Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs: How to Create Wiggle Room With Salary Cap

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:29 a.m. ET

Fansided, Andrew Jones/FanSided via NFL Spin Zone

The Chiefs have some high quality free agents that they need to re-sign, but they are strapped. A few moves can free up some money.

The Kansas City Chiefs have some things to worry about as the offseason progresses. Heavy on their minds are the impending free agencies of nose tackle Dontari Poe and safety Eric Berry. Both are impact players on a defense that needs veteran leadership. The secondary was very young and due to injury, so too was the front seven. Berry and Poe provide inspiration and grit to the locker room and the field.

Currently the Chiefs sit at just under $3.5 million in cap space, according to Overthecap.com. Their top three highest-paid players account for over $51 million of their $173 million in total salary. Not much can be done about Justin Houston who is set to hit $22 million against the cap in 2017.

However, the next two top earners, Alex Smith and Jeremy Maclin, can be restructured to reduce their impact. Smith is in his fourth year of a five-year contract that grows by $4 million in 2018. If cut, Smith would save the team about $2.5 million after $7.2 million goes to dead money. It would not be ideal for the Chiefs to cut him, but rather to restructure or trade him for 2017.

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A restructure for Smith and Maclin could easily free up about $5 million in space, assuming Smith wouldn’t take less than $14 million this year and Maclin no less than $10 million. Maclin’s 2016 numbers don’t do him any favors when it comes to a restructure. He may take less money and free up some space for upgrading the team.

Another area that should be an easy decision for Kansas City is Nick Foles. Foles is set to hit $10.75 million against the cap. That is a ridiculous number for a backup quarterback. There is no dead money if he is released. And if he isn’t an optimal replacement for Smith, which I don’t believe he is, then he should be cut. There are plenty of veteran backups for the Chiefs to sign cheap and of course they should draft a quarterback in the first round if they can.

The player and decision that some have brought up for Kansas City that no one really feels good about, but may be necessary, is Jamaal Charles. Charles has played in just six games in the last two seasons. That isn’t the kind of production you want from a guy making $6 million per year. The injuries are a major concern for Kansas City and they’ve already proven they can win without him. The unpopular but necessary thing to do may lie in trading or releasing him.

In reality, the Chiefs have few holes outside of the quarterback position and maybe inside linebacker. This offseason shouldn’t be about upgrading through free agency, but about keeping the guys you know make this team good. Poe and Berry won’t come cheap as they are some of the top at their respective positions.

These moves should give the Chiefs enough to sign both players, as long as both don’t demand the largest contract at their position in the league. Berry has already stated he will not play under the franchise tag. Poe, on the other hand, could be franchised. If worse comes to worse, the Chiefs should keep one or the other. My money is on Berry.