Over the years, Chiefs general manager John Dorsey has surprised Kansas City fans by signing a high-profile free agent that, frankly, nobody saw coming.
In 2015 it was receiver Jeremy Maclin, and 2016 it was right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. The Chiefs don’t have nearly as much cap room to sign a big free agent right now, but that hasn’t seemed to stop them in the past. There are ways the team could get around the cap, including roster bonuses, backloading contracts or cutting players to make room.
For this reason, signing Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower to a deal doesn’t seem out of the question. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com brought it up as a long-shot scenario that would make sense if the Chiefs could find a way to make it happen.
Here’s what he said about the possible move:
“Some team is going to pay Hightower a lot of money this offseason because the inside linebacker market falls off a cliff after him. It might be difficult for the Chiefs to pull it off because of their salary-cap situation, but general manager John Dorsey could make room if he truly wanted to. Kansas City was surprisingly stale in the front seven last season, especially at the linebacker position. Hightower will provide leadership and the flexibility to line up in any formation with any team that signs him.”
Hightower is only 26 years old and is at the prime of his career. He made the Pro Bowl in 2016, as well as Second-Team All Pro. He could easily be a replacement to Derrick Johnson for many years.
However, his services don’t come without a huge price tag. Spotrac currently has his market value around $10 million per year, with a projected contract of four years, $40 million. The Chiefs could backload that deal and squeeze him onto the team, but it would make signing Eric Berry that much more difficult.
Head over to the NFL’s official website to take a look at the rest of Rosenthal’s piece. He’ll be highlighting NFC teams on Tuesday.
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