Chiefs are 63m under the cap

[hayden2004]

nick wright@getnickwright

Always KC. RT @MattPomPom Teams with most salary cap room(in millions): KC $63, TB $60, CIN $60, DEN $51, WAS $48, JAC $45.

[nicfre2011]

Also, I was digging around for franchise tag tender amounts and found the transition tag tender which I had completely forgotten about. Basically, the franchise tender amount takes the top 5 salaries of the position or 120% of the players previous year salary....with compensation being two first round picks if a franchised player signs with another team. As I understand it, there is an "exclusive rights franchise tender" that gives the current team the right to match the offer should they choose to do so (if not they get the two first rounders). The other option is the "non-exclusive franchise tender" that gives the current team the two first round picks and no right to match any offer.

Now, the interesting thing is the transition tag, which is very similar to the franchise tender although it takes in the top 10 salaries at the position and only allows the current team to match any offer and receive no compensation if they do not match the offer.

So, worst case scenario, the Chiefs could apply the franchise and transition tag to Bowe and Carr. I know most of us have been thinking about franchising one player and accepting the possibility of losing the other, but this could give us a safety net should we not be able to get both signed long term right now.

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[TopekaRoy]

That being said, you can't expect to count Soliai's franchise tender of last year as what the Chiefs will have to pay in 2012 if they sign him long term. Keep in mind, the signing bonus can be spread over the lifetime of the contract (not sure the max number of years you can spread the signing bonus out, I was thinking 5...not sure if that changed)...plus you can offer more guaranteed money that could make the difference in the player accepting your offer or a competing offer.

On Chris Myers, I don't expect him to hit the free agent market as I would definitely figure the Texans will re-sign Myers long term. I did state if he was a free agent, it would definitely be worth talking to him.

On BenJarvus Green-Ellis, not sure where you got your numbers from, but I can assure you he didn't make $12.5 million in 2011. In fact, here is his contract history :
Rookie contract : 3 years/$1,150,000
2008 : $295,000
2009 : $385,000
2010 : $470,000
2011 : $1,835,000 (restricted tender offer)
And considering I would view Green-Ellis as Thomas Jones' replacement, offering him a decent contract at or slightly above what Jones made while playing for us wouldn't be out of line...especially considering the signing bonus could be spread out.[/font]
Thomas Jones
2 year contract : 2 years/$5,000,000
2010 : $3,000,000
2011 : $1,900,000 ($1,100,000 bonus)
And here is the contract history for Anthony Collins...who made less than you indicated
Anthony Collins
Rookie contract : 4 years/$2,175,000 ($470,000 signing bonus)
2008 : $412,625
2009 : $502,625
2010 : $487,625
2011 : $672,625

(here is where I got the salary info, but rotoworld also provides solid salary info : Spotrac.com :: The Spot for Sports Contracts :: Homepage)

I'm not sure where I got that number for BenJarvis, either. I just tried to find the link again and I came up with $1.835 million, as you said (Spotrac). I must have clicked on the wrong tab and listed Soliai's pay twice. I understand that signing bonuses are prorated. With Soliai's salary I was including the prorated portion of his salary which is what counts against the cap.

With Collins, I had the same number you did. I just rounded up because it was closer 0.75 million that 0.5 million and I assume he will get a raise next year going to the highest bidder.

But you are right that I didn't subtract the salaries of the players those guys would be replacing. That would lower the cost, of course. I'm just saying that with 22 FAs to sign or replace, we are going to need every bit of that cap space, if we don't want to take a step backward as a team. We will probably have to lose some decent players. It will be an interesting offseason, no doubt.