Top 10 List of the Toughest Decisions
The Chiefs Must Make This Offseason
by Laddie Morse | February 11, 2019
When you’e a team with the kind of Super Bowl aspirations that the Kansas City Chiefs have then your offseason will be staggeringly important and incredibly scrutinized. That scrutinization begins here. So, let’s take a look-see at the Top 10 list of the toughest decisions the Chiefs must make this offseason.
Reid Em and Weep- what will happen to Britt Reid?
This may not be a toughy for Chiefs fans but if your name is one Andy Reid and you’ve had your son close to your vest ever since he was arrested 7 years ago, it would be a different matter altogether. No one has stated for sure that Britt Reid is no longer with the team, in fact he’s still listed on the team’s page as a coach with the Chiefs. However, with Steve Spagnuolo now running the defense and the reality that he’s already hired someone who will perform Britt’s old job with the Chiefs in 2019… the odds of Britt being gone baby gone, well, they’re high. How that will affect both Reids is yet to be known.
Any narrative that Andy Reid won’t adjust to win at all costs needs to go away permanently. His own son, Britt, was DL coach and now Spags has hired a replacement. Reid has been teachable, adaptive and creative as hell these last few years. #Chiefs
— Matt Conner (@MattConnerAA) February 9, 2019
Deciding what the greatest team needs are?
With both Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo still evaluating the team’s 2018 performance on tape right now, they don’t even know what their biggest team needs will be. So, stay tuned.
What will new DC, Steve Spagnuolo, do with the Chiefs last two second round picks?
Tanoh Kpassagnon nearly disappeared at the end of the 2018 season. Breeland Speaks at least got some playing time this year but it tailed off dramatically as the year progressed. Both players seem more ell suited to a 4-3 defense so there’s a good chance we’ll see much more of them in 2019.
Who will Steve Spagnuolo hire to fill out his defensive coaching staff?
Now that we know that Matt House is being held prisoner in Kentucky, Spags will have to go in search of a new Linebacker coach for the Chiefs.
Will the Chiefs allow Patrick Mahomes to do more than attend the Opera this offseason?
Apparently not.
Yes, basketball is a prohibited activity in Patrick Mahomes' contract. So are: pic.twitter.com/c8IenfcIrN
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) February 7, 2019
How much Steve Spagnuolo will influence the Chiefs draft day selections?
I never got the impression that Bob Sutton had a big voice in the draft room. Even last season, I thought Brett Veach and his staff were locked in on certain players and although Bob Sutton was certainly telling Andy Reid what he needed, he just didn’t have a bark much less a bite. You have to figure that Spagnuolo negotiated his being heard when it comes to building a defense and so… I’d say yes, Spags will have a draft room voice.
What will the Chiefs do with Justin Houston?
This past week Paul Pulley wrote a piece called, “Who WIll It Be: A Dee Or A Justin? in which he said,
“Some solutions bantered about are to cut Houston (which would give about $14M of cap space and add $7.1M of dead money) and tag Ford to get one more year out of Ford.”
Paul goes on to explain that Houston would likely be a better fit for the 4-3 defense. However, GM Brett Veach said this week that he’s looking forward to having Ford back and that he had an excellent season. For now, it looks like Justin Houston will be in K.C. another season.
What will the Chiefs do with Eric Berry?
The issues involving Eric Berry have been rising up the top 10 list of decisions the Chiefs have to make this offseason… well, ever since the season began. I recall that the 2018 was supposed to be his big comeback season. Again. Then he was kept out of a practice… then practice”s”… then games. Then he was “Day-to-Day” and eventually became the Calendar Boy for Day-to-Day-ness. Now, we hear that he may not have the surgery that he apparently needed all season long. Berry will cost $16.5M in 2019 and if he’s cut this year it’ll cost the Chiefs $14.95M in Dead Cap money with a total saving of about $1.5M towards the cap. A horrendous situation. Next year’s (2020) savings in $8M and the year after that $4M… so you have to figure that if the Chiefs think they can get anything at all out of him this year and next, they’ll keep him.
How much are the Chiefs going to have to pay Dee Ford to keep him in KC?
Dee Ford is coming off of his best season so far: 55 tackes, 13 sacks and an incredible 7 fumbles created. At NFL.com Dee Ford is ranked as the 7th best Free Agent in 2019. I’ve seen Ford listed as high at the 4th best ranked Free Agent. While Ford will be looking for an extended contract with multiple years to it, the Chiefs are not likely to give that to a player who has only performed up to standards one year, 2018. Consequently… and this is just my best guess… he”l be given the Franchise tag and paid on a one year prove-it-again-FT-contract. Once the Chiefs are able to lock up Patrick Mahomes — presumably next year — then they’ll know how much they have left to spread around to the other players like Hyundai… er, Ford..
When will “Patty Flakes” come out?
PMII has shown he can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in their own arena but can he beat Tony the Tiger in his? Adage.com says,
“It’s not clear who will produce or market the cereal, but that industry may put Mahomes’s charisma to the test. Kellogg Co. and General Mills Inc. have struggled to lift sluggish sales in recent years, hurt by consumers shifting to other breakfast options. The now-retired quarterback Doug Flutie had some success with “Flutie Flakes,” though that was two decades ago.”
Who knows when they’re coming… but you can be sure, Patty Flakes are going to be on the shelves of your local grocer by the end of this year.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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