Kansas City Chiefs: Realistic look at 2019 Chiefs roster
By Shade Piper
What it Would Take to Create Enough Cap to Franchise Tag Dee Ford
Currently as the roster sits, the Chiefs have about $23 million in cap space, and as already mentioned previously, the Hill and Jones extensions will cost about $25 million. That leaves negative room for the over $18 million franchise tag value Dee Ford will more than likely receive. Not all hope is lost though; let’s look at some things the Chiefs can do to create some more cap room.
Trending. Four Options for Dee Ford this Offseason. light
This first move is the one that is going to get a lot of Chiefs fans heated. This controversial move would involve getting rid of Justin Houston.
It has already been reported by Matt Verderame of FanSided that the Chiefs don’t plan on keeping both Justin Houston and Dee Ford. Also according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network the Chiefs are expected to keep Dee Ford, so if both of these reports are true that would mean Dee Ford is in and Justin Houston is out.
Based on conversations I've had, my understanding is #Chiefs aren't keeping both Dee Ford and Justin Houston. It'll be one or the other.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) February 21, 2019
Additionally, Houston is not taking a restructure that doesn't include more guaranteed money.
There will not be a pay cut in KC.
The #Chiefs are expected to franchise tag Dee Ford, keeping a talented rusher in the building, as they work through acquisition scenarios for their new 4-3 defense. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/O3uRr69hTQ
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 19, 2019
This move is likely to infuriate a lot of Chiefs fans, but it would save the Chiefs $14 million dollars, according to Over the Cap, and Houston still has enough value that the Chiefs could probably trade him and get a couple additional draft picks along with the cap relief.
Although some fans will want to keep him, others will realize that he hasn’t played up to the value of his contract recently and has missed 16 games in the past three seasons. There are other players that need to be paid and sometimes tough decisions have to be made.
Trading Justin Houston would be difficult, but the cap space it would create and the additional draft picks will help make this decision for Brett Veach and the Chiefs.