Chiefs rumors: How much will it take to keep Eric Berry?

Here’s a look at what the Chiefs will have to pony up to keep Eric Berry, why it will get done and some reasons why it won’t.

Do you want the Kansas City Chiefs to re-sign Eric Berry? We all do. Here’s my estimation of what it will cost to accomplish the goal.

Currently, the highest paid defensive back in the NFL is Arizona Cardinal Tyrann Mathieu. He signed a contract before the start of the 2016 season, a 5-year deal for $62.5 million dollars with $40 million in guarantees. Because the salary cap has gone up, so too has the cost of the player. In today’s money (yes, this is only a one year old contract, but if the salary cap has gone up 10% in 2017 compared to 2016, so will the Berry deal.) So, by current dollars on the estimation of a 10% increase, the Mathieu deal looks like 5 years at $68.75 million dollars with $44 million guaranteed.

My guess is that Eric Berry is asking for a contract in the neighborhood of just north of this, somewhere in the neighborhood of a 5-year deal in the 70 to 75 million range, but the guaranteed money is likely within the range of the aforementioned 44 million guaranteed dollars.

For the sake of the rest of the conversation, we’re going to discuss why this is problematic for the  Chiefs.