Chiefs rumors: Who will be Kansas City’s surprise cuts in 2017?

Ron Parker, safety

When looking at the Chiefs’ roster, it seems like a team that is about to go through a lot of turnover. There are a handful of productive starters that have already surpassed, or are about to reach, the dreaded age of 30. Normally when a player reaches this age, they start to decline, or in some cases fall straight off a cliff. Teams have long since realized this as well and have started to combat this by releasing or trading them earlier than fans would expect—either for cap relief or some form of value out of them before they reach this point.

When looking at the roster, one name that really seems to fit the criteria is Ron Parker. This would be a big surprise since Parker is still a very good safety who can also come down and play in the slot when we go to a cover 1 formation. Parker is also about to turn 30 on August 17th, which is the magic number here. Last season, Parker posted 8 pass break ups and one interception, which helped him receive a 81.9 grade from Pro Football Focus.

In addition to fitting the criteria of age and production, releasing Parker would also give the team some cap relief. Parker is currently the eighth biggest cap hit this upcoming season; releasing him with a post June 1st cut designation would make it so he would only count 1 million in dead money over the next three seasons, while giving the Chiefs 4.6M, 6M, and 6.5M in cap relief.

Finally, it’s important to note the Chiefs also have youth behind Parker in Daniel Sorensen and Eric Murray. When considering all these factors and looking into the Chiefs’ future, we could very well see a new safety tandem in Kansas City this upcoming season. [Kody Latham]