How Will Matt Cassel's Contract Affect the Kansas City Chiefs Salary Cap?

We've all heard by now the details of the contract given to Matt Cassel by the Kansas City Chiefs.  To recap:

• Six years
• $63 million maximum
• $28 million guaranteed
• $40.5 million over the first three seasons

Here's a new one that will be of interest to everyone.  According to Jason La Confora of the NFL Network, Cassel will still be paid $15 million in 2009.  Cassel was previously under the franchise tender which would have paid him $14.651 million in the upcoming season so it appears this number went relatively untouched.

Find out after the jump why this is good news for the Chiefs.

This is excellent (and necessary) as far as the Chiefs are concerned.  Hovering around $30 million under the salary cap right now, the Chiefs need to spend more, not less, in order to hit the salary cap minimum.  Operating under the assumption the team is still about $30 million under the cap, that means they'll have to commit about $13 million more to the roster by the season opener.

There were some concerns out there (primarily from myself) that the process of reaching a long-term contract agreement with Cassel prior to the start of the season would lower his 2009 cap number thus making it even more difficult for the Chiefs to reach the salary cap minimum.

What this also means is that Cassel will be paid at least $25.5 million over years two and three of his contract.  Bottomline?  Here's here for at least three years.

The full salary cap ramifications of the Cassel contract aren't yet available but when they are we'll let you know exactly how this affects the Chiefs salary cap situation.  It's possible that a signing bonus was included and that pro-rated figure will raise his 2009 cap number.