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Kansas City Chiefs: Franchise tag for Justin Houston a no-brainer

By Kevin Parvizi

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The Kansas City Chiefs will have to do some cap maneuvering in the near future in order to keep one of the game’s best players on their side for several more seasons, as Justin Houston’s contract is up this offseason. Of course, there’s no way he hits the free agent market this offseason, since John Dorsey and the Chiefs clearly aren’t going to let that happen. That said, the Chiefs will have no choice but to kick the can, since it will be too difficult to come to terms on a beyond-robust deal with Houston before the floodgates of free agency open up.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes that we should expect Houston to receive the franchise tag this offseason and “immediately” sign, since he’ll get big money under the tag and more time to increase his leverage while striking a lucrative deal with the Chiefs, who clearly want to keep him around.

Not only do I expect the Chiefs to tag Houston, but I would be absolutely shocked if they don’t make this move. Houston is easily one of the most valuable players on the team, and the pass rush that he and Tamba Hali consistently provide overcome some of the deficiencies in the secondary. Sean Smith has turned into a shutdown corner, but not everyone in that defensive backfield plays at a high level; Houston is a huge reason for the Chiefs elite pass defense.

He bet on himself last season by not agreeing to a contract extension, and he turned in a monstrous season, looking like the game’s best 3-4 OLB by some distance. He recorded 22 sacks and 68 tackles, with a whopping 59 of them being solo. The man was simply all over the place in all phases of the game, regularly putting pressure on the quarterback, finishing off plays by turning hurries into sacks, and being a forceful player in run defense on a team that sorely lacked playmakers against the run with both Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito out for the season.

J.J. Watt is the most valuable defensive player in the NFL, but you could argue that Houston holds the second-most value to his team among all defensive players. I couldn’t imagine the Chiefs defense being nearly as successful without him, even though they do have other talented players like Dontari Poe, Hali, Smith, Johnson, and the promising Dee Ford (among other key players).

Because of Houston’s value to the team, the Chiefs aren’t going to let him walk this offseason, and they certainly won’t let him walk without a fight. Someone could sit there and say that Ford is Houston’s replacement, but I agree with the majority of people: Ford is clearly Hali’s replacement.

Dec 14, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston (50) waits in the tunnel to be introduced before the game against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 31-13. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

While Hali is under contract for several more seasons, I could easily see a situation in which the Chiefs are forced to sacrifice Houston’s partner-in-crime in order to free up enough money to keep the superstar, while also giving him a new, younger OLB partner.

Hali is still a very effective pass rusher who does a great job of taking pressure off of Houston, but releasing him would save about $9 million. That’s an awful lot of money that could go to Justin Houston, especially since Ford has the explosiveness to be more than effective enough to justify the savings.

The Kansas City Chiefs have difficult decisions ahead when it comes to navigated the cap and trying to re-sign Houston to a long-term contract that will pay him massive cash after a 22-sack season following two double-digit sack campaigns.

They don’t have the time to strike a deal and make all of those moves before March, so franchising him gives them a few more months to bargain with him, and it also guarantees they won’t miss out on him when they drive for another playoff run in 2015 after narrowly missing out on a second straight appearance.

Franchising Houston makes way too much sense, to the point where it’s been a no-brainer for quite some time. They need him, they need more time to negotiate with him, and they know he’s worth the projected $13.08 million for linebackers under the tag.

It’s an easy decision for both sides, too, since, as Florio explains, because he can keep leveraging the team each year by either asking for a massive deal or making bank off of steadily increasing franchise tag payouts; the only risk is a big one, though, and it’s injury.

Next: Deeper look at Justin Houston situation

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