Let's talk about Houston's contract a bit.
I'm sure we're all glad that Houston will be in a Chiefs uniform for probably the rest of his career. I also suspect we all have some concerns about how HUGE his contract is. If we can believe the media, his contract is 6 years, $101 million, $52 million guaranteed. So an average of about $16.834 million per year. That's a HUGE potful of money. NO DOUBT.
But I'm not at all sure it's as much as it seems. As Demps mentioned in another thread.....
"The Chiefs cap situation is amazing for this contract, and here is why...
2015: Chiefs have a cap ceiling of $13 mil for Houston's contract. That is already accounted for, BUT the amount can be less and save us some space (Suh has just a $6.5 mil cap hit this year). That space doesn't have to be used this year and can rollover to 2016. Or, the Chiefs can keep the current cap hit which will save them money in the future.
2016: The Chiefs are projected to have $48 mil in cap space next year (one of best cap situations in NFL). So if Chiefs mimicking Suh contract, we still have $20 mil available...plus the saved money opened up by Houston's new 2015 cap hit. $20 mil is a lot to work with, and plenty to make our important contracts work.
2017: Chiefs are projected to have $78 mil available. Needless to say, that is more than enough to make just about anything work.
2018: $102 mil projected available.
Chiefs not only have flexibility this year, but throughout the near future as well. Unless John Dorsey suddenly forgets everything about working in an NFL front office, this isn't a difficult task."
So using Demps' numbers we should start 2016 with something like $16-$24 million AFTER taking into account Houston's new cap hit. That should be enough to get Poe and our other important contracts done.
Then in 2017 we're supposed to have $78 million. Deduct about $18 million for Houston and say another $30 million for new contracts in 2016 and before 2017 and we should still have about $30 million to play with in Free agency and for rookies.
2018...$102 million available...NO PROBLEM.
2019...This is the 5th year of Houston's contract and the dead money if we cut him is probably not all that big a deal, so if he is not producing anymore we can afford to cut him.
There is NO DOUBT that this is a blockbuster contract and I think we're going to have to be careful how we spend money the next 4 years. At the very least we will have a cheap #2 QB in 2016 than we do now. Houston's contract will not allow us the luxury of bench-warmers that make over $4 million per year. But I don't think this is a crippling contract. I think we are going to have to get rid of some luxuries but I don't think we are going to have to lose anything that is really important. This is where Reid-Dorsey have done us a HUGE FAVOR. We have A LOT of rookies and second year men on the roster and their low cap-cost means we can absorb a HUGE contract like this until the annual salary cap makes this contract not seem so huge...because we all know that in 3 years this contract won't seem at all big for somebody of Houston's caliber.
This is really what "building through the draft" is all about. By having a team that is heavy on players on their rookie contract you find yourself with the cap space to keep the veterans who are true stars with a bit left over to play around in free agency to pick up guys like Maclin who can fill holes where you really need help.
The "trick" about building through the draft is you need a GREAT coaching staff that in a year or two can turn rookies into starters or top of the line backups. I think Reid has the coaching staff that can do that.
I view 2015 as the year we transition out of "rebuilding mode" and move toward "serious contender" and 2016 as the start of a serious 3 year run in which every year is a year in which we could reach the Super Bowl.
Be HAPPY fellow Chiefs fans! We're in for a fun ride the next few years!!!
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Originally Posted by Coach
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