FanPost

An assessment of the teams current cap status

I feel like we should probably attempt to figure out where the team stands as is, at least as far as the salary cap position goes. To me, utilization of the cap is a crucial thing to consider at this point in the offseason. Maximizing the salary cap is what gives teams an edge year in and year out. So, I'm going to do my best to break it down for everyone even more than what you could just find on OTC or Spotrac.

  • 2018 Salary Cap: $177,200,000

This is the number the NFL has published for all teams.

  • Chiefs 2017 Rollover: $2,600,000

This is how much room we had (or wanted) to rollover at the end of last season.

  • Chiefs Dead Cap: $16,711,099 (nearly 10% of our cap space)

This is probably our biggest hamper on our current salary cap situation. Paying players who aren't on the team anymore sucks.

  • The Top 53 Contracts: Roughly - $153,500,000

Currently, only the top 51 contracts are all that count against the cap. But come season start, 53 is the number which is what I try to use. This includes rookies signed at the max of their slot who are not yet signed or contract details are not available.

  • Our current Cap Space: $9,588,901

I believe this is the Cap Space we would currently carry into the season if our top 53 contracts all made the roster and we had no camp cuts. However, I think we all know that is pretty unlikely.

  • My projection of our Cap Space: $12,673,901

This projection is based on a few things. 1 - We only carry 3 TEs, I took the most likely option, and that is Amaro gets cut instead of Harris. 2 - that West and Zombo will both get cut. 3- various lower salary players that are in our top 53, but unlikely to make the team.

  • Why we might be sitting on $12.5M

Next season we already have $158,000,000 on the books. The cap will probably grow at least $9M. So we have about $28,000,000 in projected cap space. Of course, this is before we resign anyone or restructure any contracts. Morse, Ware, Ford, Nelson, Conley, DAT, Harris, Erving, Amerson, and Bailey will all have expiring contracts. This will likely eat up a good chunk of that $28M, even if we don't resign the majority of those players. In order to be able to add more free agents for next season, we may very well be considering rolling over our remaining cap. Something I would be fully supportive of.

  • Top 10 Free Agents remaining we could spend $12.5M on
  1. Tyvon Branch - S (#6 S PFF)
  2. Kenny Vaccarro - S (PFF Grade is off.)
  3. Eric Reid - S - (#30 S PFF)
  4. Bashaud Breeland - CB - (#54 CB)
  5. Johnathan Hankins - DT - (#20 DL PFF)
  6. Jeremy Maclin - WR - (#52 WR PFF)
  7. Richie Incognito - LG - (#12 G PFF)
  8. Junior Gallette - OLB - (#31 EDGE PFF)
  9. Tre Boston - S - (#30 S PFF)
  10. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie - CB - #58 CB PFF)
I personally, would try to sign a couple of the older guys here on one year deals if possible. Ideally, Branch and Incognito. Both are in their 30s, and Branch could be brought in late as he already should know most of the system. To top it off, LG is the biggest weakness on offense right now, and S appears to be a major hole on the defensive side.

Anyways, I really like where we are sitting cap-wise. I think Veach inherited quite the mess but has put us in a position to build a competitive roster for the foreseeable future. If the D is a much improved group, I could see the reason we are sitting on cap. We will want to keep this group together for as long as possible.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.