Hammock Parties
03-03-2006, 02:03 AM
DBs Warfield, McCleon among Kansas City's cuts
By Rick Dean
The Capital-Journal
A year ago the Chiefs shelled out some big bucks to land a starting cornerback, former Dolphin Patrick Surtain, for their downtrodden defense.
On Thursday they released two veterans corners -- both of whom had been starters -- in order to trim their budget to a still-to-be determined salary cap number.
Needing to meet a temporary cap of $94 million, the Chiefs released veteran corners Eric Warfield, a starter since the 2001 season, and Dexter McCleon, who started all 16 games in the team's 13-3 campaign of 2003 and an occasional starter in the two seasons since.
Kansas City also released linebacker Shawn Barber, who was expected to be a major free-agent acquisition when he moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 2003, and special teams standout Gary Stills, a Pro Bowl selection in 2003.
More tough cuts are likely to come. The Chiefs could be close to parting ways with guard Will Shields, an 11-time Pro Bowl pick and former NFL Man of the Year who is as much of a pillar in the Kansas City community as he is on the Chiefs offensive line.
Because the NFL -- still hopeful of agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement with its players -- moved back to Sunday night the deadline by which teams must be under the salary cap, the Chiefs still have time to ask Shields to play for less than his $5.1 million base contract in 2006.
With his pro-rated signing bonus factored in, Shields carries a cap number of some $6.6 million.
The Chiefs hope is that a new collective bargaining agreement raises the salary ceiling by as much as $10 million. That would give them more room to deal with their own players, such as Shields, or sign new free agents -- something the Chiefs can't afford to do in their current cap crunch.
But Shields, interviewed Thursday at an NFL-sponsored reading session with children, sounded like a player who knew he wouldn't play a 14th season with the Chiefs.
After playing at a high level in 208 consecutive games -- 207 of them as a starter -- since his 1993 rookie season, Shields expressed his reluctance to play for considerably less than the amounted agreed upon in this last year of his contract.
Chiefs president Carl Peterson said several players restructured contracts or agreed to play for less in order to help the club meet its salary cap obligations. Peterson wouldn't identify any of those players, but it is no secret he wants Shields to be one of them.
"There's a number of things we've done beyond terminating four players to create some cap dollars, and there may still be some things we do in the next 24 or 48 hours," Peterson said. "One of the things I learned a long time ago in the NFL, you never close any door completely, you never burn any bridge.
"I've gone through this with a lot of players over the years," Peterson added. "I'm trying to give Will as much time as possible to make that decision. If he wants to continue to play, that opportunity to play in Kansas City is going to be there."
By Rick Dean
The Capital-Journal
A year ago the Chiefs shelled out some big bucks to land a starting cornerback, former Dolphin Patrick Surtain, for their downtrodden defense.
On Thursday they released two veterans corners -- both of whom had been starters -- in order to trim their budget to a still-to-be determined salary cap number.
Needing to meet a temporary cap of $94 million, the Chiefs released veteran corners Eric Warfield, a starter since the 2001 season, and Dexter McCleon, who started all 16 games in the team's 13-3 campaign of 2003 and an occasional starter in the two seasons since.
Kansas City also released linebacker Shawn Barber, who was expected to be a major free-agent acquisition when he moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 2003, and special teams standout Gary Stills, a Pro Bowl selection in 2003.
More tough cuts are likely to come. The Chiefs could be close to parting ways with guard Will Shields, an 11-time Pro Bowl pick and former NFL Man of the Year who is as much of a pillar in the Kansas City community as he is on the Chiefs offensive line.
Because the NFL -- still hopeful of agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement with its players -- moved back to Sunday night the deadline by which teams must be under the salary cap, the Chiefs still have time to ask Shields to play for less than his $5.1 million base contract in 2006.
With his pro-rated signing bonus factored in, Shields carries a cap number of some $6.6 million.
The Chiefs hope is that a new collective bargaining agreement raises the salary ceiling by as much as $10 million. That would give them more room to deal with their own players, such as Shields, or sign new free agents -- something the Chiefs can't afford to do in their current cap crunch.
But Shields, interviewed Thursday at an NFL-sponsored reading session with children, sounded like a player who knew he wouldn't play a 14th season with the Chiefs.
After playing at a high level in 208 consecutive games -- 207 of them as a starter -- since his 1993 rookie season, Shields expressed his reluctance to play for considerably less than the amounted agreed upon in this last year of his contract.
Chiefs president Carl Peterson said several players restructured contracts or agreed to play for less in order to help the club meet its salary cap obligations. Peterson wouldn't identify any of those players, but it is no secret he wants Shields to be one of them.
"There's a number of things we've done beyond terminating four players to create some cap dollars, and there may still be some things we do in the next 24 or 48 hours," Peterson said. "One of the things I learned a long time ago in the NFL, you never close any door completely, you never burn any bridge.
"I've gone through this with a lot of players over the years," Peterson added. "I'm trying to give Will as much time as possible to make that decision. If he wants to continue to play, that opportunity to play in Kansas City is going to be there."