Three Winners From Brandon Flowers Being Released

January 25, 2014; Honolulu, HI, USA; Team

quarterback

of the Kansas City Chiefs (11) shakes hands with alumni captain

(right) during the 2014 Pro Bowl Ohana Day at Aloha Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

There are plenty of reasons to argue why the release of Brandon Flowers was a bad thing for the Kansas City Chiefs. We will certainly be discussing those things over the course of the next few days after we get a little more information from the Chiefs about what their plans are for life after Flowers.

What we do know is that Flowers’ release has created some opportunities for other players both on and off the field. Here are the three players who will benefit from Flowers being cut the most.

ALEX SMITH

Alex Smith is about to get paid, and it’s probably going to be by the Chiefs.

The release of Flowers opened up $7.5 million in cap space for the Chiefs this season, another $7.5 million next season, and $9.75 million in 2016. It may be safe to go ahead and assume all of the space opened up by Flowers is going to go into Alex Smith over the course of the next three seasons.

Reports have Smith asking for something around the ballpark of what Tony Romo and Jay Cutler received in their extensions last season, which would put a total value on Smith’s contract demands somewhere north of $100 million. With Flowers off the books the Chiefs can now front load Smith’s cap hit starting in 2014 to allow them more flexibility to sign players like Justin Houston, Rodney Hudson, Eric Berry, and Dontari Poe over the next two off-seasons.

One would assumed Smith new contract – and we’re assuming this happens with the Chiefs now – would include a restructure of his $8 million deal this season to include a $1 million salary and a boatload of his signing bonus. Structuring the contract this way would allow the Chiefs to reduce Smith’s cap hit over the next few seasons and put them in a position to cut ties with Smith should they find a young quarterback they like all while give Smith something close to his contract demands.

Get used to Smith being the Chiefs starting quarterback because it is pretty much assured he’s going to be here a while with Flowers being released.