Bashaud Breeland’s decision will come down to finances

The choice before free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland and the teams pursuing him will come down to the finances involved.

At this point, everyone is waiting. General managers are waiting. Coaching staffs are waiting. Potential teammates are waiting. NFL analysts are waiting. Fan bases are waiting. But that will only continue until the Bashaud Breeland himself is done waiting.

Nearly five months ago, this wasn’t a problem. Breeland was signed, sealed and delivered to the Carolina Panthers, having just agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $24 million. He’d served out his rookie contract after four years with the Washington Redskins, and he’d been duly rewarded after showing strong as an above average cornerback in a passing league over 58 starts. For a 26-year-old, teams on the open market had to feel good about his ability to hold up going forward.

The Panthers needed Breeland as much as any team in the NFL. Ever since they watched Josh Norman leave town, the Panthers have struggled to piece together a strong secondary, especially at cornerback. Captain Munnerlyn was a shell of himself last year, and 2017 second round pick James Bradberry struggled mightily during his rookie season. This forced the team to once again invest two early picks at the position: a 2nd in LSU’s Donte Jackson and a 3rd in Rashaan Gaulden.

Breeland should have been the final piece: the third major import to completely remake the secondary. Instead, shortly after signing his deal, he failed his physical due to an infected cut in his foot—an cut that he first received on the back of his foot while vacationing in the Dominican Republic immediately after the season ended. Ian Rapoport stated at the time of the failed physical that it would be months before Breeland would be okay.

More from Arrowhead Addict

• Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
• Chiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract news
• Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
• Podcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battles
• KC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator

From that point forward, Breeland has simply been waiting. The Panthers immediately moved on and signed Ross Cockrell away from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Breeland, however, bided his time through the rest of March, April, May and June. He watched teams address the position with a whole new draft class. He watched the free agent frenzy slow and then crawl to a halt. He watched teams report again for training camp as the preseason began to pick up. And then it was time for a tour.

First up were the Oakland Raiders. Then Breeland spent the better part of two days with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns were next on the clock, and the Baltimore Ravens were “aggressive” in their insistence on a visit as well. The New York Jets were also rumored to be interested although a visit was never officially made. Even then, the Panthers lost Cockrell for the season, so even they could be back on the clock.

With each visit, Breeland left without a deal. Fans and teams were left waiting. They still are. From this point, all we can do is assume.

1. We assume that Breeland was finally healthy enough from the infection to do a free agent tour. Why go to five or six different teams and spend all kinds of time if you are simply going to fail another physical?
2. Then again, are we to assume that he’s not quite healthy yet, since he has yet to sign? Are teams waiting until a clean bill of health? Was Breeland simply wanting to do his homework ahead of time so he could make an informed decision when he’s ready to go instead of wasting more training camp?
3. The Raiders have very little cap room and the Chiefs are nearly as broke. The Ravens are a poor fit, and the Browns seem to have mixed interest. The Jets haven’t scheduled a visit and the Colts are a cellar dweller. Each team comes with concerns or has them about Breeland so it’s hard to find an ideal fit.
4. Each day of training camp comes with a new list of injuries in the NFL, so while missing training camp isn’t good for Breeland’s readiness, it is good for business. Perhaps Breeland is waiting for another suitor to emerge due to No. 3 being true.

At this point, everyone keeps asking (check Twitter for evidence) Breeland about his decision, encouraging him to make a call and to land with his/her favorite team.

The ultimate answer will likely come when Breeland is good and ready to hit training camp at full speed and with a team that has done the best job of helping him make up for lost money. Let’s take a closer look at the money involved:

1. Breeland lost $10.5 million guaranteed in that failed physical, and that deal was also worth up to $24 million over 3 years.
2. It’s been rumored that some teams aren’t interested in going that long on a player who is currently injured, but Breeland is a proven product for four years and is only 26. To say that he’s not worth a three-year investment is just silly. Then again, other worthy pass defenders have been stuck with one-year deals this offseason already (Tyrann Mathieu, Tre Boston) so maybe not.
3. If teams aren’t interested in going near the 3-year, $24M deal, then at least going to his agent with a contract that comes near the guaranteed cash should work ($10.5M).
4. Rashaan Melvin signed for 1-year at $5.5 million, and Vontae Davis signed for $500K less this offseason. On a multi-year deal Nickell Robey-Coleman signed a 3-year deal with the Rams for $15.6M. It could be argued effectively that Breeland is a better option for most teams than any of those three and they all earned that same amount(ish) for 2018 and NRC got a three-year commitment at that rate.

At the very least, Breeland should land a Melvin-ish deal and we can likely assume that’s what the teams with the least resources have offered up. Hopefully the Chiefs have offered more than that, but that seems a nice starting point. In addition, a multi-year deal would help ease the burden on this year’s cap, so going longer seems better. If a team went $10 million for 2 years that was fully guaranteed, that would let Breeland hit free agency again at 28 for another big payday and provide him with the guaranteed money that was his from the nullified deal. It sounds far less than the $24 million, but that’s actually not a bad Plan B.

Then again, as we said, these are all assumptions and we know what that leads to. Here’s hoping Breeland makes a decision soon enough and that it’s a good move for him (and for the Chiefs).