Eric Berry gets mega contract, Chiefs could tag Dontari Poe
The Kansas City Chiefs have made Eric Berry the highest paid safety in the NFL with an average salary of $13M per year. Will Dontari Poe be tagged?
The Kansas City Chiefs have taken care of business prior to the start of the NFL’s new league year, re-signing star safety Eric Berry to a monster contract.
Chiefs gave S Eric Berry a six-year, $78 million deal that includes $40 million guaranteed and a $20 mil signing bonus, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2017
For those of you who don’t care to do the math on it, that deal will pay Berry an average of $13 million per season. The Chiefs were just $4 million under the cap (lowest in the NFL) prior to this move, so how they have structured this deal will be interesting to monitor.
There will undoubtedly be more roster moves forthcoming, including the potential of now tagging nose tackle Dontari Poe.
The Chiefs may be more apt to let Poe go, but if they want to keep the former first round pick out of Memphis, they can now prevent him from getting to the open market by tagging him. They would have to either release a number of veteran players or move money around in contracts, but it’s definitely possible.
Or, the Chiefs could simply let Poe walk to the highest bidder. He has not played up to the level he did from 2013-14 in either of the last two seasons, and there are lingering questions about the long-term health of his back.
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Poe stands to make a lot of money on the open market if the Chiefs let him go, and it may be more prudent for them as they move their permanent residence into ‘Salary Cap Hell’ over the next few years to try and be quiet on the UFA market this offseason and get a third or fourth round compensatory pick in exchange for Poe.
Whatever the Chiefs choose to do with Poe, fans have to be ecstatic that Berry is sticking around. There were reports that contract talks were sour last offseason when the Chiefs ultimately franchise tagged him. To see how far he’s come over the last couple of years and now to sign this long-term deal is great for him, the Chiefs, and the NFL community.
Kansas City may be quiet for the remainder of free agency as far as bringing players in, but they’ve kept the most critical piece of their defense happy for the foreseeable future.