Ron Parker: Chiefs Safety’s Contract Isn’t Nearly As Bad As You Think
By Brett Gering
Oct 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Ron Parker (38) breaks up a pass intended for San Diego Chargers wide receiver Eddie Royal (11) in the final seconds of the game at Qualcomm Stadium. Chiefs won 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
When NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport announced that Ron Parker signed a five-year, $30 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, some people praised John Dorsey; others thought he was sleep-deprived.
@ghost_0836 ayyyyyyyyyyyyyye that's what I'm talm bout bro....proud of ya homie...way to take advantage of every opportunity u got
— Brandon Flowers (@BFlowers24) March 14, 2015
On the outside looking in, the vet is a 27-year-old safety who, prior to last year, had one start on his resume. With NFL contracts, though, there’s always more than meets the eye.
For starters, Parker’s deal is currently $25 million on the books—not $30 million (more on that later). And while timelines were flooded with “$5 million per year?!” last weekend, that’s not actually the case.
Per Spotrac, this is the structure of the contract:
[table id=62 /]
Parker is only scheduled to eat up $2 million in cap space this season and $3.25 million the year after. He won’t venture into the neighborhood of $5 million per until 2017, which is also the first offseason that the team can gain cap room by releasing him.
However, Parker’s deal can potentially swell to $30 million (though it’s highly unlikely) due to incentives, which are classified into two groups.
Incentives
“Likely to be earned” (LTBE) incentives set a performance threshold equal to or lower than a player’s (or team’s) production the prior season. For example, if Dontari Poe inked a new deal that contains an incentive clause for five sacks, it would be deemed LTBE because he recorded 6.5 sacks last season.
The opposite holds true for “not likely to be earned” (NLTBE) incentives. If the aforementioned clause was set at eight sacks instead of five, then it would be tagged NLTBE.
LTBE bonuses are immediately factored into a team’s salary cap; NLTBE bonuses aren’t (until they’re earned). If a player falls short of an LTBE benchmark, then the team receives a credit for the specified amount toward the following season’s salary cap.
Parker’s deal features incentives for interceptions ($400,000), playing time ($350,000) and Pro Bowl selections ($250,000). And since those bonuses aren’t factored into the base salary, we know they’re NLTBE incentives; each of the performance benchmarks are set at a number greater than Parker’s 2014 output.
Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Parker played in 95.5 percent of defensive snaps (1,037 of 1,086) and had one interception last season, so the safety’s 2015 playing-time incentive has to be set at least 96 percent, and the interception benchmark can’t be fewer than two (and is likely more).
What Does It Mean?
Dec 7, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith (21) celebrates a play with safety Ron Parker (38) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Chiefs 17-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Currently, Parker has the 16th-highest 2015 cap hit on the Chiefs roster. His charge is $100,000 fewer than Tyvon Branch’s and $1.8 million fewer than Dustin Colquitt’s.
If need be, Kansas City can part ways with the safety after 2016 and save $2.25 million.
Obviously, some people were (and still are) skeptical about the deal, and I was standing at the front of the pack after hearing that he initially wanted $6 million per year. However, a $2 million cap hit in 2015 and $3.25 million hit in 2016? Far easier pills to swallow.
Make no mistake, Parker definitely has his share of flaws, as PFF’s Pete Damilatis notes:
Ron Parker tied for the worst Tackling Efficiency vs the run of any safety last season. Missed 12 of 36 tackle attempts. #Chiefs
— Pete Damilatis (@PeteDamilatis) March 14, 2015
Taking that a step further, the safety totaled the second-most missed tackles (22) among NFL defensive backs.
Aside from replaying all 1,037 of his snaps, though, it’s impossible to gauge the extent of Parker’s tackling woes. Does the blame fall squarely on his shoulders, or are the issues a byproduct of Josh Mauga—whose 21 missed tackles also tied for second-most at his position—whiffing in front of him?
All things considered, No. 38 has suited up for every regular-season contest (32) since coming to Kansas City. He also notched the fourth-most snaps on the Chiefs 2014 defense.
Most importantly, though, he offers stability at a position that was starving for it. Eric Berry is dealing with far graver concerns than football at the moment, and Sanders Commings and Tyvon Branch have been plagued by injuries throughout the past two seasons.
If the aforementioned three return to the field in 2015 (and stay healthy), then the defense will have more safety talent than Bob Sutton knows what to do with. But even if fate has different plans, the Chiefs allowed the second-fewest passing yards in the league last year; it wouldn’t be Ron Parker and Husain Abdullah’s first rodeo.
Next: Grading The Chiefs' Offseason