Chiefs: Not so Silent on the First Day of the Tampering Period

I had to rush back in and edit this. It was titled “Tampering Period, A No Yield Kind of Day!”

Brett Veach made two moves announced today: the signing of Justin Reid(Former Texan Safety, and Frank Clark, DE on a re-negotiated contract.

I did not expect this to happen but Brett Veach stepped into the breach and will obtain a Safety. In prior seasons, Brett Veach has approached the Free Agency period aggressively. This year, with so much work to accomplish, I thought it would be a more conservative year, like 2021. Instead, things start out with a bang!

I knew it was possible but Brett said in early February that the second phase of Free agency, which officially begins when the official League Season Start is in the books, 3 PM eastern, March 16th. Tomorrow, the 15th is the second day of the “tampering period”. No Signing can be official until the League Season starts.

Justin Reid

All snide remarks aside, this is a good signing. The Chiefs were going to have to pay top dollar to retain Tyrann Mathieu. Still, the Chiefs did make a move. This one surprised me because I didn’t catch it as it occurred. The Chief’s signed Texan Free Agent S Justin Reid to a three-year, $31.5m deal.

At this point, we can bid goodbye to Tyrann Mathieu. The situation played out differently than I anticipated. Maybe those tweets hurt Mathieu with the public. It may be that they truly had no bearing on Tyrann’s staying or leaving. With that sentiment, I agree. The word is, the downward trend in Reid’s performance was due to the team he was playing for. I buy that. I am not sure how the Texans get out of the cellar with their fans and the local pundits. It’s still a quagmire.

Nick Caserio has a tough row to hoe and if you check out why most fans think the team lost the allegiance of the players it was due to Texan VP Jack Easterby who is a divisive entity here in the Bayou City. Since I listen to Houston’s sports radio 610, I would say that this is indeed the fact. and how the Texans get out of knee to waist deep Bayou mud is a huge question. Reading tea leaves? I think the reason that Deshaun Watson grew disenchanted and asked for a trade away from the club was due to Easterby. This was even before the civil and criminal complaints were filed. All I can say is that the Texan Fandom is extremely upset with Easterby and the Evening Drive Personalities fall into the same category. That factor apparently runs deeper than just the QB. They left Reid exposed in the process.

Getting Reid is a solid, finesse move. He has played some very good football but 2021 was a down-trend year. Veach is signing on a top Safety, essentially at a bargain price. It has to do with numbers. Why? The graph below shows the trend-line and why we were able to obtain his services for a bit over $10m per annum and not as expensive as Mathieu.

To say the least, I will admit I wanted to keep Mathieu. He was a crucial fixture for the defense for three years running. Even so, his numbers were lessor than they had been even though his leadership was a highly valued commodity. Something though was not up to snuff with Veach’s staff and/or the coaching staff — Or Both. I am not privy to what goes on behind the Chief’s closed doors. Something wasn’t right and Mathieu’s tweets were an indicator. Last Saturday, Tyrann Tweeted: “Replacing me is easy. Getting them(the next Safety) to do the same thing I did is damn near impossible.” He then tweeted this, later deleting it: “Mathieu also wrote this message that he later deleted: “Let that man find an apartment first, get settled…. before you ask ’em to fill these size 10.5 Jordan 1s”.

All along, Brett Veach has been complimentary when speaking about Tyrann. He stated that the Chiefs wanted him to return in February and further buttressed the positive view that a good outcome would come from Team-Agent conversation had begun and “hopefully everything ends in a positive direction.” It appears that things went south at that point and the two sides were too, far apart on the monies offered v. what Mathieu expected.

I penned an article on the 25th of February about the importance of retaining Mathieu. Read here: https://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-how-important-is-tyrann-mathieu/

Reid is not as prolific a public entity as Mathieu is. Today after the signing was announced, he gave the Texans some sunshine, and, at the same time provided a view of his outlook of being signed by the Chiefs. He said today: “I had the time of my life. I have been looking forward to this moment for so long”. I think he covered both bases for both teams.

About Mathieu

Ian Rappoport(Rapsheet) said of the situation a few days ago: “My understanding is he’s going to test the market…And I guess there is a chance he’s back in Kansas City, but they have so many priorities. I know he’s a huge, huge part of their team. We’ll see what kind of competition they get from elsewhere….(he) still can play at a really high level, but really it is the leadership that the Honey Badger can bring to any locker room. He’s going to be coveted and probably breaks double-digits as far as his next salary.”

If this is the indication that Mathieu is gone, then so be it. Hopefully, the Chiefs can now Retain CB Charvarius Ward, who at 25 is a very solid Outside Corner. In the article I refer to above, I offered an either/or scenario as well. Keep Ward as the younger player with talent.

I’d hate to have to replace both in the same year. In the article published on the 13th, I listed 9 items, with retaining Mathieu and Letting Ward drift in Free Agency as items 1 and 2, or vice-versa. It turns out the “versa is possible”. See the article at ArrowheadOne, here: https://arrowheadone.com/a-three-rs-dream-scape-2002-reasonable-roster-record-repercussions-and-wrath-o-god/

At this point, the Chiefs have retained Deandre Baker, who, if all falls into place will be a key CB for that position group. I have hopes that Rashad Fenton continues his upward trajectory and we all love J’jarius Smith. A Free Agent who fits the Veach profile of acquiring former number one draft picks, is former Viking Corner, Jeff Gladney. If getting Gladney aboard is an optimum signing, and, if Deandre Baker fulfills his promise, our secondary is in good shape. The Safety position group, as I see it would be: Juan Thornhill, Justin Reid, Armani Watts, and very likely Zane Anderson since I don’t see that the Chiefs will tender Daniel Sorensen. Of course, I have been frequently wrong in my predictions, but this is how I see it at this moment. For the CB Group? I see a rookie in the mix but I would like to retain Ward. Beyond that? L’jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton, Deandre Baker, possibly Dicaprio Bootle, and I think we must consider the addition of Mike Hughes whom I can see being an integral part of the Tier 2 players, especially considering his import in the return game for Dave Toub’s special teams. It seems to me they are giving a lot of young players their shot in 2022. seem to me to be the direction that the staff intends to go.

It could still be true that Ward has priced himself out of the Chief’s Uni. However, I noted the positives to keeping him at age 25, including a 6.9% improvement in his numbers. He was also the Most Improved Player for the Chiefs in 2021.

do I view this as a good move? Yes. If the Chiefs were not going to tender Mathieu, signing Reid solves one position problem out of the gate. It is one of many holes in the roster that need resolving. I still see Safety as a draft pick need as well.

NEXT? Frank Clark

The late news at 11? Frank Clark agreed to a restructured deal for 2 years, $29M(with incentives. Just after 10 PM, Ian Rappoport tweeted that an agreement had been reached. As most readers know, I was sure that Frank Clark would depart after being cut. Still, this resolves one Defensive Line exposure. The player opposite Clark remains conjecture at this point.

This goes against the grain of my thinking, but it is the second move of the day by Brett Veach. Frank Clark has two years at a considerably less salary than the $26m that stood in place. This also frees up considerable cap space over the two-year period. Since the announcement at about 10:15 PM, I have not had time to take a look at the monies and cap savings, the latter of which will be important to the next things Brett Veach will take on.

My feelings about Clarks being retained aside, at least we can see the Chiefs making solid decisions on Day One of the Tampering period. Read about Clark’s signing here at ArrowheadPride: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2022/3/14/22978652/report-chiefs-restructure-frank-clarks-deal-to-keep-him-in-kansas-city?utm_campaign=arrowheadpride&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

I will dig into the Clark signing in my next article.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne