Tyrann Mathieu, the Secondary,
the Salary Cap, Plus a Pass Rush
by Paul Pulley | March 13, 2019
With the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly signing Tyrann Mathieu — I say reportedly because as of today, Tuesday, nothing can 
become official until 4:00 PM ET tomorrow, Wednesday, which is now today, the 13th. Got that? I will let others extol the virtues of the Mathieu signing, I’m sure this will be covered extensively over the next few days. A national talking heads had reported the deal for Mathieu to be 3 years and $42 million, an average of $14M/year. Until we’re able to see the structure of the contract, the 2019 cap hit will be a question. If we figure ⅓ of the signing bonus plus the 2019 base salary and any annual incentives will probably be between 7 and 12 million dollars, this will put the Chiefs safety position spending to at least $30M, if Eric Berry is retained. This would be the most in the entire NFL.
A duo of Mathieu and a healthy Berry would make a formidable pair of safeties, but would also tie up about 1/6 of the salary cap on this single position group. Releasing Eric Murray and Dan Sorenson would alleviate some of this strain by providing about $4.7M of cap space.
If we shift our focus to the cornerbacks, we only have 4 on the current roster with Kendall Fuller the highest paid at just over $2M, so even if Berry is kept on the roster for 2019, and with the addition of Mathieu, the Chiefs secondary as a whole, would rank in the top 5 of the NFL for positional spending, without any players being cut. With one or two draft selections for the secondary, the Chiefs total spending for this group would be about 20% of the cap.
Now, more than yesterday, there may be even more questions as to how new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will handle his secondary.
- Will he play Kendall Fuller on the outside full time?
- Will Charvarius Ward be a starter on one side?
- Will Mathieu play slot CB in the nickel? (a role at which he excels)
With the sheer number of safeties versus corners on the roster, playing Mathieu in the slot could be a real consideration for now. I already know the whole deal about Fuller being the best slot CB in the league a couple of years ago, but that doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t be as good playing outside full time. I recall reading an article about the Redskins planning to move Fuller to the outside prior to his being traded to KC. With a new system and more importantly, new DB coaches, I think Fuller will become one of the premier corners in the league.
The bigger question might be if Ward can handle the opposite starting gig full time. He played well down the stretch after HC Andy Reid put him on the field, and Ward looked as if his play improved on a weekly basis, so this could be the plan.
If Mathieu is to play the slot in nickel packages, the Chiefs have Armani Watts to play safety in spot duty and that could be a large spot, depending on how much time Spags spends in nickel. The Chiefs also have last years 6th round draft pick, Tremon Smith as a reserve corner and safety RFA Jordan Lucas if he is tendered.
Editor’s note: Jordan Lucas is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) according to Sprotrac.com.
The Chiefs 2019 Pass Rush
A lot is being made of the Chiefs cutting Justin Houston and trading Dee Ford (which happened late last night). Those two were the 2nd and 3rd most productive at sacking the opposing QB in 2018. Then we need to assume that our 4th best pass rusher, Allen Bailey, will also be departing in free agency. These three produced 28 of the Chiefs regular season sacks, just over half of the 52 total.
So, how big of a loss is this? Ehh… maybe not as big as we were thinking.
The New England Patriots had the next to worst pass rush in the league in 2018. Their team combined for 30 sacks. Only the inept Oakland Raiders had fewer. Not only did the Pats not sack opposing QB’s often, their best rusher, Trey Flowers, who finished the season with 7.5, is being allowed to walk in free agency. So, without a pass rush, the Patriots season had to be horrible, right? We all know the answer to that one.
The Los Angeles Rams defense was ranked 15th in QB sacks for the 2018 regular season. Exactly middle of the league. The Rams had 41 sacks for the season, with one player, DT Aaron Donald, getting half of those, that’s right, Donald had 20.5 sacks. The Rams second leading sacker was Ndamukong Suh with 4.5.
The Chiefs leading pass rusher, Chris Jones, who had 15.5 of the Chiefs sacks last year, will still be with the team. After that, I’m not sure where sacks will come from, but I’m not going to worry about it. I’m really not. DC Steve Spagnuolo is supposed to be creative at getting pressure, often using safeties and corners. With our new D-line coach coming to us from the Patriots, I’m sure he will have some New England tricks up his sleeve.
Editor’s note: Paul makes a great point here and fans of ArrowheadOne fans are privy.
Let’s look at it this way. The 2018 Chiefs had the best pass rush of all, creating 52 sacks on the opposing QB’s, with 3 more in the postseason. As well as having the league leader in pressures. What did this vaunted pass rush do for us? All of these sacks and pressures combined, managed to pull our defense, as a whole, all the way up to the 31st ranked defense in the entire NFL. Wow!
I’m not saying we don’t need a pass rush and sacks, we sure don’t want to be the Raiders. I am saying that having a secondary that can defend the pass, having players that can tackle and having a front seven that can stop the run, might be more important aspects to the defense. Usually things people say don’t stick with me, but something HC Andy Reid said some time ago is resonating in my head. Coach Reid said that he thought a pass rush from the interior is more important than a rush from the outside. It takes fewer steps to get to the QB up the middle and as quick as most QB’s get rid of the ball, this matters. Not only that, but a good rush up the middle disrupts the pocket more. This is why an early draft pick like Jerry Tillery might be a top need.
Having defensive ends that can set an edge, win their battles and keep running backs from gaining seven yards per carry, could be of a higher importance than a speed rusher that spends most of his time behind the QB.
Cornerbacks are definitely needed, but I think good defensive linemen are as well.
Paul Pulley — ArrowheadOne
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