Will the Chiefs cut Justin Houston and re-sign Dee Ford next year?

This week on the AP Laboratory, Craig, Matt and I answered a question about what we would do with the EDGE position next year. Would we cut Justin Houston? Would we re-sign Dee Ford to a long term deal? Would we put Ford on a franchise tag? We all weighed in.

Craig Stout: “This year has been fantastic for Dee Ford. Meanwhile Justin Houston is hurt and can’t be on the field for what seems like the 30th year in a row. I think at this point you cut your losses, take the $7 million in dead cap. Sign Dee if you can or tag him to keep him in house, that way you don’t have to replace two EDGEs next year.”

Matt Lane: “What Dee Ford is doing right now is something you’re not going to get someone to do right away from the draft, even as good as this EDGE class is going to be. What you save cutting Justin Houston technically is going to cover all but a couple million of the franchise tag for Dee Ford. That’s assuming you can’t get a long-term deal. If you can find a way to get a two or three-year deal that he might take because it would allow him to get one more deal before he’s done playing, do it. If not, franchise tag him.”

I lean towards cutting Houston and franchise tagging for Ford for one year. The Chiefs haven’t got much production from their two highest paid defensive players this year and I’m leery of a long-term deal for someone with a back injury history.

We talk Sammy Watkins, Ford and give you a two round mock draft to fix the 2019 defense on this week’s episode of the AP Laboratory. If you can’t see the player below, click here.

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