Is Dontari Poe now expendable?

To put it bluntly, yes, it does. Poe is a fantastic Chief. He has physical tools that are incomprehensible, speed and quickness that simply shouldn’t be possessed by a man of his size, and is a disruptive presence along the line. Moreover, Poe takes the brunt of the offensive line’s focus, often taking double teams away from Houston and Hali on the outside.

Alongside an edge rusher and a top corner, a big, strong, powerful nose tackle is quickly becoming one of the most important positions on the defensive side of the ball. Poe is immensely useful to this defense, and even though he struggled in the first half of last season with a back injury, towards the latter half of the year and especially in the playoff thumping of the Houston Texans, Poe was back to his sensational best, and the defense improved with it. That is no coincidence.

Having said all this, Poe is set to be a free agent come 2016 and will be looking for some serious cash. With the Chiefs already investing significant money in Jaye Howard and Allen Bailey, it remains to be seen whether general manager John Dorsey will be willing to spend money on three NFL veterans along a three man defensive line.

Dontari Poe is a fantastic player, but in the modern day NFL with the salary cap dictating how front offices spend their money, big money contracts cannot be dished out willy nilly, and with Houston already on a large contract, as well as decent amounts of money being given to Bailey and Howard, there is a decent amount of cash invested in the front seven of the Chiefs and it may be wiser to let Poe walk in favor of investing in other areas of the team.

Whether it would be a wise move or not remains to be seen, but the selection of Jones does make Poe expendable. Poe is still an important player for this team, a vital part of a successful defense, but if Jones develops as he could do, Poe could be the man who ends up being the casualty.

Would you be happy with such a scenario Chiefs fans, or would you rather see Dorsey spend the money on Poe, Howard and Bailey and the possible expense of other areas of the roster?