[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The cap isn't so restrictive that you can't have 'throughput' at every level of the offense and defense.

But it's hard to double up.

Humphrey is clearly the throughput of this OL long-term. Kelce has been the throughput of the pass-catchers. Jones on the DL, Bolton almost certainly the LBs, McDuffie at CB.

And anywhere you double up, it's going to cost you. So when you also have Thuney and Taylor next season with a big figure for Creed, that's going to cost you at RB. It might cost you at DL (i.e. Karlaftis). Rice won't have a big cap hit until after Thuney and/or Taylor or gone, so he's not really in the equation yet.

But Karlaftis is the one guy I can see in the 'next wave' of young Chiefs that may get squeezed out. Maybe not. Karlaftis has this year and, if necessary, his 5th year option before he gets really expensive. That's 2 of the remaining 3 years on Jones deal. And by then, you'll have found cap space with Taylor, Thuney and Kelce.

We CAN afford him.

The only question is if it would be the best way to allocate the resources.

A new deal with Karlaftis could also be back-loaded to manage the cap up front. Then, you're really only responsible for that portion of the signing bonus for the first year or two.