The Future of the Chiefs Salary Cap, in Depth – With the Kansas City Chiefs most recent contract restructures of Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones, we’ll all have to adjust our way of thinking about the salary cap now. Consequently, staying young and talented will be better than older and proven and that may present some challenges in years to come. Challenges I’m sure Brett Veach is ready to tackle, but there’ll be no punting allowed in the game he’s playing. To begin with, let’s take a look at where the Chiefs are currently at with the Salary Cap:
2020 Cap Casualties
From here on out, during the next 12 years, we might lose some fan favorites as salary cap casualties. Beginning with…
Travis Kelce
Kelce needs a new contract and is a Free agent after 2021.
Some hard truth here, which no one wants to hear, but to sustain a dynasty, biting the bullet must be done at times. They can walk away from Travis cheaply after 2020 but personally, I hope they resign him. I don’t see his replacement, unless Ricky Seals-Jones shows the Chiefs that he can produce quality starter’s play. Travis could still play 2021 under current contract terms, but I would expect him to hold out, in protest of other TEs salaries around the league. He certainly deserves more.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
| PRE-6/1 RELEASE 2020 Dead Cap: $7,500,000 2020 Cap Savings: $-2,000,000 | PRE-6/1 TRADE 2020 Dead Cap: $4,000,000 2020 Cap Savings: $1,500,000 | POST-6/1 RELEASE 2020 Dead Cap: $5,500,000 2021 Dead Cap: $2,000,000 2022 Cap Savings: $0 |
Free Agents to Re-sign Before End of 2020
Beyond Travis Kelce, the next priorities for Brett Veach should include:
- Charvarius Ward
- Ben Niemann – Ben will be a starting LB
- Damien Wilson – Niemann will replace Wilson if he’s not re-signed
Key Free Agents after 2020
Here the vital Free Agent who have shown they can play up to this point. There are other free agents not listed, and more of them could show better abilities this year.
I believe Brett Veach will be looking to replace all of these veterans with lower priced options, whether it be a: rookie draft pick, UDFA, Free Agent, and/or a one-and-done signee. Which is a speciality that Brett Veach has shown good success at: signing players looking to redo their value, or they come here just to win a Super Bowl. Yes, there have been a few players that did not work out, but they have been low-risk high-reward failures, so you can’t fault him for that. This rebuild process must be done with a good success rate… every year!
| Anthony Hitchens, LB POST-6/1 RELEASE 2021 Dead Cap: $4,223,750 2022 Dead Cap: $4,223,750 2021 Cap Savings: $6,500,000 | POST-6/1 TRADE 2021 Dead Cap: $4,223,750 2022 Dead Cap: $4,223,750 2021 Cap Savings: $6,500,000 |
| Eric Fisher, OT PRE-6/1 RELEASE 2021 Dead Cap: $3,181,668 2021 Cap Savings: $11,500,000 | PRE-6/1 TRADE 2021 Dead Cap: $3,181,668 2021 Cap Savings: $11,500,000 |
2021 Cap Casualties
Tyrann Mathieu will be the big name in the 2021 offseason. He will be a Free Agent if not re-signed before the start of 2021. I expect him to be willing to take a team friendly contract.
| Tyreek Hill, WR POST-6/1 RELEASE 2021 Dead Cap: $2,650,000 2022 Dead Cap: $2,650,000 2021 Cap Savings: $13,200,500 | POST-6/1 TRADE 2021 Dead Cap: $2,650,000 2022 Dead Cap: $2,650,000 2021 Cap Savings: $13,200,500 |
I don’t see Tyreek getting cut unless the league wide salary cap takes a big drop because of 2020 Covid-19 pandemic season. We don’t know how the TV market will do and we dont know how the new contract with TV networks for 2021 season and beyond, will be resolved. If the salary cap does drop drastically, it would be very bad news for the Chiefs 2021 roster. Then cuts, like Tyreek, could be a must. Re-signing Tyrann Mathieu might not happen as well. I don’t like to be negative and prefer not to think about what could happen, but I must point it out as a possibility.
| Alex Okafor, DE POST-6/1 RELEASE 2021 Dead Cap: $0 2022 Dead Cap: $2,000,000 2021 Cap Savings: $7,850,000 | POST-6/1 TRADE 2021 Dead Cap: $0 2022 Dead Cap: $2,000,000 2021 Cap Savings: $7,850,000 |
I don’t think Alex will be cut because of his play; if the league wide salary cap stays around $198M, I think he’ll be safe through the 2021 season… then he’ll be a Free Agent and be too high-priced to retain.
Mitchell Schwartz will be a free agent after 2021. Again, everything that the Chiefs do during the 2021 season will be based on what happens to the salary cap over the next year. I can see Mitchell taking a team friendly contract as he has made KC his permanent home.
Other Key Free Agents After 2021
Other players who could enhance their future on Chiefs roster based on there play during the 2020 season include:
DT Derrick Nnadi is a must re-sign if salary cap is 200+ million. We could see the Chiefs with 20- to-30+ Free Agents of their own in both 2020 and 2021 offseasons.
Re-thinking the Dynasty Building Process
I can’t stress it enough, that as fans, we’ll all have to adjust our way of thinking. Staying… youthful, but skilled, is preferred to… older but proven. Staying healthy and hungry is essential too. Breaking down as older players, and getting content, will cost more in the long run. However, the Chiefs core players, every year, must be top notch proven leaders. That could be expensive, but be advised, that it can’t always be like it is with this coming year’s roster.
The one issue I see with the salaries on the 2020 roster is… the Chiefs can’t continue to spend over 40% of their cap on the top 5 players: Clark, Jones, Hill, Watkins, and Mathieu… not counting Mahomes. The only way that’s working right now is because they have the MVP on the cheap. The future of the Chiefs salary cap may have long term issues to deal with to sustain a dynasty, but it will always be: “In Veach We Trust,” to find the right formula year in and year out.
[Note: here is the link for most of the statistics in this article.]
Alan Haupt — ArrowheadOne
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