The Chiefs are clearing up some cap space. Kansas City is restructuring defensive end Frank Clark‘s contract to convert $5MM of his base salary into a signing bonus, a source told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The move will give the Chiefs some extra wiggle room with cap flexibility as the cap hit will now be spread over the course of the contract rather than all being charged for this year. Kansas City currently has very little cap space, and this move was necessary just to get them under the cap. Not surprisingly, they’ve been very quiet in free agency as a result.
The only move the defending Super Bowl champions have made so far is re-signing backup quarterback Chad Henne, and they’ve had to watch as some of their own guys like Kendall Fuller walk out the door and sign big deals elsewhere. This likely isn’t where the maneuvering will end, as the Chiefs have to clear up even more space for some possible extensions, like the one they want to give Patrick Mahomes.
For example, they’ve confirmed that they want Sammy Watkins to take a paycut if he’s going to come back to the team in 2020. Kansas City gave up first and second-round picks to acquire Clark last offseason, and he finished with eight sacks in 14 games. After the trade he signed a five-year deal worth a whopping $105.5MM, and he’s locked up through the 2023 season.
Cap room adjustments for Chris Harris Jr.?
One can only hope
Probably not, it only gave us about 400K under the cap. This was probably just a move to get us under since we had to be under the cap for the new league year.
He just signed with San Diego