Chiefs have ample cap space, key free agents
To anyone who follows the Kansas City Chiefs, it is no secret that this offseason is pivotal. Every time you have a chance to improve yourself, especially when you are on the cusp of a Super Bowl run, it all matters to the highest degree.
This offseason, general manager John Dorsey is faced with some challenges. The Chiefs have some of the best players in all of football hitting the free-agent market. Let’s look at all of the unrestricted free agents:
- Eric Berry
- Sean Smith
- Derrick Johnson
- Husain Abdullah
- Jeff Allen
- Tyvon Branch
- Jason Avant
- Marcus Cooper
- Frank Zombo
- Donald Stephenson
- Dezman Moses
- Tamba Hali
- Mike DeVito
- Chase Daniel
- Jaye Howard
- Jamell Fleming
Over at Spotrac (great site, especially if you are a cap geek), they see the Chiefs as having the 11th-best cap situation in the NFL. As pointed out, Kansas City has the advantage of having 49 players already under contract for 2016.
It’s a safe bet to say that Fleming, Daniel, DeVito, Stephenson, Moses, Avant, Cooper, Zombo, Branch and Abdullah will either be released into the wild or re-signed for $2 million AAV or less. That leaves Berry, Smith, Howard, Hali and Johnson.
So how much money does Dorsey have to play with? According to Over The Cap, Kansas City is $31.6 million under the cap. Factor in the release of guard Paul Fanaika and Dorsey have approximately $33 million to spend, provided the cap is $150 million (some estimate it will be $154 million).
Once you factor in that the draft class will cost roughly $4-5 million against the cap, Dorsey has some space to retain his key players. We will predict what kind of contracts each of the main free agents would require over the next days and weeks, but Dorsey has the ammunition to keep most if not all of these players. Don’t forget, the first-year cap hit is always much lower than the rest of the contract.
Don’t believe me? Look at the Justin Houston and Alex Smith deals.