Free Agency is in full swing. Upon the opening bell of the 2016 free agent signing season the Chiefs were one of the more active teams out there. The Chiefs had a very good first day, not a perfect one, but a very good one. Before the league year even began at 3:00 yesterday afternoon, the Chiefs had already re-signed Tamba Hali and franchise tagged Eric Berry; within the first 3 hours of the new league year beginning the Chiefs would also find a way to retain Derrick Johnson and Jaye Howard; and finally they’d also solve a recurring problem on the offensive line with the addition of Mitchell Schwartz from Cleveland. The only thing that the Chiefs didn’t do was re-sign CB Sean Smith, and that one hurts A LOT. Especially since he signed a deal with the hated Raiders, so we’ll have to see him twice a year and he’s a very good, borderline elite player at his position. That’s someone who MUST be replaced on this team for the Chiefs to be successful in 2016 and beyond. So, while retaining stalwart veterans, improving the offensive line drastically, and bringing back Howard are all great moves but losing Sean Smith within the division, to me puts a damper on the whole thing. That all being said, let’s take a look at the deals that were signed and what it means for the Chiefs going forward.
First and foremost let’s take a look at Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali. Both signed similar deals DJ came back for 3 years at $21 million with $12 million guaranteed, while Tamba’s deal was for 3 years $22 million w/ $12 million guaranteed. DJ and Tamba were drafted in back to back years for Kansas City (Johnson the 15th overall pick in the 2005 draft and Hali the 20th overall pick in the 2006 draft) and both signed these deals with the intention of finishing their careers as Chiefs. That’s a rarity in this day and age of sports, to see great players stay with one team for the duration of their careers. Both players also managed to write themselves forever into the Chiefs record books last year as Derrick Johnson passed Gary Spani to become the all-time leading tackler in Chiefs history; and Tamba Hali passed Neil Smith to become 2nd all-time (only to the great Derrick Thomas) in Sacks. On top of that, neither player was over-paid for the value they bring to the team. The deals that they signed were team friendly contracts and will, as stated above, enable them to retire with the team that drafted them.
You may recognize the name Schwartz, as he is the brother of former Chief Geoff Schwartz who started with the team in 2013 before leaving for New York. Mitchell was never given his fair due during his time in Cleveland, always over-shadowed by the best Left Tackle in the game Joe Thomas and all-pro Center Alex Mack; however the guys at Pro Football Focus (the most trusted statistics site for the NFL) love Schwartz – “One of the top right tackles in the league, Schwartz was a PFF selection for a second-team All-Pro spot after a strong 2015 season.” if you’d like to read more on what PFF had to say about the Chiefs signing of Schwartz you can visit them here .
That leads us to Jaye Howard, the unknown backup Defensive Lineman who made a name for himself in the breakout season he had in 2015. He started 14 out of 16 games in the regular season last year, totaling 5.5 Sacks and recovering 2 fumbles over the course of the year. Howard came to Kansas City as a free agent from the Seattle Seahawks in 2013. He has progressively gotten better every year since arriving in Kansas City and it was almost a sure thing that the Chiefs were going to lose him at the end of last year. Yet, he comes back to Kansas City at a bargain basement level deal. 2 years $10 million with $8.2 million guaranteed. That was a signing that came out of nowhere yesterday and kept the Chiefs defensive front intact going into next year. Howard, Poe, and Bailey are going to be your guys and if Mike DeVito decides to come back, all the better. Out of all the signings and such made in the last 48 hours by Kansas City, this is the one that is by far the best.
Now finally, the negative side of things, Sean Smith goes to the hated Raiders. Sean Smith was arguably the best overall player the Chiefs had hitting the open market this year, and inarguably the hardest player to replace if he were to be lost. Smith is a solid top 10, borderline top 5 corner in the NFL and the Chiefs didn’t seem to be interested in re-signing him. Now, I understand that he got the DUI a couple of years ago, and that caused him to be suspended for the first 4 games of the 2015 season. However, the Raiders got him for 4 years $40 million w/ only $20 million in guaranteed money, I know that’s a ton of money in the grand scheme of things, but for an all-pro caliber corner that is a bargain basement price. I’m extremely disappointed to see him go, especially within the division. That being said, how do we replace him? Prince Amukamara and Brent Grimes are still available in Free Agency and the team is also looking at Ohio State Corner Eli Apple as a possible first round draft pick. No matter how you slice it, the Chiefs absolutely must find a way to replace Smith on the side opposite Marcus Peters for 2016.
At the end of the day, we’re just over 24 hours into Free Agency for this year. 2016 has a chance to be an incredible year for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Division is wide open, the team is mostly intact, and they’ve learned how to win. If they want to claim the ultimate prize they’ve still got a lot of work to do, but going to the Super Bowl is not out of the question for this team, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what the season has in store.
As always, connect with me on twitter: @m_c_luckie
Rock on and Go Chiefs!
McLuckie
