Why the Kansas City Chiefs should avoid free agency

Another factor as to why the Chiefs should stand pat is that they don’t have the money. According to the Kansas City Star’s Terez Paylor, the Chiefs have $4.8 million in cap space following the recent signings and cuts. The Chiefs can free up another estimated $6.75 million if they don’t pick up the option of quarterback Nick Foles. This is likely to happen, and a good estimate is that the Chiefs will have $11.55 million in cap room. That’s still near the bottom of the league in free cap space.

You can ballpark the rookie class will cost between $4 and $5 million towards that cap. That leaves the Chiefs with only $6 to $8 million in cap room for free agents. Now the Chiefs could restructure contracts to make things work; if there was someone they desired, they could get it done. In doing so, John Dorsey would bump the team’s debt into the future, possibly handcuffing them down the road. Again, if Tom Brady was available, I guarantee they could make any contract work, but they shouldn’t do that just to get some depth with the draft just ahead.

That brings us to the final reason why the Chiefs need to sit this free agency period out: there aren’t any real impact players available. Yes, there are some big names like Torrey Smith and Brandon Flowers who sound great on paper. But if you look, most of these players are older veterans who would be minor upgrades at best in K.C. I don’t feel its smart business to cap strap yourself for JAGs and small improvements.

John Dorsey has built the Chiefs into one of the deepest teams in the NFL. The Chiefs should use this deep roster and not spend money to spend money. Stand pat until after the draft is complete and see how the offseason progresses. If at that time a player is available for the veteran minimum contract than you can bring in a guy or two. Otherwise, let the team role forward with the players they have and draft picks they will get.

Save the cap space and roll it over to next year when it’s very possible you could lose four to five starters from the team. Next year will need to see major holes filled, so having more money next year is more important than any player you could add this season. It’s all about the bigger picture, not the name that looks cool on paper. Nobody wants to end up like the Vince Young dream team!