$16m in Cap Space, are we gonna spend it?
 

We let Buggs go and currently have ~$16m in cap space...

Are we gonna spend it?

Who should we spend it on?

Maybe $3M for Donovan Smith.

We need to replace about 20 personnel on the cheerleaders squad.

Pay Donovan Smith and hope he gets beat out.

A gorilla vs. grizzly PPV.

Lt insurance makes sense. But top priority should be to save up for future contract obligations.

Makes me wish we'd have held onto Gay at his price point. That athleticism was a big deal at times.

I’d bet we sign a vet running back after cuts.

Something like that if it’s obvious no one can do the job. Otherwise, I think leftover salary cap carries over to next year, correct? If so, we really need more cap space next year. Lots of great players are due to be paid.

I know DT is basically the same that it was last year, and I know the team thinks way more highly of Nnadi than most of us do, but... ehhhhhhh

Behind Jones, who sometimes splits out to end, we've got:

Wharton (unspectacular, okayish, basically there as rotational interior rush)
Nnadi (when he's good, he's serviceable as a nose, but when he's not? Blech)
Pennel (33 years old, ideally won't be counted on much during the regular season)
Omenihu (only rotationally, and again does interior rush stuff, also coming off his injury)
Farrell (JAG)
Dickerson (JAG, and pretty much sucks)
Lovett (hopeful he can contribute, but doubt he'll be reliable)
Gubner (probably practice squad material)

Basically, we're counting on Lovett being able to not only make the roster but play some meaningful snaps on our rushing down rotation, because I'd really like to save Pennel as much as we can for the playoffs.

Again, I know the Chiefs aren't worried, because that's technically more than they were rolling with into camp last year at this time. I just... I'd like more.

When you have Mahomes, Kelce, Jones, et al, you play for now - not later. If we have $$, spend it to shore up LT, RB & another DL.

Agree with RB and DT.

Hope we don’t sign a LT, because we’re blown away by what we have in Kingsley.

I don't always agree - but I think I do this time.

That said, you don't just spend for the sake of spending. The right player has to be there. And honestly, I'd love to use some of that space to get extensions done on those guys that we need to take care of next season. But I think the rapid rises in the cap going forward are going to keep most players from extending early unless you're willing to blow the market apart to do so.

Now Creed can/will and probably SHOULD re-set the market. So I'm a little puzzled as to why that one's not done yet.

Indeed, you're doing a disservice to this team by sitting $16 million under the cap this year, unless they're planning to go all out Philly Eagles style next offseason and resign all our top free agents no matter what, which you know they aren't going to do.

I'm assuming Veach has some 1-year deals he's planning on handing out to a LT, RB and possibly a DT. Still some guys out there, just no way I see them sitting on that much space. They'll spend $8-9M of it before all is said and done is my guess.

LT - Smith or Bak for vet min?

Sit on it for a midseason trade if need be?

I usually agree but man,we’ve got a really good team and a chance to keep a lot of those pieces the next few years. Mahomes’ cap hit becomes very real next year so I think we just use whatever we have left to absorb that blow. Let’s round out our roster with some vets but I think this is a good year to prep for the future so we can try to limit cuts next year

He’s great for spying running QBs and didn’t seem like he wanted to leave KC. I have to agree.

Vet RBs that get cut almost ALWAYS suck.

The position is just so easy to eyeball. These guys have burst or they don't. And if they get to camp and some UDFA makes them expendable so they get cut, what the hell good are they to us?

I think Cam Akers is still kicking around. Looks like Josh Kelley and Marlon Mack. I mean as vet min guys I guess I'd take the phonecall for either of them.

But as far as 'camp cuts' go, that's just gonna be a big ol' pile of smashed assholes, IMO.

I'd probably look at some vets who fill roles, Dalvin Cook would probably be solid insurance as he can handle pass protection.

Also while we don't need a safety I find it a little insane that Justin Simmons isn't signed anywhere.

Josh Kelley isn't any good at all, just no talent there.

I wonder if it's not another case of wounded pride.

Happens a lot. Guys don't like the 'last offer' they get from the team, go to the market and then the market doesn't develop. And they're just unwilling to swallow pride and come back.

I said it last off-season that Hardman was a fool for not pursuing that same thing here. You know that dance through FA didn't go how he'd hoped and it ALWAYS made more sense for him to come back here for a year. And ultimately all sides appear to have come to the same conclusion.

Gay likely should've done the same thing. He certainly didn't break the bank going to NOLA.

Probably.

He briefly looked solid as a rookie and hasn't really done a thing since.

But that sorta makes my point for me - he's the kind of chaff you're sifting through at this point. I just can't convince myself that he's some guy that's going to come in here and make a difference. So why bother?

If anything just wait until October and if someone's hurt, maybe Akers is healthy again by then.

I'd probably have the medical team take a look at Bahktiari just because they've been so good in recent years.

Chenal was the guy they look forward to IMO. 4.53 40, 1.50 10 and a 6.98 3 cone at such a huge size. He’s gotta play more.

Also I think they’ve got some big plans for Jaden Hicks to play that role on obvious passing downs.

Moving on from Gay was the right move. You can’t tie up a bunch of money in your LB core. They will sign Bolton, Chenal is on a rookie deal, and Tranquil provides you great depth and really not much drop off from Gay. Win/win.

I agree that we have to let certain players go you have to expect not to retain everyone. With Gay it will be interesting to see how he plays I was wondering if he will have issues with his neck or not.

The DL could kinda blow apart if things didn't work out well. There's some DE's still out there that could help if FAU doesn't take off.

I don't disagree, but re-signing Gay doesn't 'tie up a bunch of money'. He was awfully cheap.

Once the market failed to materialize, I'd have loved to bring him back. I just don't think Chenal is up for a Sam role. He's too stiff in space. I think as a run defender he's possibly an upgrade on Gay but I really do get nervous about seeing him more than maybe 40% of the snaps and that's not the case with Gay.

If Bolton and Tranquill stay healthy, it's probably no big deal. But neither of those guys are pictures of health - any injury that forces Chenal into a 3-down role will be a real problem (and at that point I think we see a LOT of 3-safety looks with Hicks playing hybrid LB).

If Willie had shown any and I mean ANY improvement mentally over the last two seasons he would be here instead of Tranquil. But he's basically been the exact same player since midway through year two. He's physically really damn impressive and sometimes just has days where that's enough to take over a quarter or two but just lost other times.

I really felt Smith was on his last legs at year's end. I don't think I would take a chance especially if they like what they have seen of what we have in-house. At some point, you have to let the guys play. I don't feel Smith will make it through a season. It will be an interesting training camp. We will know if we have something in-house or if we need to panic and resign Smith.

"Jungle Law" is going to eat up the rest of our cap space.

actually that’s the reason I really like the idea. He’s at the end of his rope so we can sign him to a 1 year deal then get rid of him. He is only insurance. Maybe potentially a guy you can start for a game or 2 until you truly feel comfortable with our young guys. I’d rather do that than give a bigger deal to a guy you are forced to start because of his contract.

At worst we end up with veteran depth

I think Spags sometimes overvalues smarts over athleticism, though.

Easy for us to love him up now (as well we should) but this is still the guy who had Sorensen, Niemann and Hitchens out there because "they're steady...."

I think he sees the only way to mitigate risk as being a reliable decisionmaker. If a guy like Tranquill is where he's supposed to be, he'll keep a play from being TOO bad, even if he gets beat. Whereas if someone completely blows coverage, it's a big play waiting to happen.

There's some truth there, but I don't think it gives credit to how often someone like Gay could just use ungodly freak athleticism to make up for a mental mistake. And he did it OFTEN. Nor does it acknowledge that sometimes knowing where to be means precisely ****-all if you can't be there on time. And that happened with Hitchens and Sorensen OFTEN.

Given his druthers, he'll take smart and slower over dumb and faster every time. And I think that's a little dogmatic. I think it becomes something of a balancing act and I think Gay is a guy who's athleticism can paper over some of the mental mistakes and make some splash plays that most guys in this league just can't make.

If you want an insurance policy guy like that, you sign Bakhtiari and play him until the wheels fall off (however short that may be)

At this point there's no discernible difference between where Smith ended up towards the end of last year and where Wanya might be at the end of his first full offseason with a little bit of regular season experience. There isn't really any room for Smith on this team unless we ran into some issues with injuries.

I'd sign Donovan regardless of how they feel about the young tackles. Doesn't mean he has to start, but you can't crater your season because you aren't deep enough at tackle; i.e. 2020.

And then a RB... besides that, I'd just be thrilled to see some extensions get done soon.

Baktiari out there too but you couldn't rely on him. Just too injury prone...BUT if he does stay healthy he's a huge upgrade over anyone we got.

Whoaaaaaaaaa big fella! Not in pads yet. Then we can really assess accurately at that point. Just saying;)

Ok, slow around this time of year so I thought I'd start a thread around one of the only remaining interesting offseason topics we're not currently dicussing.

Summary: Should we spend our $16m in Cap Space to put us over the top for a 3-peat?

1. Maybe rolling that $16m over to next year is the best decision.

2. Donavan Smith is the preferred next up if Chiefs don't trust LT after camp.

3. DL would be an interesting addition due to injuries and Buggs being let go.

4. Maybe a vet RB that gets let go if we don't like what's available to us after camp.

5. A lot of us wish we'd spent that money on Gay and kept him in the rotation.

Continue...

Best Remaining FAs: https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.co...lable-players/

Saw a youtube video suggesting we should consider...

1. DE Yannick Ngakoue

2. CB Stephon Gilmore

3. FS Justin Simmons

Thoughts?

...outsiders don't seem to trust our DB development, but I don't think anyone in Chiefs Kingdom is concerned about the loss of Snead.

An LT will probably get signed around training camp time. Unless they really like what they see with what we have. Another RB could be signed and probably some DT depth.

How about a trade (pick swap) for another WR reclamation project in Trey Burks?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...ct/ar-BB1oKEjX

I don't hate it.

Whyd we piss Sneed away for peanuts again?

Because we can’t afford to take the $24 million dollar hit next year. This isn’t rocket science bud

If I was Spags and it was my money, job and reputation I’d probably feel the same. But one willie gay wild card sure spiced it up next to a steady Bolton type.

Maybe, **** no and no

There are always some surprise cuts during the preseason. Save the flexibility to see if there are any players available who make more sense than those currently on the market.

Agree with resigning Smith at a minimum. Do that now before some other team experiences and injury and desperation pays him.

I think signing a veteran left tackle is a definite need if Thuney’s pec is at all in question. You can’t trot a green tackle out there next to hobbled Thuney or young guard.

Has anybody said hookers and blow yet???

It sure would be nice to have a proper Thuney update.

If the current crop of LT's they have on the roster can't do what Smith did, we've got bigger issues. He wasn't that good down the stretch. Roll with the young guys.

There's some DE/DT's out there that could help. I'd imagine they're waiting to get signed after all the OTA stuff.

DE Yannick Ngakoue & LT Donavan Smith would be nice.

We just drafted a LT in the 2nd round. Play him and let him learn. He ain't gonna learn on the bench.

I hate to admit this but I agree with you. Kingsley needs a legit shot before they sign someone else. He will probably be on par with what we saw from Smith last year.

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Set aside for team legal fees.

When everyone was healthy Gay was down to playing something like 25% of the defensive snaps wasn't he?

That’s where I’m as well especially if you can get Smith for the same 1yr/$3mm deal. Pretty decent (and affordable) insurance policy if the young tackles are t ready for prime time (YET). The risk of the young guys not protecting the franchise blind side would be devastating.

Or if Veach knows he’s resigning one next year even if this year is a disaster or the player or spends the year being injured. Could use the $16 million to spread the cap hit to this year too. Maybe make it a little easier to sign one of our soon to be FA’s next year.

The issue is, for me anyway, we are going for the 3peat this year. Something that will be in relevant discussions long after we are all gone. We saw our SB hopes end in decimation because of the O-line.

You can almost be guaranteed one of the NFL’s best DE will be lining up against him in any playoff run. That’s a huge risk. That’s the only thing Mahomes can’t recover from and make plays, running for his life from ball snap.

No - typically in the 50-60% range; nearer 70-80% when guys were hurt.

He was our clear LB2 last year.

Ogbah and Lawson would make sense at DE

At some point Justin Simmons would just make sense in terms of adding that kind of talent back there.

Other than that or a Bahktiari I don't see much worth it. With being able to roll money over, it always makes sense to just....well do that.

I'd wonder if there's a player for player trade out there somewhere for them to add a Rb?

If Simmons hasn't signed yet, there's something obvious on the tape, the medicals aren't checking out or he's asking WAY more than he's worth.

If someone gave him 1/$12 million right now (probably disguised as a 2 year deal) I'm betting he'd take it. Sun's getting awfully low in the sky for him to not have a team yet.

If I'm a betting man, it's a little of A and a little of B. He's starting to age a little and probably played like a top 40 S instead of a top 5 safety last season. And he's wanting to be paid like, say, a top 10 safety.

And that disconnect isn't likely to clear up any time soon.

Guy's made $60 million in his career. If he doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to. And if you don't come offering him $10+ million, he's probably just gonna stay home.

I'm not terribly interested in that.

There you go.
Never a bad idea to have a few mil should some disaster befall one of our more important guys. May need to send away a pick and have the room under cap to house them.

There's been no smoke on that really anywhere. I'd guess he's hit the wall or wants alot of cash.

At some point, you get to a number, you just add him if he's still a good player thought right?

I mean like, 4 million a year?

I want to say it was 27 maybe and somewhere I saw he had a high run blitz rate but I really don't remember that I guess. He was a few trick pony that they didn't trust to read a play.

Let's go with "not a cerebral player" in a very complex defensive scheme.

Kind of breaks my heart. I was fully chubbed when we drafted Willie. Absolute freak specimen. You could argue he was more successful than the freak LB's that the Cardinals reached on in back to back drafts though.

Maybe Virch plans to get new contracts done this year with Creed, Trey and Bolton and utilize the funds there

Denver's d was terrible before Simmons came back into the lineup.

Dude is still good.

I would prefer to use money elsewhere but if they signed him I wouldn't be mad.

Nope.

I mean he played 52% of the snaps in the SB when we were featuring Chenal (along with a healthy Bolton and Tranquil) to neutralize Kittle.

He was always a 50% of the snaps player - just check the game logs. And when the LB corps was dinged up, he was invariably north of 70% and even surpassed 90% on occasion.

He was a very very important part of the defense. He's not irreplaceable - but we'll have to make sacrifices elsewhere to do so (or lean heavier into sub packages which can open us up to misdirection).

I'd caution against downplaying his contributions here. He was awfully good for us.

I imagine they want more time for guys like Cam Jones.

Well they'll get it. Tranquil won't stay healthy all season. Bolton may not. Chenal is so physical he probably won't.

There are going to be injuries to the LB Corps.

And hey - young LBs are a blast, man. They're fun to watch develop. Young and powerful and they fly around the field. UDFA and late round picks are great stories to root for.

It might well be a lot of fun to watch some of these guys develop.

But it was a lot of fun watching Willie Gay blow up guys the size of Buicks and run like a deer. Again - I'm not saying we can't live without him. I just don't think it's fair to understate how important he was the last 2 seasons.

With that on his resume, we should've come up with $3 million to keep him around, IMO. And with the VSB, it wouldn't have cost us as much on the cap as we paid him. He'd have been something like a $2.25 million cap hit for us. I just feel like a team sitting on $16 million in space probably should've come up with that instead of throwing good money after bad with Nnadi.

It's not as common as other positions, but it IS possible to start a rookie at tackle and for him to not totally get his shit pushed in. Yeah, he might have some bad games, especially against elite pass rushers, but he'll figure it out.

I know we're trying to threepeat and should be maximizing every resource possible to make that happen, but I just don't see Donovan Smith with his bad back being one of those resources that can help us.

The one I'd really like to have back is Khalen Saunders and his 3 year 12 mill deal with the Saints. That guy turned into a really nice player for us in the 22 season.

Sure as hell rather have him than Nnadi.

Would rather have Keondre Coburn as well, for that matter.

I do not get this organization and its Nnadi fascination.

We are vying for football immortality. A 3-peat. Something that has never been done in the history of the NFL. You don't pocket ANY cap space unless you plan to sign someone to that full or close to it amt mid-season.

Spend the ****ing money.

Spend it on Bolton or Creed extension. Make that first year a bigger cap hit to level off the remaining years in preparation for future signings like McDuffie.

Players available this time of year aren’t ever game changers and if they are it will cost a fortune along with draft picks.

There’s also a reason why the NFL doesn’t have an exciting in season trade period. It’s too expensive and teams aren’t stupid enough to do it.

No. Spend it on someone who can help the team THIS year who already isn't on the team.

Go for it.

All in.

There won’t be guys available who help us. Has-beens, injured players and losers like Kadarius Toney are what’s available this time of year