It’s time for the Chiefs to make a big decisio
Đã gửi: Thứ 2 15/07/19 11:02
n about their 2013 first-round pick"From Tuesday Anthony Hitchens Jersey , February 19 until March 5 — about a week before teams can start sniffing around the free agents of other teams — NFL teams will be able to use the franchise tag on one of their players.On the eve of the franchise tag period, the Interwebs are chock-full of NFL writers giving their lists of which players are most likely to have franchise tags placed on them during the next couple of weeks — and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford is on many of them.In a segment for NFL Total Access, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport names Ford among four pass rushers likely to get the tag, saying the Chiefs have “been very open about not wanting to let him go.”At The Ringer, Danny Heifetz amusingly explains the NFL franchise tag by referencing the Friends Season 4 episode The One With The ‘Cuffs, and then makes an argument that giving Ford the franchise tag is the most sensible move for the Chiefs.At NFL.com, Gregg Rosenthal has Ford at number three on his list of “no-brainer” candidates for the franchise tag Chad Henne Jersey , behind Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.Forbes writer Gary Phillips has Ford at the bottom of his list of seven players likely to get the franchise tag — one that includes Lawrence and Clowney along with names like Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark and Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.These writers are all agreed: the Chiefs should — or will — give Ford the franchise tag.But is that really the right move?Putting Ford on the franchise tag for 2019 will cost the Chiefs around $18 million against the cap in the coming season.But we also know that the Chiefs currently have only about $25 million of cap space with which to work — a fact that may have escaped some of these national writers.After all... some of these scribes often write articles about Chiefs games they clearly didn’t watch.Why should we expect them to keep track of those kinds of pesky details?Photo by David Eulitt/Getty ImagesThe difficulty with using the franchise tag on Ford is that it will force the team into a high salary cap hit for Ford in the coming year.If your team has more than $40 million in cap space — which is true for a dozen NFL teams — that’s not necessarily a big deal.But using the franchise tag on Ford in such a situation could force the Chiefs into decisions about two other players with whom they also want to make long-term deals — namely Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones — and those decisions could conceivably have long-term negative effects.And in fairness, that could also be true of a longer-term deal for Ford — which is the only way the Chiefs could get any 2019 relief on that $18 million franchise tag cap hit for their leading pass rusher.Many fans say that Ford should get the franchise tag as a prove it deal.“Show us,” they say. “Show us you can stay injury-free and produce at a high level in another season before we talk about a long-term contract.”But it seems to me that many such fans are also quick to point out that Ford’s best year to date took place in a contract year.Will these same fans balk at giving Ford a new contract in 2020 because he was on a prove-it deal in 2019?To put it another way, if your most memorable Friends episodes were Season 1’s The One Where The Rookie Ran Away From the Ball or Season 5’s The One Where The Linebacker Lined Up In The Neutral Zone, it’s possible that your judgment about Ford might be a little... cloudy.All of this is not to make an argument that Dee Ford shouldn’t have the franchise tag placed on him in 2019. Such a thing could very easily happen, and depending on what else the Chiefs do, it might be exactly the right move.Instead Kendall Fuller Jersey , it’s to remind us all that managing an NFL roster under the salary cap is an extremely complicated process with a large number of moving parts.There are no right or wrong ways to do it — except for the ones that end up improving the team now and over the long term. The Chiefs traded the 29th overall pick and a 2020 second-rounder for defensive end Frank Clark. Let’s talk about how that impacts the draft."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Kansas City Chiefs NewsOpen ThreadsFull ArchiveLibrary Community GuidelinesContact InformationOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕How the Chiefs draft strategy changes without pick 29New,296commentsThe Chiefs traded the 29th overall pick and a 2020 second-rounder for defensive end Frank Clark. Let’s talk about how that impacts the draft.CDTShareTweetShareShareHow the Chiefs draft strategy changes without pick 29Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY SportsSo much changed about the landscape of the Kansas City Chiefs roster and the assets they have to improve it in the last 24 hours. Gone is the 29th pick in the draft, the Chiefs’ lowest 2020 second-round pick (sup, 64?) and pick 92. In are Frank Clark and pick 84. We spent some time in this week’s episode of the AP Draft Show breaking down the trade for Clark and what it does to the Chiefs draft. Here were some takeaways.Expect a cornerback earlyAnd as early as possible. The Chiefs have answered a huge question mark on their defense by adding Clark. Now they need to address the other glaring issue. Both short and long-term, cornerback is a glaring need. Here’s the list of cornerbacks on the Chiefs roster currently for 2020: Tremon Smith and Charvarius Ward. That’s it. That’s the list.There are new potential trade-up scenarios to discussWe’ve all talked a lot about the Chiefs aggressively moving up in the first round to lock up a cornerback or EDGE with their day two assets. Now, the moves could happen to move up in the second round. Here are some trade scenarios that make sense, per the modern trade chart. Picks 61 and 63 could get you to pick 36. Maybe Byron Murphy is still available?Picks 61 and 84 could get you to 43.Maybe the Chiefs use a similar strategy to what they did with the Bengals last year with a two-for-two pick swap? Picks 61 and 63 are worth similar value to Minnesota’s 50 and 81. The Chiefs could keep the volume of picks but ensure a cornerback they like with a move like that.The Chiefs may try to just hit it on the fairwayThey’ve secured an excellent player with their draft capital. Maybe they just try to go safe the rest of the draft? You could see a strategy geared more toward players you know will contribute rather than a developmental player with a high ceiling? The Chiefs could just set out to find more Derrick Nnadi types: players with a quality trait or two that you know will contribute in some capacity on Sundays this season. Maybe they’d be more inclined to take a player that will contribute year one at cornerback like Julian Love instead of a high ceiling player like Isaiah Johnson?Trading back is in playIf the Chiefs indeed do try to play it safe Eric Murray Jersey , why not ensure an extra pick by moving back from one of their second-round picks? Pick 61 is equal value to pick 75 and 114. Adding an asset gives them a chance to perhaps take a running back in the fourth round that could contribute in year one while still have 63, 75 and 84 to take players that can contribute in 2019 as well.KC Draft GuideYou can learn up on all the day two and three draft prospects the Chiefs will take in the first-ever edition of the KC Draft Guide is available for download now for only $9.99! We have over 225 prospect write-ups like this one, with specifics about how prospects fit the Chiefs. There are more than 300 grades on players, mock drafts, positional rankings and features — all specific to the Chiefs. Grab your copy by clicking here!Loading...