The Osweiler File: An Unorthodox Solution to Dee Ford

Every move the Kansas City Chiefs have made, since new GM Brett Veach took over, has screamed that they don’t want Dee Ford. Remember when Veach said this:

“So you can run a 4.4 and a 4.5, but I think everything in

this league starts with the power game, the power rush

player. I would take a 4.7 guy that can power rush as

opposed to a 4.5 guy that really can’t.”

Does that sound like a not so subtle dig at Ford to you? Cause it sure does to me. How about this:

“Sometimes it just comes down to having guys that are wired right.

Guys that want to line up and play four quarters of football.

Our need is to just get tougher.”

You know how many day one defensive starters the Chiefs have left from last year? Four: Justin Houston, Allen Bailey, Dee Ford and Daniel Sorenson. Houston isn’t really financially smart to cut, Bailey is overpaid, but still one of Chiefs best DL, Sorenson saves you a little against the cap, but he’s not a terrible player, when he’s playing in the right spot. That leaves Ford, an under-achieving OLB who can’t set the edge against the run. Tough? I don’t think so. On a Chiefs team that’s looking for glass-eaters, Ford is a concert pianist. Literally. He’s a great guy, has a lot of talent, but he’s not a fit for the new defense. The trouble is, Ford’s contract becomes guaranteed when he fails his physical, which is all but ‘guaranteed’ to happen. That’s $8.7M against the cap. Nothing the Chiefs can do about it though, right? Wrong.

The Osweiler File: In 2017 the Houston Texans head coach, Bill O’Brien, faced a challenging situation. His GM had panicked, the previous year and given a big guaranteed contract to former Broncos QB: Brock Osweiler. Osweiler proved to be terrible, but his contract didn’t make cutting him feasible. Coach O’Brien turned to a solution which, while commonplace in Major League Baseball, is rare in the NFL: trading a draft pick to save money. Browns took Osweiler, a 2^nd round pick and a 6^th round pick, in exchange for their 4^th round pick. This helped them clear some $16M in salary, that they otherwise would have had to pay. If the Chiefs are half as desperate to get rid of Ford as the Texans were to dump Osweiler they could take a similar approach.

Ford’s Fit: Brock Osweiler had a huge cap hit and little to no football value. Ford’s situation is a bit different. While Ford is vastly overpaid at 8.7m, he’s also not a total zero from a defensive standpoint. As such, I think Chiefs could probably trade off his contract at the cost of a 4^th round pick for a 6^th or 7^th round pick. To pull off such a trade they would need:

1: A GM who had at least some interest in Ford.

2: A GM who values draft picks over salary cap space.

Enter John Dorsey. Dorsey has shown a love for past draft picks that has caused him to cough up big money to retain average players. He also loves draft picks. During his time in KC, he sought to maximize compensatory selections, and also, in 2016 traded back to acquire additional picks. The Cleveland Browns have plenty of cap space, and this move appeals to Dorsey’s ego. If he wins the trade, he gets a quality pass rusher and a 4^th round pick, fleecing his former team in the process. If he loses, he’s only out some cap space, something the Browns have an over-abundance of anyway.

It might seem crazy to trade off draft resources to clear cap space, but let’s face it, the Chiefs haven’t exactly done well with 4^th round picks anyway (Nico Johnson, DAT, Ramik Wilson, Demarcus Robinson). $8.7M could allow them to sign a nice free agent this year, like Jonathan Hankins for instance. Alternatively, they could carry the cap space over to next year when they’ll have some key extensions to negotiate. Either way, if K.C. is serious about getting tough on defense — and Ford doesn’t fit that definition — they’d be smart to clear his roster spot… and his cap hit… even if it takes losing a little draft capital.

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