In the Chiefs Best Interest

Laddie Morse

This next week will be monumental for the Kansas City Chiefs. We may find out if Brett Veach will come to terms with DT Chris Jones or if it will be a stalemate like it was last offseason and that didn’t end well if you ask me. CJ missed the first game of the season, a loss to the Lions in Arrowhead and then he decided to sign a deal that previously he was not to his liking. This coming Tuesday, at 3 p.m. CDT will be the beginning of the Legal Tampering Period followed two days later by the actual beginning of the new league year, and free agency. If Chris Jones is not signed by then, he could actually be singed by a super aggressive team outside of K.C.. If that were to happen, K.C. could match their offer or if it’s too high, K.C. would be forced to allowed him to walk away and take their money.

If CJ ends up playing for another team, his little loaded rant on the parade day stage was all for naught.

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Hmmm… “I ain’t going nowhere, baby.” Now that’s a good one… if he doesn’t end up in K.C.. I’ve heard enough form both camps — he will — and — he won’t — enough to make my head spin like Linda Blair on Tender. In the meantime, the Chiefs have Franchise Tagged CB L’Jarius Sneed and he’s likely going to be signed and traded to another team. Here’s Cole DeRuse on the situation with CJ and Sneed (16:02):

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I have tried to figure out a way that L’Jarius Sneed could remain with the Chiefs, but the more I try, the more I fail. It just doesn’t seem likely at all. Now, if CJ ends up taking a bag of money from someone else beside Veach, then Sneed could possibly end up in red and yellow in 20224, BTW, I’ve heard it called ketchup and mustard and that does makes some sense with Reid being the King of Burgers and Mahomes loving Ketchup.

Each offseason Seth Keysor writes a piece as if he’s the GM of the Chiefs. Keysor wrote a in an article called, “If I Were Brett Veach” (subscription required) in which he says:

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“… I like for the draft to be the long-term building mechanism for the team, with free agency to be used at times to build but more often to shore up weak spots to prevent drafting for need. In other words, my aim in free agency is always intentional towards where I see gaps in the roster. So in the current case for the Chiefs, it’s WR, DL, and OT (arguably) where my attention primarily goes.”

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What Keysor mentions here are the Chiefs needs and I concur, it’s: WR, DL and OT. However, not necessarily in that order. What I think Veach likes to do is draft the BPA based on who falls to him, either that or he moves his pick up or down the board depending on who falls where, and how much he wants that prospect. Still, what Keysor wrote is as close to the truth of it as I can find.

Then there’s the curious case of Drue Tranquill (pictured on the front of this piece). Why sign him before any other player on the team this offseason? Some will ask, why is that so curious? But ask yourself: why not sign Nick Bolton first… or Stone Cold first? I think there’s a message in his signing for others to take notice of and be wary of. Tranquill got $19M over three years and that breaks down to $6.33M per. Here’s Myles Simmons and Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk breaking down that deal (3:10):

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I really thought the Chiefs were past the playing games part of doing business. That’s what this signing looks like to me… playing games. Head games or you can call it Mind Game. Especially those kinds of game that are played with the players. I guess there are those who will argue that this is just the price of doing business in the big leagues… with the biggest league being the one the Chiefs are currently playing in. If you think the Chiefs aren’t in full court press with social media, you’re living in a different decade. The Chiefs use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube… all to do their business. What does it all mean?

It means some of us need to catch up with the times and for some of us, that means… oh grow up! (I’m talking to me of course) How does that affect the signing of Tranquill and how that signing is viewed by the public? It means the Chiefs are ever present in social media and how all the moves they make are seen by their fans. The optics.

There’s a good chance Chris Jones will not finish his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. As much as it hurts to type that out, it’s true. In fact, it’s partly a truism. IOW, it’s so very obvious… that even though many of us would like not to believe it, it’s still true.

Now, watch CJ and K.C. get a deal done by tomorrow night — Monday night — the evening before Free Agency begins it’s Legal Tampering period. Now that’s called being, “incongruous.”

Sooner than I thought. Late last night at about 9:40 p.m. came this news….

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In a report by ESPN News Services they say:

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“… Jones will have the highest-ever average annual salary for a defensive tackle, surpassing those of Nick Bosa ($34 million), Aaron Donald ($31.6M), T.J. Watt ($28M) and Joey Bosa ($27M).”

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The deal breaks down like this:

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• CJ Got $95M Guaranteed, a record deal

    – Aaron Donald got $65 million guaranteed

• $31.67 million per year on average, over 5 years

• Chiefs gave CJ the Donald deal, but CJ got 1 more year

• 175 quarterback hits and 75.5 sacks (career)

• Joe Cullen gets his shining star back and so does Spags

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What is in the Chiefs Best Interest? How about CJ’s Million Dollar Sack against the Chargers last year (0:53):

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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