Chiefs: New and Improved Cap – so much has been written about the cap and free agency, that it is ruining my Super Bowl hangover, dang it. However, questions remain like, “How can we afford Jones?”, or “Should we keep Mike Pennel.”, or “Why re-sign TE Deon Yelder?” In simple terms, the answers “yes, yes and yes”.
I could end this article right there, but that would leave too many other questions unanswered, and anyway, Free Agency technically starts this coming week with the designation of Franchise Players and Transitions Players (Tuesday, February 25th, is the first day teams can apply a Franchise Tag or Transition Tag, on a player).
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Saturday’s Cap Situation
Here is the current status (2/22/20) of the Chiefs 2020 Salary Cap
In short, we have no money. In long, there are plenty of hidey-holes to find money, when needed. Stay tuned.
Chiefs Free Agents
First we established how much money we have, then we establish who we want to keep. It is all part of a complicated formula, so hang tough.
That’s is a simplistic table listing our FA’s, reasons to keep them or let go them fly, and a proposal of 2020 salaries.
Author’s Note: ERFA’s are paid an NFL pre-calculated formula, and cost less than a $1 million. That is why you re-sign Yelder and Wylie. Too cheap not to keep.
Further Note: A fool from another site suggested the Chiefs don’t re-sign Pennel. Ha! That dude is still recovering from a concussion caused by a SB hangover.
To answer the question, “Can we afford Chris Jones?”… the answer is a simple yes, but at $6.5 million? Yes that is exactly the same amount of Frank Clark’s 2019 cap hit, and Frank signed for $104 million. Another example is Tyreek was paid $2.197 million in 2019 on a $54 million contract. See how this can work?
Although, how can we afford to pay these guys? Light up front/early (2020 in this case) and heavier in late years. A simple game. Don’t fret it.
Key Factor About the Cap
The single most important factor to remember about the cap is: (this is the one, single, numero uno, sole, factor to remember).
Clark Hunt is the chairman of the NFL Owner’s Finance Committee!
(Read it again slowly)
If you forget your name or phone number or social security number next week, don’t fret. Only remember this one fact. Clark is in charge of insider information… for over 2 years. Why? Because the owners have been discussing the CBA with the NFLPA the past 2 years. Got it?
If you think Mr. Brett Veach — doesn’t know — what the 2021 cap could be, then I can’t help you. Paying Mahomes $30 quadrillion is not going to be a problem. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t let the babbling talking heads make you nervous. Oh Yeah, and turn off Skip and Shannon.
How do we create cash?
Okay, so you see, that we have $13.4 million in cap space, and yet it will cost $25 million to sign those guys on my suggestion list. How do we make space? Simple. Cut players or renegotiate contracts.
Here is a simple, sample spreadsheet to help the cause.
Editor’s Note: I recalculated David’s original Cap figures seen in graphic 1 at the top of this piece, as he sent me this thread on Wednesday but, these are Saturday’s numbers from Sportrac, which I re-figured so you’d have up-to-date information. Consequently, you may detect a $585,000 difference. What’s half a Mil among friends, right?
Two players down and we are already up $6.88 million. Now could we renegotiate Sammy? Yes. If you want to keep him around. Or do you let Hardman spread his wings and fly?
Other player cuts mentioned include: Reiter, LDT, Sorenson, Sherman (but does not save cap space or re-signing space).
Renegotiate (or Extend) Contracts
Here is a quick list of contracts Veach could renegotiate or extend in order to generate cap space in 2020.
Fisher, Schwartz, and Hitchens have already been reworked, so they are off the table.
Offseason Salary Cap
The salary during the off-season only counts the largest 51 contracts, so anytime a player is signed in excess of about $600,000, only the amount in excess of about $600,000, counts against the cap.
Example:
Wylie re-signs for $800,000. His contract is now a Top 51 contract, therefore the lowest contract on the totem pole, rolls off the books. In this case it is $510,00. So doing the quick math, Wylie only counts $290,000 against the off-season cap.
So now take the $2 million cap hit above, and add or credit the Sammy and Erving savings, and we have about $21 million in which to sign players during the off-season.
Confused? Don’t sweat it. The Chiefs have a staffer, whose sole job is to count cap money. Think of Jennifer Garner in “Draft Day,” Hubba! Hubba! Okay wait, don’t think of Jennifer Garner, think of Ben Affleck in “The Accountant.” Oh wait, that is worse. Think about… better not think at all.
There you have it folks. Abacus 1 to Abacus 2: Over and Out!
Think Abundance!
David Perkins — ArrowheadOne
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