[jjchieffan]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

As it stands, the Chiefs have $116 million committed to 2016. The Salary cap is expected to go up to $153 from $143, so they'll have about $37 million to spend.

But keep in mind, Hali, DJ, Howard, Daniel, Berry and Allen are not under contract next year and it's likely the Chiefs will bring all them back (although Daniel is less certain because he may find a starting gig on the open market).

Hali and DJ will take up approximately $10 million combined. Berry will likely get $8 million, Howard $7 million and Allen $3 million. So right there, you're looking at $28 million, leaving only $9 million. If they re-sign Daniel, he'll command at least $3 million per, leaving only about $6 million.

$6 million isn't much considering they need to allocate almost that much for the draft.

Personally, I don't want to see them "tweak" any contracts, especially Alex Smith's, for obvious reasons. Ben Grubbs is the most likely candidate, as I seriously doubt he'll be worth $6 million next year at age 32 when he's underperformed this year and missed several games to date. But cutting him leaves $5 million in dead money with only $1 million in savings, so Dorsey's in a pickle on that one.

Bottom line is that I wouldn't expect to see any high priced free agents in KC this Spring.

Dane, you're a knowledgeable poster, so I'm really surprised at your take on this. I agree that these guys will get the price per season that you're talking about. But their cap hit year one will not be that big due to signing bonuses. Many of them will likely get a sizeable bonus and a year one salary of around $1million or less. So if Berry gets say 5 years, $40 million with a $10 million bonus and 1st year salary of $1million, his cap hit is $3 million not $8 million. $5 million freed up right there.