The Kansas City Chiefs, like most past years under general manager Brett Veach, are not anticipated to be among the NFL’s biggest spenders on Wednesday, when the free-agency market officially begins. Instead, much of the Chiefs’ intrigue will revolve around whether they can keep pass rusher Chris Jones, their top defensive player and the league’s finest defensive lineman.
After nearly a year of negotiations between the Chiefs and Jones, Veach and coach Andy Reid will have to turn to free agency in the hopes of acquiring a few excellent veterans to keep the team among the league’s top Super Bowl contenders.
The Chiefs would have an extra $19.8 million to spend elsewhere.Entering Sunday, the Chiefs have only $1,257,361 million.in salary-cap space, according to Over the Cap, which ranks 26th in the league. But the Chiefs can create more space with a couple of moves. They can convert a sizable amount of the roster bonus in quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract into a signing bonus. The same could be done with left guard Joe Thuney’s contract. And, of course, the Chiefs could trade cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who was placed on the franchise tag last week, preventing him from reaching free agency and restricting him to a one-year salary of $19.8 million. If Sneed is traded to another te
