Clark Hunt And The Chiefs Continue To Take Heat Over Pay Cuts

Earlier in the offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs made pay cuts across the organization to prepare for impending financial losses due to the NFL lockout. Now they are taking heat from a couple media sources that are calling the pay cuts unnecessary.

It started yesterday when Yahoo’s Mike Silver, who is not shy about his pro-player stance, called out Clark Hunt specifically by name, calling his decision to slash employee pay “unconscionable.”

Now the guys over at Pro Football Talk are piling on. One of their more recent posts is headlined “Chiefs should rescind lockout pay cuts.”

Here is a bit from the article:

Today, we’re compelled to specifically mention one team that has no legitimate reason to reduce employee pay, and to ask that team to stop doing it. Per the Kansas City Star, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt (pictured) has said that his team is “leading the league in new ticket sales by a significant margin.” And the Chiefs, like the Buccaneers, took full advantage of the absence of a spending minimum in 2010, with salary commitments as of the middle of September in the neighborhood of $90 million, well below the point at which the salary floor would have been.

So why are the Chiefs cutting employee pay during the lockout? It’s a question that every affected employee — and his or her family members — should be asking.

From profootballtalk.nbcsports.com (share this quote)

More after the jump.

It is doubtful that any amount of outcry from the media will get Hunt to change his mind. While the Chiefs may be doing well in ticket sales, thanks to their surprising and successful 2010 season, they could be hurting in other areas like sponsorship. The fact of the matter is that those calling for the Chiefs to rescind the pay cuts don’t know the team’s total financial situation.

Personally I doubt the Chiefs are really hurting for money but they aren’t the only team in the league to cut back during the work stoppage. While the cut backs stink for those involved, you might remember many teams, including the Chiefs, actually fired employees earlier this offfseason. I feel more bad for the folks that lost their jobs than the ones who are still employed but are making less.

Unfortunately, we are never likely find out how necessary these moves actually were. One thing is for sure, Hunt is probably not happy with all the negative publicity and the signaling out of his organization.

What do you think Addicts? Is the criticism of Hunt unfair? Were the pay cuts really necessary?