We are in that time of year where the front office and coaching staffs are trying to round out their rosters. They are plugging some holes and building some depth. There are lots of signings, workouts, and releases. We are currently sitting with about 90 names on the roster and an eventual goal of just 53.
I have written some articles trying to shed some light on how many of these positions are, barring injury or trade, locked down and how many are up for grabs. In my most recent one called, “A Post Draft Look at the Kansas City Chiefs Roster”, I concluded that there are about 18 positions, plus the practice squad, that are open.
With 55 players competing for the 18 slots, there will continue to be players waived throughout the summer. However, what I am more interested in right now is how there might be some positions that open up due to salary cap implications.
According to Over The Cap, Kansas City is sitting at just of $185MM, with the Top 51 at just shy of $168MM. All of this is without signing any of the rookie draft class. So, will there be Salary Cap Casualties? Let’s take a look at the players that could be cut or restructured to free up cap room. Since we are so close to the date, I am just going to consider Post June 1 cuts.
First up, here is a table I made from data on Over The Cap information. Here are the Top 20 players that could provide cap relief. Even the bottom 4 on here don’t really provide any real relief.
I will take a look at the Top 10, as the benefit really starts falling off at that point.
#1 Alex Smith: Cutting Alex Smith frees up a whopping $13.3MM in cap space. How about trading or restructuring? This isn’t happening, so let’s move on.
#2 Jeremy Maclin: Releasing Mac can provide $10MM in relief on the salary cap. Trading or restructuring? I could see either of these, with the right situation. Perhaps restructure with more bonus and add a year or two? This would put his contract into his mid-30s. I am not so sure this is a good idea. Trade for a less costly up and comer? I could see these happening, but cut him? I don’t see that happening given our need for talent in this position.
#3 Ron Parker: With Ron Parker, we drop down to $4.6MM in cap savings. I think Parker is like Maclin. I can see a trade or restructure, but not an outright cut. However, like Maclin, this would put Parker’s contract into his mid-30s. This probably isn’t the best idea either.
#4 Allen Bailey: Allen Bailey is in the same camp as Maclin and Parker. While he could help us save $4.15MM in cap space, he is needed in his position. So, I don’t see a cut here. However, Bailey’s current contract only has him tied up through 2018. If we wanted a restructure, this would be a good place. We could add a year or two and still have him at 31 or 32 years old.
#5 Dustin Colquitt: Colquitt can free up a lot of cash quickly. However, he is a flip the field punter and not so easily replaced. While he is 35 years old, he is a punter and they can last longer. Colquitt is in the last year of his contract, so maybe a restructure here could work to free up money too. Extending through the 2019 or even 2020 seasons could free up a couple million this year. With the signing of Will Monday, a cut or trade is possible here too. This will be interesting to watch.
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#6 Jah Reid: Reid has been part of the offensive line for 2 years now. He hasn’t seen a ton of action but, has stuck on the roster. There are a lot of question marks on the offensive line, so I don’t think he will be cut or traded. That leaves us to consider restructuring. He is currently 28, so he has some tread left on the tires. I could see adding 2 years to his contract to reduce the 2017 impact.
#7 Zach Fulton: Fulton is a bit like Jah Reid. He has been offensive line depth and has stuck on the roster. Fulton is only 25 years-old and in the last year of his contract. So, if the coaches and front office like him enough, then he is pretty young and might be worth an extension of 3-4 years. I have mixed feelings on him, but would probably cut or trade him and save the cap.
#8 Cairo Santos: Santos is 25 and in the last year of his contract. Without any current prospects, cutting doesn’t seem to be a good option. I trade could happen, but I am not so sure we would get a quality replacement for less money. So, that might only leave us with an extension to his current contract. Even with that, I don’t see much savings.
#9 Albert Wilson: Wilson has seemingly defied the odds and maintained employment. This one seems easy to me, cut him and save the money. Pretty much any player out there can do what he does or better. I don’t see how a restructure would be a good idea and I can’t see anyone other than Cleveland executing a trade with us on him. So, I think it would be better to let him go and have the younger players get more experience and ascend quicker.
#10 Dee Ford: Cutting Ford would save a ton of money ($1.5MM this year and $8.7MM next year). Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening. Outside pass rushers are tough to find and coaches are pretty willing to let them mature. So, I could see an extension happening to save a few hundred thousand or a trade of another talent. Why I don’t see is the trade saving us money, so I am ruling that out too.
Well, there are the Top 10. I really don’t see any moves that are good. I think most of the restructures make us worse off for the future. Really the only reason I can I think of for doing these restructures is because the front office sees this year as the year to win it all. They can then spend the next 3-4 years in rebuild mode.
If John Dorsey does decide to do some restructuring, Smith, Maclin, Parker, Bailey, & Colquitt are the contracts that would save significant money. However, as I noted above, there are age questions with this group. If pressed, I could see Colquitt or Bailey getting an extension, as their age is the most tolerable of the group. What I hope doesn’t happen here is a restructure out of desperation. All that will lead to is Dead Money down the line.
My guess would be that we restructure Bailey, Colquitt, and Fulton. We might cut Wilson, and (not from the Top 10) Demetrius Harris and Tyler Bray. Bray’s performance versus Patrick Mahomes II may determine whether we are OK trading cap savings for the backup position.
Well, that is all I have for now. What do you guys think? What will happen with the roster and the cap?
Until next week, there’s The Rub!
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