Two Things About Dontari Poe's Contract With The Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs currently two rather important players unsigned at the moment -- DT Dontari Poe and WR Dwayne Bowe. Neither player has signed his deal but we do expect both to be in training camp at some point.

Poe should be an easy deal to get done, as evidenced by 26 other first round picks having signed their deals. I don't know the specifics of the negotiations but there are a couple of interesting points about the deal Poe will ultimately sign with the Chiefs.

First, he's the 11th overall pick which, as GM Scott Pioli previously explained, is advantageous to the team. The players picked in the top 10 have a fifth year option that is the average of the top 10 players at that position. Players picked after that, like Poe at No. 11, have the fifth year option as the average pay of the third through 25th players, a number that's much lower. Thus, the advantage goes to the team on this one.

Second, the offset language you've all been reading about. This has been an issue for a number of teams and their rookies. Let's say for example the Chiefs decide to cut Poe in the fourth year of his contract and he's due $3 million. Poe then goes and signs with another team who is going to pay him $2 million. No offset language means Poe could double-dip -- get $3 million from the Chiefs and $2 million from his new team. But adding in offset language means the $3 million the Chiefs owe him would be "offset" by the $2 million he's receiving from a new team, meaning the Chiefs would owe him just $1 million instead of the full $3 million. So the Chiefs probably want that offset language. Poe probably doesn't.

Just a guess, but I'd say the issue lies with point No. 2.