Justin Houston is a pretty affordable, elite pass rusher

The Kansas City Chiefs are fielding offers for pass rusher Justin Houston, who could be a great value for some team.

Justin Houston has not been as productive as he was before the Kansas City Chiefs signed him to a massive contract extension back in 2015, but he could be one of the great bargains on the NFL trade market this offseason.

This type of edge player doesn’t become available often. As we are about to find out across the NFL, teams value their pass rushers highly and most of the top names currently available will end up being franchise tagged.

A player like Houston hitting the trade market is something teams are going to flock to.

In 2014, Houston had 22 sacks. Since that year, he has 30 sacks in four seasons. In the past two seasons, Houston has 18.5 sacks and in 2018 he had five forced fumbles.

Even entering his age 30 season, Houston should still be considered an elite edge player who can not only put pressure on the quarterback but also punch the ball out and make game-changing plays late.

Of his nine sacks this past season, 5.5 came in games decided by seven points or less. Houston also added a pair of sacks in the Chiefs’ playoff games.

The Chiefs are engaged in trade talks for their star pass rusher, who is being moved to make room for another star rusher in Dee Ford, whose career started off slow and has since come on incredibly strong.

Ford racked up 10 sacks in 2016 and 13 sacks in 2018. He also had an insane seven forced fumbles this past year.

Whatever team trades for Houston, they are going to be getting him at less than market value for elite pass rushers, and they will get him for two years. In 2019, Houston is set to make $15.25 million. In 2020, he will make $17 million.

Those are very reasonable numbers for a player of Houston’s caliber, and even though he’s 30, he’s still got plenty of great football left in him. This will be a very worthwhile investment for some team on the brink of making the playoffs, but the Chiefs will likely be calculated with this move.

One trade partner that could make some sense is the Indianapolis Colts with general manager Chris Ballard having worked with the Chiefs. The Colts need edge help and they have a ton of cap space.

The Browns and general manager John Dorsey don’t have a huge need off the edge, but Houston could fit in well there too.

There should be no shortage of teams with cap space and a need off the edge trying to trade for Houston, so the Chiefs will have their pick of strong offers.