Plotting the ideal offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs
Projected 2022 In-House Free Agent Moves
Starting off with the restricted free agents, retaining Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend is a no-brainer as he’s coming off the best season of his young career. After being named a first-team All-Pro, $2.627M isn’t terrible value when it comes to Townsend as that would rank 11th among all punters in terms of average salary per season.
Shane Buechele and Jody Fortson are both exclusive rights free agents and can each be tagged for $940,000 for the 2023 season. If Shane Buechele can win the backup quarterback job, $940k is a great value as Chad Henne made an average of $1.75M over the previous three seasons. That figure is also decent value for a player with the talent level and potential of Jody Fortson.
There is no chance that the Chiefs let Orlando Brown Jr. walk to free agency. He will be tagged again but whether he signs a long-term contract is the real question. He could be tagged and then traded but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Clearing Chiefs cap space
Using a base salary restructure with both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce would save the Chiefs over $40M in cap space this season. Mahomes is a steal at any price, so inflating his future cap hits isn’t a huge deal, while Kelce has been one of the best values in the NFL over the past half-decade.
In order to clear up an additional $20M+ in cap space, Kansas City should extend both Chris Jones and Frank Clark. It’ll take well over $25M per year over 3+ years to sign Jones, while Frank Clark should be much cheaper. For example, the Chiefs could extend Jones’ contract through 2026 at an average of $29M in new money. Factoring in the $21.25M in salary he’s owed in 2023, the average of the new 4-year contract will be $27.69M with $60M in total guaranteed money. In this projection, it will reduce his 2023 cap hit to $22.04M, saving $6.25M.
When it comes to Frank Clark, since they’re stuck with $7.675M of his signing bonus money, they might as well try and find a new contract that works for both sides. Instead of viewing it as a $12.175M cap hit, consider it more as $4.5M, since cutting him will leave $7.675M in dead money.
What about the Chiefs UFAs?
JuJu Smith-Schuster is a fairly polarizing figure when it comes to Chiefs free agents. Some want him re-signed ASAP, while others wouldn’t touch him on a long-term deal. Depending on how the Chiefs plan to attack the rest of the offseason, I could picture them extending JuJu Smith-Schuster or letting them walk. In this case, I project them agreeing to a 4-year, $70M contract with $35M guaranteed and a $16M signing bonus. The cap hit in 2023 will be $8M.
In addition to JuJu, Khalen Saunders (IDL 2 years, $13M, $6M guaranteed, and $3M signing bonus w/ a $4.5M 2023 cap hit), Tershawn Wharton (IDL, 1 year, $1.5M), Darius Harris (LB, 1 year, $1.31M), Prince Tega Wanogho (OT, 1 year, $1.21M), Michael Burton (FB, 1 year, $1.3M), Deon Bush (S, 1 year, $1.3M), Justin Watson (WR, 1 year, $1.5M), Jerick McKinnon (RB, 1 year, $1.6M), and Nick Allegretti (OG, 1 year, $1.3M) are all re-signed in this projection.
Although many players will be brought back, Andrew Wylie (OT), Juan Thornhill (S), Derrick Nnadi (IDL), Mecole Hardman (WR), Ronald Jones (RB), Blake Bell (TE), Brandon Williams (IDL), and Carlos Dunlap (DE) will all walk to free agency.
Andrew Wylie, Juan Thornhill, Derrick Nnadi, and Mecole Hardman have been fairly controversial players the past couple of seasons and I think it’s best if the team lets them go. Outside of Nnadi, I wouldn’t mind bringing any of them back, but they may be a little too pricy for what the Chiefs are willing to pay. It may also be best to let aging players, like Ronald Jones, Blake Bell, Brandon Williams, and Carlos Dunlap go as well.