or release Watkins. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero said Tuesday afternoon that the Chiefs want to work something out with Watkins, though it won't be easy.
And then there's the query as to whether Watkins is willing to play on a pay cut or at all, given his recent comments. The receiver answered that definitively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, saying he has no intention to walk away.
"I'm too young to retire. I have not done enough yet, you know what I mean?" Watkins said. "Why not go win another championship and continue to be great? ... Be a Pro Bowl receiver. Be an All-Pro. There are a lot of things I haven't accomplished yet being. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest accomplishments in this league but I haven't did the individual goals yet and hopefully I can accomplish those next year either with the Kansas City Chiefs or another team.
"Those are the little things I want to hit, not to be selfish, but those are things I haven't really done in my career and those are things I want to do. Hopefully the next eight, nine years if I continue to be blessed and play that long, that I have those Hall of Fame numbers that I'm shooting for. Those are the dreams that I still haven't accomplished yet and those are the things I still want to accomplish."
At just 26 years old, Watkins has already reached the peak of professional football. But as he said, the receiver has not reached his personal goals. A 2014 first-round pick, Watkins has yet to reach the Pro Bowl or be voted to an All-Pro team. He has gone over 1,000 receiving yards in a season just once and averaged 707.3 yards per year through six campaigns. After scoring eight touchdowns in 2017, Watkins has logged just six in the past two regular seasons.
Now that he has won the Super Bowl, these are the numbers that stand out to him, the things to drive him to want to play on, for Kansas City or another team.
All Watkins needs is a little time off to get his head (and contract situation) right.
Originally Posted by RunKC:
It would be similar to Frank Clark’s trade. Sammy gets traded and the new team gives him a new long term deal. New team gets the early low cap hits with a backloaded contract, Sammy gets another payday + $7 million from us next year.
Win/win for everybody involved
That is a completely different situation, the odds of the Chiefs trading him is very low. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
It would be similar to Frank Clark’s trade. Sammy gets traded and the new team gives him a new long term deal. New team gets the early low cap hits with a backloaded contract, Sammy gets another payday + $7 million from us next year.
Win/win for everybody involved
Why? They could trade for him and he would have a $14 million dollar cap hit. And they could cut him without losing anything but the pick they used to trade for him. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
Cause when every team knows you have to do something with the contract and it's an insanely deep WR year, they'll just wait you out.
Not always. A team will be more apt to trade for him if they don’t think they’ll have a legitimate shot at him on the open market. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Mecole is at least two more years from becoming a legit WR2. Think about it. It took Jerry freaking Rice three years to become a legit WR. His first two seasons were pretty forgettable.
Anyone seriously think that Mecole Hardman, who only played WR for a season or two in college, with a much more complicated playbook to learn than what Jerry had to digest, is really going to just "get it" after one season?
Not sure about this. Tyreek became a viable no. 1 in his second year. If Mecole improves as much as Tyreek, he's easily a viable no. 2.
However, I think Tyreek's rapid development is somewhat unusual. [Reply]
I don’t like the thought of just cutting him. I think Denver would go after him hard and that would suck
Because of his contract. No one is gonna trade for a WR who couldn’t put up #1 WR numbers with Mahomes as your QB and has only 1 year left for a 21 mil cap hit [Reply]
Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!:
Because of his contract. No one is gonna trade for a WR who couldn’t put up #1 WR numbers with Mahomes as your QB and has only 1 year left for a 21 mil cap hit
His cap hit is his base salary. $13.75 million. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyV13:
Not sure about this. Tyreek became a viable no. 1 in his second year. If Mecole improves as much as Tyreek, he's easily a viable no. 2.
However, I think Tyreek's rapid development is somewhat unusual.
Tyreek was still more of a gadget player/return guy in his second year. Just go watch him run routes in year 2 vs. year 3. And Tyreek was a WR in college.
Mecole is starting from a point of far less experience at the position.
Look, you want to believe that Mecole is some kind of WR savant that will be the next Jerry Rice next year, go ahead. But I'm telling you he won't even be as good as Tyreek in his second year. He has a long way to go to be a legitimate WR2. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
It would be similar to Frank Clark’s trade. Sammy gets traded and the new team gives him a new long term deal. New team gets the early low cap hits with a backloaded contract, Sammy gets another payday + $7 million from us next year.
Who knows just know if we do lose him we are going to have to sign a WR because if not we're putting a ton of hope in Hardman and then we don't really have a 3. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!:
What about Dez Bryant on a one year deal to replace D Rob?
Not sure why. Dez is not a good route runner, and will only work the boundaries. The only thing Dez has over DRob, from what I can tell, is that he has better hands, most of the time. Dez has had some terrible drops as well in his career.
And wouldn't Dez be a lot more expensive than DRob? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Not sure why. Dez is not a good route runner, and will only work the boundaries. The only thing Dez has over DRob, from what I can tell, is that he has better hands, most of the time. Dez has had some terrible drops as well in his career.
And wouldn't Dez be a lot more expensive than DRob?
Dez is trying to come back from injury. Would be cheap [Reply]