It has all come down to this.
The Kansas City Chiefs have until 3 p.m. CST to sign outside linebacker Justin Houston. Otherwise, long-term discussions must be tabled until after the season, leaving the hope that he signs his franchise tender of $13.1 million without skipping training camp and/or regular season games.
While this is stressing the heck out of all of us, the Chiefs seem to be making serious headway on this front. On Tuesday evening, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport stated that the team had made a big move toward signing the All-Pro.
Of all franchise tag situations, Justin Houston & #Chiefs have the most optimism. Nothing is certain, but they have made a big commitment
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 14, 2015
Here’s my take on this: The Chiefs clearly want to get a deal done with Houston. If they didn’t, you would be seeing the situation play out with many similarities to the ones going on with Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys, and Demaryius Thomas and the Denver Broncos.
Kansas City general manager John Dorsey must feel that the two sides are fairly close, or this conversation would have already been scuttled with so little time left in the negotiating window. Houston’s agent, Joel Segal, has been speaking with the Chiefs at least since Tuesday, and he wouldn’t be wasting ample time if there wasn’t some common ground.
This is nothing more than a gut feeling, but I think we see the Chiefs and Houston come to an agreement around the deadline for something like six years and $96 million with $50 million in guarantees. Houston is a great player who is young and came to Kansas City via the draft. Dorsey has built a team ready to win now, so the idea of letting Houston walk in the next year or two is insane. With so many high-profile defensive free agents next year for the Chiefs, it seems imperative to get this deal done immediately.
With Thomas and Bryant, we have heard plenty coming from their camps with voices of displeasure. We have not heard a word out of Houston’s camp. It’s another sign that neither side wants to mess anything up.
Look, the Chiefs and Houston might ultimately fall short of a deal. However, the sides are apparently pretty close. With so much on the line for both sides, I have a notion that both will give a little in the name of security. Let’s see if that’s the way it goes down.