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.
