Revisiting The Five Free Agents The Kansas City Chiefs Lost In 2014
By Ben Nielsen
Nov 30, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey laughs with friends before the game against the Denver Broncos during the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
ONE MORE THING…
Money matters.
The total salary cap hit between Albert, McCluster, Jackson, Asamoah, and Schwarts for the 2015 season will be an estimated $27.2 million. Kansas City right now is some where right at the projected 2015 salary cap number. Sign all five of those guys and you can guaranteed Justin Houston and Rodney Hudson are playing for someone else in 2015.
Here’s the 2015 cap breakdown for all five players:
Albert – $10.725 million
McCluster – $3.35 million
Jackson – $3.85 million
Asamoah – $4.3 million
Schwartz – $4.975 million
If the Dorsey just signed Schwartz then it is likely Hudson is for sure not not re-signing with the Chiefs. The positional value of a starting center is more than a starting right guard, so Dorsey likely made the right decision to invest his dollars into Hudson than Schwartz.
The other aspect of this is the projected 11 draft picks the Chiefs will have for this season. Eleven picks is only two short of the total amount of draft picks Dorsey had to use in 2013 and 2014 combine. Having those extra picks to attack needs/quality prospects will open up future salary cap space for the Chiefs to both re-sign their own free agents and fill needs in free agency in the future. The poor drafts from 2009-2012 really screwed over what the Chiefs could do in the short-term to build their roster.
It hurt to watch all of these players leave en mass last March, but in the long run it looks like Dorsey made the right decision to let theses players walk and find new homes. Kansas City is in a better position now to make the moves they need to become perennial contenders than they were a season ago as a result of not overspending to keep these five guys.