The Eric Berry conundrum
By John McCarty
Salary and value website Spotrac.com released an Eric Berry calculated valuation of his upcoming free agency.
In short, Spotrac calculated Berry’s value, on a five-year contract, to be worth a grand total of $41,239,673. Breaks down to $8,247,935 a season. Quick show of hands, who thinks Eric Berry, prior to free agency, will agree to that contract? Anyone? Nope, didn’t think so.
Also, this is why the Chiefs, despite the discussion, are unlikely to use the franchise tag on Eric Berry. For reference, Joel Corry has estimate the safety franchise tag to be north of $10 million. That would remove all negotiating leverage from the Chiefs, and would likely turn Berry into the highest paid safety in the league.
While the Chiefs may have a decent number of cap dollars to spend, they don’t have the money to soak up a $10 million cap number just this season, without a contract for the next season, when the Chiefs are unlikely to have a bunch of cap room. (Per spotrac and overthecap.com, the Kansas City Chiefs are eighth in the NFL in terms of 2017 salary commitments).
As we can see, Berry is a quality football player and an even better human being. Those are facts and not up for debate. What’s also quite evident, he’s on the verge of being paid significantly more then what he’s worth. History has proven out that teams rarely win Super Bowls by paying players far more then their actual true value (that point is especially true for players who play non premium positions, such as safety).
We all certainly hope Berry returns, and is a Chief for life. However, if a team out there is willing to pay him big money, we need to thank Berry for his time here, and move forward and in a different direction. Either way, it’s a tough spot for Dorsey in what is such a pivotal off season for the organization. Lets see what plays out.