*****The Leo Chenal Thread*****

[Dante84]

More to come!

Leo Chenal was drafted with pick 103 of round 3 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.99 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 3 out of 2419 LB from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/unnXwkfpiT #RAS #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/YdwWEkOnmR

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 30, 2022

The moment our newest LB got the call he was joining the Chiefs 📲 @chenal_leo pic.twitter.com/2q3fLOFoPA

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 4, 2022

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Bolton and Creed are flipsides of the same coins.

Smart technicians that seemingly always make the correct play and are instrumental in communication and coordination on their respective sides of the ball.

They're fan favorites and leaders in their own right. If/when Thuney eventually prices himself out of KC, Creed is going to be the leader of that OL for the next half-decade, IMO.

"I don't want to pay off-ball linebackers when we can draft X" -- well hell, wouldn't that apply to Creed? When was the last time we struggled at C? Reiter evidently sucks but he was awfully solid here. Before that was Morse and before that Hudson.

We never struggle to find a C but when you find a guy like Humphrey that you think can be a true leader of the group, I think you pay him and keep him if at all possible. And I think a similar logic applies to Bolton.

When you can get a guy like Tranquill for 5 mil a year, why would I pay Bolton? Is the difference worth the amount it would cost?

And paying for leadership? This ain't Frank Clark we;re talking about.

[AdolfOliverBush]

Originally Posted by O.city

When you can get a guy like Tranquill for 5 mil a year, why would I pay Bolton? Is the difference worth the amount it would cost?

Considering Bolton is at least the second-best defender in KC and Tranquill has done nothing of note since becoming a Chief, how is this even a question?

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And that, my friends, is textbook 'flow and fill'.

I will forever maintain that there are few things easier than run defense. And that "Sutton's Complicated Scheme" was never the reason ours sucked.

We just had 'backers that didn't DO this shit well. They'd come downhill too early or overcommit to a gap and leave a cutback.

This is absolutely perfect LB play against a stretch run. That's how you diagram it.

Billay has a VERY different definition of this

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by O.city

So you really think they set Pat's contract so that's teh way this will go? Have we learned nothing?

$57 million or more cap hits 3 years in a row after this one. You think Clark is gonna pull out his checkbook to pay that restructure after doing this?

History tells us that he won't and we'll still have 2 years of crazy high cap hits from Patrick at the absolute best.

That's why tagging and trading Chris is the best option.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin_Chief

Breakfast was fantastic, thank you for asking! 4 pasture raised eggs scrambled with some ground grass fed beef, topped with a little cheddar. Have it everyday, it's a true power breakfast!

Many fans were definitely pulling for Leo to be a Packer, but they're like that with every decent Badger that goes through. He was very highly regarded by local media in his Badger days, though. I did see him live in several games at Camp Randall, and he always stood out as such a physically dominant specimen. I didn't understand why we picked him at the time just because it didn't seem like a need, but now that they've developed this nifty little role for him I am loving the pick!

Okay all of this is epic

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Nobody wants to pay their off ball LBs until you let him go and the defense gets sloppier

Agreed.

Looks like the top of the off-the-ball LB market is capped at around $20m per year with Roquan Smith and Darius Leonard.

Jones for $30m/year or Bolton for $20m/year. Who do you choose? I’m not sure we can do both, even if we scrimp and save at CB and the rest of the DL.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by RunKC

$57 million or more cap hits 3 years in a row after this one. You think Clark is gonna pull out his checkbook to pay that restructure after doing this?

History tells us that he won't and we'll still have 2 years of crazy high cap hits from Patrick at the absolute best.

That's why tagging and trading Chris is the best option.

Mahomes' revised contract will save the #Chiefs about $2.5M in salary cap room in 2023. His cap number increases by $10.66M in 2024, $12.16M in 2025, and $18.91M in 2026 over the original deal. Using conversions they can probably keep numbers around the same

— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) September 19, 2023

[O.city]

So the way I understand it, they can use the conversions to keep the cap numbers at whatever they want and stretch it out. Essentially what they've been doing.

Why would Hunt all of a sudden not do that.

[Straight, No Chaser]

Originally Posted by O.city

When you can get a guy like Tranquill for 5 mil a year, why would I pay Bolton? Is the difference worth the amount it would cost?

And paying for leadership? This ain't Frank Clark we;re talking about.

Blasphemy… Nick Bolton is a tackling machine. Top shelf. Wouldn’t be surprised he heads the league in tackles.

Grown football men crumble when he is in the vicinity.

Please keep. Had enough of Hitchens-type people.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by Straight, No Chaser

Blasphemy… Nick Bolton is a tackling machine. Top shelf. Wouldn’t be surprised he heads the league in tackles.

Grown football men crumble when he is in the vicinity.

Please keep. Had enough of Hitchens-type people.

That post reads like a telegram from 1876. All you need is the word STOP after every sentence.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by O.city

So the way I understand it, they can use the conversions to keep the cap numbers at whatever they want and stretch it out. Essentially what they've been doing.

Why would Hunt all of a sudden not do that.

You are probably right, but Chiefsplanet is not going to like it.

I certainly want to resign Bolton though if I had a choice between Gay, Sneed and Creed Humphrey. He would be my top pick but I don't know how we sign pretty much anybody except 2-3 key players with how much we pay Mahomes now.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by RunKC

$57 million or more cap hits 3 years in a row after this one. You think Clark is gonna pull out his checkbook to pay that restructure after doing this?

History tells us that he won't and we'll still have 2 years of crazy high cap hits from Patrick at the absolute best.

That's why tagging and trading Chris is the best option.

Clark Hunt has made a huge amount of money the last 5 years hosting a million playoff games in his stadium, including 5 straight AFC title games in his stadium. His franchise has gained around $2 billion of value during this time period. I don't think he has a hard time with throwing cash around.

Regardless, they owe the money to Mahomes no matter what. Whether it's a roster bonus or signing bonus, it makes no difference for Clark Hunt. In 2024 they owe Mahomes $44 million of cash, but $35 million of this cash is a roster bonus that can be converted into signing bonus to help the salary cap situation. Patrick's cap hit is $57 million for 2024, so it would make sense to play around with the $35 million roster bonus in order to drop the cap hit below $50 million.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Dante84

I get that, but at the same Nick Bolton makes game-changing plays every week. I'm not comfortable walking away from him in favor of, say, Sneed or (to a lesser degree)Trey.

Yeah, Bolton makes a stop for no gain when it looks like a guy might get 5-6 yards. He stops guys immediately. I doubt he'll get what he's "worth" as a FA, so maybe there's a chance we can keep him.

[suzzer99]

Spags loves Bolton and the Chiefs really value that inside LB "quarterback of the defense". Also Bolton will be expensive but not superstar expensive, and inside LBs are generally cheaper than any other position on the D except safety.

In short, I fully predict we will re-sign Bolton.

I always felt that we might have hit the sweet spot with Eric Fisher being good but not great. I don't know if we could have kept a Joe Thomas all those years with the salaries superstar LTs get.

[RunKC]

Leo is 250 lbs and benched 34 reps with a 4.53 40, 1.5 10 time and a below 7 3 cone.

It's incredible that this guy fell to us in the 3rd rd