KC Chiefs: Andy Dalton Contract Extension Good News

By Leigh Oleszczak | Aug 5, 2014

The KC Chiefs are gearing up for their first game of the season on Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Ironically enough, the Bengals are being discussed with the Chiefs a lot, as their quarterback Andy Dalton was just given a six year extension on Monday. The Chiefs are going through a similar situation at the moment.

The KC Chiefs have two players on the team that are wanting (and deserving of) long term deals with the team. The one who is the focus of this article is quarterback Alex Smith and the other is outside linebacker Justin Houston. Houston’s talks don’t seem to be discussed as much (probably because he’s not a quarterback).

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Smith, however, is the talk of the town in Kansas City. He wants to be paid like a top tier quarterback. Now that we’re seeing second tier guys like Dalton getting long term contracts, why shouldn’t Smith get his wish?

Well when you look at the nitty gritty details of Dalton’s deal, it’s actually pretty good news for Alex Smith and the Chiefs. It seems there’s a way the Chiefs can give Smith the type of money he’s asking for and deserves without screwing over the Kansas City Chiefs organization in case of something bad.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk summed it up extremely well,

"The most important numbers are the numbers fully guaranteed at signing. Dalton receives a signing bonus of $12 million and a roster bonus in three days of $5 million. That’s a total of $17 million out of the gates. Coupled with his $986,000 base salary (which isn’t guaranteed as a legal matter but it is as a practical matter), Dalton will make $18 million in the first year of the deal."

Head spinning yet? Well there’s more.

"Then, on the third day of the 2015 league year in March, Dalton earns a $4 million roster bonus. He also has a $3 million non-guaranteed base salary in 2015. That’s $25 million over two years."

To sum up, Dalton’s contract is a good sign for the Chiefs due to the structuring of the deal. Dalton has a few years to prove if he’s Cincinnati’s guy, which is something the Chiefs can do with Smith.

Ben Nielson at Arrowhead Addict came up with a pretty solid plan for Kansas City concerning Smith’s deal,

"Ultimately this is what the Chiefs want to do – keep Smith at an affordable price short term with long terms options and the ability to abort the contract if something better comes along. The franchise tag route is too expensive and does guarantee long term security, and simply letting him walk would put the Chiefs in a position where they could be without a quality quarterback again."

Smith has the intangibles to be a franchise quarterback and he did wonders for the KC offense last season. He had his best season here and I don’t expect that to slow down any time soon.

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