Kansas City Chiefs: How new safety Tyrann Mathieu fits into defense

Eric Berry is due a little over $16 million this coming season, per Spotrac. His dead cap hit? A near whopping $15 million.

That means that cutting Eric Berry has almost no real benefit to the team, as doing so would only save the Chiefs a couple million in cap space. A more likely cut candidate would be Daniel Sorenson, who is making close to $5 million. Cutting him would clear up about $3 million in space, which is actually on par with what cutting Berry would.

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Some may speculate that the Chiefs will try to trade Berry, but I don’t think that is the case. Free agency has just begun, and the Chiefs aren’t done making moves. They will free up cap space in other ways, whether it be surprise cuts, a Dee Ford trade, or an Eric Berry restructure. The team simply doesn’t pay Mathieu if they don’t have a plan to clear up more cap space already in place.

What general manager Brett Veach seems to be doing is on par with what he has always done; identify his favorite target, and then get him. Some may say that has been reckless, and that the money the Chiefs have dolled out to players like Sammy Watkins and Anthony Hitchens is more money than he should’ve. That may be a fair argument, but I believe Veach sees the bigger picture.

The key factor here, is that Patrick Mahomes is still their quarterback. His rookie deal is very team friendly, which allows the team to spend elsewhere. The cap hit of Chris Jones, Tyreek Hill, Berry, and Tyrann Mathieu is LESS than what the Packers are paying for Aaron Rodgers in 2020. Veach is surrounding Mahomes with as much elite talent as he can to maximize the teams winning potential.

That type of payday will soon come to Mahomes, but for now, Veach is spending money in other places to ensure the team can take advantage of this window. Mathieu’s versatility gives Veach the freedom to explore all other options in free agency and the draft, as Mathieu can fill more than one hole on this defense.

Either way, the Honey Badger coming to the Kingdom is only the first domino to fall in what is for sure to be an exciting offseason for Chiefs fans.