Chiefs Looking to Slash Salary to Free Up Cap Space
By Scott Rogust
The Kansas City Chiefs are on the precipice of a dynastic run, but face one significant obstacle: the salary cap. The Chiefs partially addressed this by opting to place the franchise tag on stud defensive lineman and impending free agent Chris Jones, but there's still a lot of work to be done and key players to lock down, all while staying under the cap.
According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, talk around the Scouting Combine is that the Chiefs are looking to trade some players in order to free up cap space ahead of the new league year.
The #Chiefs have to slash salary. Lots of talk here in Indy they could try to trade some players to at least get some value back. https://t.co/SlQLi7RSSZ
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 27, 2020
Let's preface by saying the Chiefs will not be trading or cutting top-tier talents like Travis Kelce, Tyrann Mathieu, or Frank Clark. No, they'd look at players who have a high salary, but aren't necessarily living up to their end of the bargain.
The first name that comes to mind is wide receiver Sammy Watkins. The former 2014 fourth overall pick is in entering the final year of his three-year, $48 million contract, where he carries a massive $21 million cap hit. Given he has an opt-out clause prior to the new league year, trying to offload Watkins is the right decision for Kansas City.
And with this, the Chiefs cap space will be -$1.3m. Sammy Watkins should be on the market soon as they’ll need to be back in the green before the league year begins. With Watkins cut, the Chiefs cap space would be ~$12m. Need space for draft picks. ? https://t.co/iUzmCTJZh3
— Steven Kriz (@skriz24) February 27, 2020
Daniel Sorensen is another name the Chiefs can look to part ways with. Sorensen is a quality safety who happens to be entering the final year of his current deal. Given he carries a low cap hit of $4.75 million, the Chiefs can easily ship him off to another team for some draft capital.
The Chiefs have the potential to become the next dynasty in the NFL, but to retain the key cogs to their Super Bowl-winning roster and their incoming draft class, they have to do some serious salary slashing this offseason.