Kansas City Chiefs: Sign Them or Send Them

Next offseason will bring tough decisions on soon to be free agents. Limited cap room could find the Kansas City Chiefs with tough decisions to make.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made some curious contract decisions in past offseasons, trading off inexpensive corner Marcus Peters and signing Sammy Watkins to what appears to initially be an overpay contract. Limited depth and limited depth will be tested after the 2018 season as the Chiefs have to begin the process of extending the current players that deserve those extensions.

Those names that we will highlight come down to three names of note, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, defensive end Chris Jones and cornerback Kendall Fuller.

Tyreek Hill will be the first of note since his contract will be impacted by the recent extension signed by Giants receiver Odell Beckham and offseason contract the Chiefs signed to Sammy Watkins. Beckham signed a massive five-year deal that will net him 95 million, 65 of which is guaranteed. Watkins signed a three year deal with the Chiefs this past offseason that will pay him an average of 16 million a season with 30 million in guarantees.

Hill will get more the Watkins. Thus far in the past couple seasons, Hill has better numbers then Watkins and is clearly the Chiefs number one receiver. Another great season, and we will be talking about Hill is a player that will have three pro bowl appearances and the speed to impact a game at any time from any place on the field.

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While Hill likely doesn’t get the money Beckham received, if Hill goes for big yards, contract extension talks for a player that has two consecutive thousand yard seasons will get expensive.

If the Chiefs are unable to get a contract with Tyreek Hill done, he will enter the 2018 season with a very affordable 720K cap number and then will hit free agency where he’s going to cash in a big, big way. However, the Chiefs need to view Hill’s contract extension as a must this upcoming offseason. He will only get more expensive from there.

A recent article from Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor with Joel Corry hits on this issue between the Chiefs and Tyreek Hill.

Chris Jones will be in a very interesting spot with the Chiefs as he’s currently the only defensive end signed past the 2018 season but only through 2019 and then hits free agents with the aforementioned Hill along with defensive starters Kendall Fuller and linebacker Reggie Ragland. Big bodies that can move and can play either outside or inside get paid A LOT of money and Jones appears ready to cash in.

The question will simply be how much will he cash in, will the Chiefs view him as a priority and can the organization get it done. The issue clouding an extension for Jones that will present with Kendall Fuller is the difficulty in using the franchise tag on any of the 2019 free agents.

The Chiefs will have to start thinking about an extension for Mahomes, and that likely takes place after the 2019 season when an extension for the 2017 first round pick is able to be done. A new contract will be extremely tough and extremely expensive if the Chiefs are trying to lock up a franchise quarterback at the same time they are attempting to lock up an athletic defensive lineman.

Kendall Fuller is a cornerback perhaps with more leverage in a contract that any player at his position in recent memory. As of current, Fuller and fifth-round rookie, Tramon Smith is the only cornerbacks under contract past this upcoming season.

I have no idea what or how to value Fuller as while he graded out as one of the best slot corners in the NFL this past season and has certainly shown to be the only competent defensive back on this roster, Fuller certainly could ask for big money.

The question is what will happen with contracts and what the Chiefs are going to do. The franchise tag would a be a massive one year deal with no guarantee that you keep the player the following season and the Chiefs would surrender any and all leverage with negotiations the following season.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see what happens with Fuller after this season. He’s shown himself to be the best player in the defensive backfield (Berry hasn’t played) and appears to have set himself as a breakout player for the Chiefs in 2018.

Why do we bring this up now? Because, if you are not going to resign and extend the aforementioned trio, the Chiefs should at least listen to trade offers on the players. Disclaimer, I’m not advocating to get rid of any of the three. The point I’m making, and this is something New England long learned that few teams really have grasped, is past the quarterback, don’t worry about having the highest paid player at a position.

How many times have we seen star players traded out of the land of Brady and Belichick? Avoiding massive contracts for players not playing quarterback has allowed the Patriots to always maintain a strong and positive roster, able to afford solid depth because their starters are not making massive amounts of money.

Too many times we hear fans talk about how player X, Y, or Z has to be resigned, the team simply can’t let them go. Question, in retrospect, would you do either the Eric Berry or Justin Houston deal? Not likely.

Kansas City showed a glimmer of this mindset with the departure of Marcus Peters. Yes, there is a slew of other considerations that went into that decision (not touching that topic) but the Chiefs had decided they were not going to resign the star-crossed corner and decided to make the move while they had an opportunity to get some type of value.

While I’m not saying it’s happening or going to happen, we can’t ignore the possibility that it won’t if extensions are unable to be done.