Five moves to help KC Chiefs avoid salary cap trouble in 2021
The Moves That Probably Won’t Happen
So we’ve already talked about how the Chiefs can’t get the cap space that they need simply by cutting dead weight from the roster. If Chiefs fans simply wanted to solve the team’s salary cap issues by cutting players that they don’t think are worth their price tag, Frank Clark and Anthony Hitchens might be two of the first players mentioned by fans. However, ultimately I don’t believe the smart thing for K.C. to do involves either of these players.
Clark is due to have the highest cap hit on the roster in 2021 at $25.8 million. Given that many fans don’t feel like Clark has quite lived up to his massive contract, it makes sense that fans would look to him to clear some space, but I’m not sure that’s the way to go. Cutting Clark would not be a smart move. He is still a good pass rusher, which the Chiefs need, even if he hasn’t lived up to his deal. Plus, with all the guaranteed money on his deal, cutting him wouldn’t even create cap space—just dead money.
Later on this list we’ll talk about some players where it might make sense to convert some salary to bonus money to drop this year’s cap hit. However, because of Clark’s steep cap hits the next two years, I don’t like that option for Clark. If Clark continues to underperform related his deal, the last thing KC wants to do is push more guaranteed cap dollars later in the deal.
As of now, the Chiefs could designate Clark a post-June 1st cut in 2022 and save $19.5 million in cap space that season and $21 million in 2023 should they cut him before that season. If push comes to shove, they could do it this season, but there are other players who make more sense, and I like the idea of keeping their options with Clark open in the next couple of seasons.
Hitchens is another player who is often discussed in this same light. While that may be true for Hitchens over the life of his contract, he did perform better last season and, like Clark, I’m not sure it makes sense for the Chiefs to do anything with Hitchens this offseason.
Cutting Hitchens right now would only save $2.2 million of his $10.6 million cap hit. If they make him a post-June 1st cut, they could get the savings up to $6.4 million, but with Ben Niemann and Damien Wilson already pending free agents, should the Chiefs be looking to cut another starting linebacker? Would they be able to sign someone that is a clear upgrade for less than a $6.4 million cap hit? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
As of right now, the Chiefs could cut Hitchens after the 2021 season and save $8.5 million in cap space in 2022. If they were to restructure him and push more guaranteed money to next year, it again makes moving on from him less likely. So like Clark I think it makes more sense for Veach to leave Hitchens’ deal alone and keep his options open for what to do next year. Now maybe Clark or Hitchens would just agree to take less money out of the goodness of their hearts, but barring that, I think the answers for the Chiefs cap concerns lie elsewhere.