My other question is just what are you wanting the Chiefs to clear cap space for? Keep in mind that this team’s biggest free agent signings last season were Sammy Watkins and Anthony Hitchens. Are those the kind of guys you think this team needs more of to make a Super Bowl?
Fans keep drooling over guys like Jadeveon Clowney, Anthony Barr, and Landon Collins but those guys are just going to demand huge contracts like the ones we’re wanting to get out of with guys like Justin Houston and Eric Berry. Those guys are fun to dream about but in the real world, even if you did cut everybody under the sun, you’re still probably only signing one of those guys to a huge deal. It just doesn’t make sense to put yourself in a bad cap position in the coming years with Patrick Mahomes mega deal looming on the horizon.
The fact of the matter is that while we may be growing tired of Justin Houston and Eric Berry’s big contract numbers with declining production, their contracts won’t be a hindrance for the Chiefs when it’s time to pay Mahomes. If the Chiefs just pay Houston what he’s due this coming season then they can walk away from him with only $1.5 million in dead money next offseason. Berry’s deal isn’t quite as clean cut, but if they did decide to part ways with him it wouldn’t be a difficult cap hit to overcome.
I’ve been saying since Spagnuolo was brought in that the Chiefs were tied for the league lead in sacks last season despite Bob Sutton because of the talents of Dee Ford, Justin Houston, and Chris Jones. So the smart play is to give Spagnuolo all three of those guys back and turn them loose in his attacking defense. Personally, I’d franchise tag Ford and see if he stays healthy and thrives in the new defense before giving him any long-term deal. It’s still probably financially easier to just pay Ford the tag number than getting in a bidding war on the open market for someone like Clowney (who’s never even had a double-digit sack season) and by the quotes coming from the team, it certainly sounds like they are planning on bringing Ford back.
When I look at the Chiefs’ current roster and add Ford on with the franchise tag, I don’t really see that many holes. They could field a starting offense with just the guys they have under contract that would be every bit as good as last year. Would I like to see them add a better second tight end, another running back, and some offensive line depth? Sure, but none of those need to be a big-name free agent signing.
Even on defens,e I don’t see a massive amount of holes. I think you could pretty much fill your front seven with guys they currently have (plus Ford). Would it be nice to add a player or two that Spagnuolo thinks are good fits for his system up front? Sure, but again I don’t see a need to go out and break the bank in free agency for anyone there.
The real question marks are in the secondary. I think you can pencil in Kendall Fuller and Charvarius Ward as two of the top three corners next season. I didn’t see enough from Tremon Smith to make me feel confident that he’s safe to put in the starting rotation. So the Chiefs will need to invest at cornerback. That could be an early draft pick, re-signing Steven Nelson, or signing a proven free agent.
Then there’s the safety position. They currently have Eric Berry, Daniel Sorensen, Eric Murray, and Armani Watts under contract and Jordan Lucas is a restricted free agent so the Chiefs could easily bring him back if they wanted to. If the Chiefs believe Eric Berry will be able to play in 2019, could they just bring Lucas back and go with this group? Yes, they absolutely could. In which case, there would be no reason to spend any more money on this position in free agency.
If they are worried about Berry or decide to cut ties with him then this would become a position where they absolutely could go out and sign someone. I would be shocked if they kept both Berry and Sorensen and still made a significant signing.
As the roster currently stands, the Chiefs have one definite need: cornerback. Depending on what they decide to do with their current safeties, you could add that to the list as well. Everything else is really just needs for depth and competition. You don’t need $65 million in cap space for that. Even if they want to give guys like Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones new deals, the cap hits for the first year aren’t typically that big since the players get a large signing bonus that doesn’t all count against the cap that first year. In fact, the likely re-signing of Hill and Jones probably makes it even less likely that they would give out many other huge contracts this offseason.