The first domino to fall in the extension brigade should be Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston, who held out of OTAs and minicamp in hopes of receiving a new deal. Those efforts are moving slowly, according to The Kansas City Star’s Terez A. Paylor.
From Paylor’s twitter account:
Paylor does not the Chiefs could use the franchise tag on Houston should they not be able to get a deal done, but Kansas City may want to save the tag for Alex Smith should he also become a free agent.
It isn’t a surprise the Chiefs have not signed Houston to an extension as of yet. Many deals end up getting done at the beginning of camp or during the preseason. Kansas City also just recently opened up a lot of cap space from the release of Brandon Flowers so it could be that John Dorsey wanted to explore the market a little bit before immediately handing said cap space to Houston and Smith.
One would have to think and extension for Houston would be a major priority for the Chiefs given Houston is the backbone of their pass rush for the foreseeable future. Kansas City did draft Dee Ford but he was seen more as a Tamba Hali replacement and not a Houston replacement. Without Houston the Chiefs are losing one of the game’s best, if not the best, outside pass rushing threats.
I’d expect Houston to end up getting a deal during camp but who knows with these kind of things.