Laddie Morse
Today is the first official day of the NFL’s Free Agency period beginning at 3 PM CDT. I understand that may be kind of confusing, after all we just spent the last two days sorting through the player movement across the league but that was called, the Legal Tampering Period. You may come off a little bit befuddled but that’s to be expected. Since team couldn’t actually sign players — that can’t happen until today after 3PM CDT — what they could do is, talk to players from other team about the possibility of them playing for them. See yesterday’s piece called, “Chiefs: Free Agency, Day Two” to get a full view of all the moves made — which will be finalized today in contractual form when the league year officially begins — at 3 PM CDT.
Since all teams must be under the cap by the start of the new league year this afternoon, Patrick Mahomes has swooped in and saved the day for the K.C. Chiefs… again. Here are the particulars as laid out by Sportrac.com:
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“Patrick Mahomes converted $27M of 2024 compensation into signing bonus, clearing $21.6M of cap with the Chiefs. Mahomes signed a 10-year, $450M contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $10,000,000 signing bonus, $141,481,905 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $45,000,000. In 2024, Mahomes will earn a base salary of $9,850,000, a roster bonus of $7,900,000, a restructure bonus of $27,000,000 and a workout bonus of $1,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $37,008,269 and a dead cap value of $113,596,314.“
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To make things clearer than mud… by signing this extension, Mahomes allowed the Chiefs to free up $21.6M of cap space for other purposes (players). Without that, the Chiefs would have been over the cap and penalized dearly for it. This way, the team can make sure to stay under the cap, which is referred to as a hard cap. Marca.com has an article called, “NFL Top-51 Rule: What happens if an NFL team goes over the salary cap?” in which they reveal:
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“If a team goes over the salary cap, they are fined upwards of five million dollars for each violation of the cap. In more severe scenarios, draft picks can be confiscated entirely and player contracts can be voided.”
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No team wants to have draft picks taken away, so every team makes sure they are under the cap even if they have to cut or release players they love. My basic understanding is that Mahomes reduces the amount he’s able to get in a regular paycheck or a Roster Bonus, while taking the difference in a Signing Bonus, now. The league leaves a little bit of wiggle room that way for teams to deal with the cap, which is what the Chiefs have done last year with Mahomes… and once again this year. However, it takes a player of Mahomes magnitude, who is a willing participant.
In a press release from Mahomes home town newspaper, the Tyler Morning News, comes this:
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The Chiefs already moved quickly to sign star defensive tackle Chris Jones to a new five-year deal that will pay him $158.75 million, including a practical guarantee of $95.3 million. After doling out the big paycheck to the 29-year-old, Kansas City was able to re-open some financial flexibility by restructuring the terms of Mahomes’s deal.
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The deals done by the Chiefs so far this offseason include:
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• Releasing Punter Tommy Townsend, who has signed a two-year $6M deal with the Texans. K.C. has signed Free-agent punter Matt Araiza who is often referred to as the Punt God, because of his prowess as a Punter.
• K.C. has re-signed LB Drue Tranquill to a three-year deal worth $19M. Later in the day on Tuesday, LB Willie Gay, who was a Free Agent signed a deal with the New Orleans Saints. I’m guessing that K.C. wanted to keep Gay, but Tranquill played so well that they decided they could do without him.
• The Chiefs have signed Safety Deon Bush who has been in the league for 9 years and helped K.C. win their last two Super Bowls.
• The Chiefs have released WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling in hopes of getting a more sure handed pass catcher.
• K.C. has re-signed Long Snapper James Winchester to a 1 year, $1,377,500 contract.
• K.C. has signed TE Irv Smith Jr. to a one-year deal worth $1.3M. Smith played for the Vikings and the Bengals previously.
• TE Jody Fortson was release in the process and we have to figure that Irv Smith Jr. is a replacement for Fortson even though the team has stated that they hope to re-sign Fortson later.
• The Chiefs have allowed backup IOL Nick Allegretti to go to the Washington Commanders. He signed a three-year deal worth $16M. You always have to be happy for veteran players like Allegretti who did their time developing– five years worth — and then get paid a truck load of money. Allegretti is penciled in at LG for the Commanders.
• The Chiefs have placed CB L’Jarius Sneed on the Franchise Tag which is worth $19.8M. We still don’t know if Sneed will stay or go. He said this yesterday:
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“Hopefully I’m Still Here”
– Gotta Love it!
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• Chris Jones will retire a Chief and that’s what’s important to know about his deal.
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While K.C. watched as many Running Backs got paid during the first two days of F.A. called Legal Tampering, their usual M-O (Modus Operandi) is to wait until the first couple of days of FA pass by to make a move on F.A. players who are still available. Although there aren’t any #1WR types left to be signed to deals, if K.C. can sign a WR who can learn Reid’s playbook quickly and hold onto the ball when it’s thrown to them, the Chiefs will be in better shape than they were in in 2023. That’s where I believe the Chiefs are at now — on hold — until the first wave of big-money players get signed, then they’ll take a look at who might want to go win a ring.
Who would you like to see the Chiefs go after?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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