The Kansas City Chiefs have announced the latest signing to their core of future/reserves contracts: running back Aaron Ripkowski.
The Kansas City Chiefs have added another player to the list of roster hopefuls recently signed to a reserve/futures contract. The latest entry is running back/fullback Aaron Ripkowski, a veteran from the Green Bay Packers.
Ripkowski entered the National Football Leagues as the sixth round selection of the Packers back in the 2015 NFL Draft. He played in every single game for Green Bay over the last three seasons except for one and replaced popular fullback John Kuhn, not an easy task.
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Unfortunately, the Packers decided to part ways with Ripkowski at the very beginning of this season as he failed to make final roster cuts. Ripkowski sat out the entire season until now having signed with a futures contract with the Chiefs. A reserve/futures contract allows the Chiefs to sign a player now without counting toward the 2018 salary cap or active roster limits. Very few players end up making the final roster if signed to a futures deal, but Andrew Wylie, this year’s Chiefs rookie of the year, is one such example.
It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs are looking at their options or not given the fact that Anthony Sherman is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. Ripkowski certainly looks the part at 6’1, 246 lbs. and has the experience.
Most importantly, Sherman made $2 million last season and was just named to this year’s Pro Bowl, which makes it hard to imagine him taking less than $2 million to sign on for another year. It’s possible the Chiefs could save a bit of money if they so desired. The veteran minimum for a guy like Ripkowski, given his three previous seasons, would be just over $800K, which means a savings of just over $1 million.
You can follow Ripkowski on Twitter here.