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New rules may curtail Chiefs’ free-agency shopping
By ADAM
The Kansas City Star
Clark Hunt has said it many times since becoming chairman of the Chiefs: He believes in building the team through the draft.
Hunt and the Chiefs may have little choice this year. The NFL’s owners and players are heading into the final year of the collective-bargaining agreement, and new rules will govern the free-agent market when it opens March 5.
Teams won’t be limited by a salary cap, but a limited number of players will be available. Nobody is certain how things will unfold, but it doesn’t appear teams will be able to load up on free-agent talent.
“It’s going to be very unpredictable,” Hunt said. “We haven’t been through a year like this when we had this set of rules. On the one hand, there’s no salary cap, which would lead you to believe there will be a lot of activity. Logic would tell you that. But there are all these restrictions on who’s a free agent and which teams can participate in free-agency.
“A lot of teams, the Chiefs included, are having to look at it from a lot of different angles. The rules we’ve had don’t apply.”
The players believed that a season without a salary cap would result in a flurry of high-dollar contracts, but that probably won’t materialize. While teams can spend as much on player salaries as they want in 2010, they also won’t be required to spend a minimum as before.
Players need six seasons of NFL service instead of four to become unrestricted free agents. Dozens of players leaguewide are scheduled to become restricted free agents instead.
Linebacker Derrick Johnson, quarterback Brodie Croyle, center Rudy Niswanger and safety Jarrad Page are among the Chiefs who fall into this category.
If the players and owners can’t come to an agreement on a new deal by 2011, there is the possibility of a lockout, and that looms over the free-agent proceedings as well.
“Players won’t get the bang for the buck that we might have years ago,” said agent Ken Harris, who represents former Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen, among others. “The economy will hold all of the smaller-market teams down and what they can spend. Some of the larger-market teams will have to think hard, too. Plus, some of the teams won’t be able to sign free agents at all unless they lose some, and then the idea that there might not be any football in 2011, that will hold some teams back from spending, too.
“For the star-type players, the high-end, Cadillac players, there might be the occasional deal where teams are willing to take the chance, but I think you’re going to see less of those this year.
“I think a lot of functional, serviceable players will get contracts, but not ones where teams will have to break the bank over it. Those guys might come out the best, not in terms of big contracts, but they might get better deals than they would have gotten otherwise.”
The Chiefs have needs at several positions and might like to sign a big-play wide receiver such as, say, Miles Austin of Dallas. Under the old rules, Austin would have been an unrestricted free agent, but he now will be restricted instead.
“The ones who won’t be (unrestricted) free agents because of a change in the rules, they’re the ones entering the prime years of their careers, and a lot of times they’re the hot free agents,” Hunt said. “That’s where a lot of the heavy activity has been in the past. So the dynamics on the market are going to be completely different.”
Because top available players will be scarce, they could be the objects of intense bidding wars. The Chiefs showed little interest in getting involved in such battles last year in free-agency.
So free-agency this year for the Chiefs could wind up looking like last year, when they signed several free agents but most for low-dollar contracts. Many were role players, and few had significant impact.
“I would think numerically we’ll be very active,” Hunt said. “I can’t say specifically we’d sign what’s regarded as a high-priced or high-demand free agent. We’ll certainly look at every one of those players. (General manager Scott Pioli) has my blessing to pursue them if he thinks they’re the right fit for the football team.”
The new free-agency rules are just one reason it’s a good year for the Chiefs to believe in building through the draft. This year’s draft is considered the deepest in years, and the Chiefs will have three of the top 50 picks.
“Long-term, successful football teams are built through the draft,” Hunt said. “Having said that, there’s always an opportunity to fill in holes through free-agency. You can look to the Patriots of this past decade as a great example of a team that built primarily through the draft but weren’t afraid through trades or free-agency to go out and fill in with veteran players who ended up being big contributors for them.
“Our expectation is to be competing for the playoffs, participating in the playoffs and ultimately making it back to the Super Bowl. Scott and I talk frequently, almost daily, about those goals and things that need to happen to make that possible.”
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"old enough to remember what a red and gold super bowl looks like"
"hopefully young enough to see another"
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