Kansas City Chiefs CREATE Major Cap Space, Surprising MOVE On Trey Smith

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1:29Welcome in, Chiefs Kingdom is the Chiefs Wrap Up a very short week and have a little bit of time off before they start to get ready for the Denver Broncos. We will be proving the Broncos all next week and how this team is going to match up. But today we have things to go over specifically for this team brought to you by Calche for a limited time. Download the Calche app, use that code Lockdown and you're going to get $10 when you trade $10. We are going to trade you some information because there's big questions to the offensive tackle spot and I want to talk about them. I have more concerns than most will get there when we get there later in the show before that. Lachiri Sneed had an update feels he's ready to go, but what is this overall secondary look like and what does it mean before that we start with the news of the day and that is that the chiefs actually have some more cap space now because they went back to the well and restructured trace myth. Now don't miss overtime because we're going to dig into the deep dark details on that. But overall we know that they garnered some cap space back through a restructure with

2:33tray. What does that mean? What's the depth and honestly are you surprised as I am that maybe they didn't go a different direction that was trace myth with him hurting pretty late recently. I'm a little surprised. I did think that they would probably go creed mainly because creed is the top of the market. Well, was the top of the market center was the number one center and is probably the best center football versus trace myth. But to me, you're kind of in the same boat regardless of where you go, tray or creed, you're probably going to have to make an adjustment in the future on both of these deals to keep them here on the long term. So, you know, it is what it is. I'm going to be very curious to see if they do anything with the structured money, the restructure money that they got because that's really going to be the bigger key to me. Yeah. And where are they sitting overall now? They've got some to spend, yeah? Yeah. They're just about $13.8 million in cap space, which the chiefs generally will go into

3:34a season with about $3 to $4 million. Now to be clear, they are like $12 million over the projected cap in 2027. So, I mean, this basically we get them to nothing if they don't do anything else. But I don't think that that's the way that this is going to work out. Yeah. And that's because you get to carry over extra cap space from year to year. We've never really seen them do that, right? I mean, never more than a couple of them. So, it's hard to imagine that they're just going to stand pat with this roster. But then the other question becomes restructuring tray means that you've moved out his money. Obviously, their plan is for trade to be here for a long time and that's fine. But if you were going to spend that money, would really need to be somebody we're spending on and I just don't see that right now. Well, or if they're going to go make a trade, like that's the other thing. Could they be looking at a trade where you're looking at somebody, you're looking at a veteran of some sort that has money that they need? I mean, there's lots of different ways that you could look at this.

4:36I mean, there's a couple of players that you could look at and say, okay, well, they technically should be somebody that we would consider extending because don't forget the no-a-great extension happened right before they kicked off the season a couple of years ago. So it's not unlike this team to go do something like that. Well, I think what this signals is that they got themselves in the situation where they had to do it because they didn't have enough cash space to function through the year. This is a guy that I think, despite what has been some hip issues and he did speak to the media today, Trace Smith did, and was, I mean, adamant, as much so as I think I've ever seen him, that he's ready to go. Yes, it has been a problem from time to time, yes, but he's ready. I particularly enjoyed his point of view that he's like, this professional football, this is what we do, you're not going to be 100%. That's the expectation that I have, too.

5:39I'm not trying to contrast that with Simmons, but to know that they gave Trace the time that he needed and he felt that he got back, but now he's into preparation mode makes me feel better. But that's what we're going to see across the line next week. I certainly hope it is. Yeah, that's the hope. And I want to be clear here. I mean, you look at the cash space. There are a couple of guys that they can consider extending. What do they think of Chamorra Conner? He's a guy that would be eligible for an extension right now. He's going in the last year with contract. What do they feel like he would be worth on the open market? I mean, to be fair, if they, to be clear, if they were to look at that specific contract, it's a question of, okay, if he starts this season in place, well, he will be, he will be priced out of Kansas City. Paying him now could save them millions of dollars if they feel like they want to keep him, but it's a gamble on his part that he wouldn't be able to get more money, you know, next year. So there's, there's different guys.

6:40I mean, I don't think that they're going to be doing anything with receipt rice. He's the only one or one from that class. I would think that they would really be considering that kind of fits into that, you know, in that mold, but they have something they're going to do with this money. It's not going to sit here all year long. There's no way to sit here all year long. I think it's best utilized if they do something with it. But it's also pretty clear that by making that kind of move where you're not just restructuring a little bit, you're restructuring all of it, it means you're trying to open up cash space or something. And it also means you're not likely to make any big moves with guys that are currently on your roster like a guy like Christian Fulton, who if traded would have saved them $10 million and if cut would have saved them five. Right. You had that that levered a pole and you did not or you were unable to that could signal that as well. Right. So I do think that there's a couple of things that we can corner from them willing to take all this money from Tray's contract because they could have just done five million and gotten

7:44enough to function for the year. They didn't decide to do that. Yeah. And I think what comes next is the question of, okay, Tray's on a long term contract. Kingsley's not eligible until after this season. Correct. So I'm not too concerned about that. But Creed, I mean, given that Creed and Tray are the same age, do you look at trying to extend him maybe next year or the end of this year in order to like kind of balance out some of that cash space? Possibly. It's going to be up in the air because right now they just had the center market got completely re done with one contract. True. So are you going to really be able to get cap space by extending Creed now? He's going to be cheaper than the highest paid center and football for the next couple of years. That's fair, but do you not think that the next center to fall is going to continue that trend or do you think this is going to be an outlier? I don't think it's an outlier. I think you're right. I mean, that's possible that the next center, but if it's somebody getting resigned by

8:50their team, I think that they're going to try to say that that's more of an outlier. If it's a free agent, they're going to be trying to go over that. I just don't know if the center market is going to go is going to continue to go higher because that's just not a position that the NFL has paid handsomely until this lender bond contract. But again, that is him having the ability to state his price because he's a free agent versus somebody that's trying to get paid by their team. And it is a distinction that's worth making. There's also distinctions that have to come in about guys that have gotten paid and have to come back and reestablish themselves. That's what's going on with LaGerie's need. And he's next. Football is finally back and to meet Sundays are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Finally, every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances, and plenty of storylines to follow. And if you like getting even more engaged with the players and the stats that you're

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10:51All you have to do is download the app today. Use that code Lockdown NFL to get 150 instantly in lineups if you are first $5 lineup wins. Prize picks, run your game. Today's episode is brought to you by the Dell XPS. I'm Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA Daily and Lockdown Heat. So what does it feel like to have a better laptop like the Dell XPS powered by Intel Core? With a premium design that's thin and light, it feels smooth. With a responsive touch screen, it feels fast and precise. And with long lasting battery life, it feels like non-stop energy with a laptop that can keep up. Built for those who want better, the Dell XPS built for you. Now as we get players back and as we get ready for this regular season, one thing that we haven't seen much of is one luxurious need. We've talked a ton about Chris Rollin-Wall's running in the nickel most of training camp.

11:53Now Sneak comes to the podium and had a lot of friendly things to say about being back etc. But also said this, the Steve Spadnole is going to ride you and he is and that he feels good and he'll play wherever. So for me, what I was really happy to hear about that is that he's ready to go in any position that he needs to play and he seems to have checked his ego at the door. I think that this is the one place that he can come back to and try to rejuvenate his career. And if that happens to be in the slot, I'm okay with that. What I'm concerned about is I don't know how many reps he has to give through this season. So the question becomes very quickly, especially with the Broncos coming week one. If you let him go out there and say start at the nickel, are you going to burn him up right away and not have him for the stretch run? That's the big question and that's exactly what my fear would be is that you're putting him in a position where he is going to have to put even more wear and tear on those knees than he would if he was going to be an outside corner.

12:54And while it doesn't seem like it's much because it's all playing football, you're going to do a lot more cutting, you're going to be doing a lot more going both directions as a nickel corner playing in the slot and being able to go anywhere and quick twitch and stop and all that is going to put more on your knees than playing regular outside corner will. Yes, it's still wearing tear, but you're right. It's a question of is that going to give him the best ability to make it through? I'm not even thinking about the entire season at this point. I'm thinking is it going to give him the ability to get through the first four weeks? And that's yeah, that's certainly a demand as they round out what is a really young group. I mean, we've gotten to the point where we are just assuming that the outside corners are a rookie in a second year corner. That is putting yourself in harm's way. I will say that right now. The bigger thing that I'm concerned about is if you're in the nickel, you're playing run support more. You might have to take on blocks. And I think the reason that maybe they're looking at them in the slot is because first

13:58bags, if you're going to play press man, you have to brace with your legs quite a bit. If you're going to be pressing on the outside or trying to ride somebody into the sideline, et cetera. But honestly, I think taking on blocks as a nickel is even worse. So I don't know if it's a pitch count or how they're going to go about it. But I think the nickel duties at this point have to be kind of split. And I'd like personally to have Sneed ready to go, but be the fourth corner. Let CRW start. Let him get out there. Take it on. If he can't keep up, especially with a bottle and week one, which would not be unheard of, then okay, if you got to bring in the ringer, do it. But I think a snap count is required for the Jerry's need. I agree. And I think the bigger thing that actually probably plays into this decision that we're not even really discussing is what are the chief plans for Jayden Hicks. And I say Jayden Hicks because if they don't want him playing a lot of safety, then you were going to try to put Sneed at nickel corners so you can keep Crystal and Wallace as a

14:58third safety. If you are comfortable with Hicks as your third safety, then maybe that changes how you play them. But what we haven't seen is this team trust Hicks to do that. Like he got a ton of playing time in the preseason. And here's the other part of it right now. Schmory Conor mispractice. Schmory Conor hasn't checked him. Yeah. He hasn't played. You know, he hasn't practiced or played in a long time. Now he was there, I believe, in practice. There were several guys that weren't including Josh Simmons, which we'll talk about later, and Marcus Harris. That's the big question when you get into this also is where is Schmory Conor in his recovery? You see he's going to be able to play against the Broncos. Or are you going to be having somebody other than him as your starter at that position? Because at that point is a Jayden Hicks, which is what you roll within the preseason, but it's the preseason, not regular season. Right. Don't really care as much. Or are you going to put Crystal and Wallace back there and force the LaJerry Sneed in

16:01the slot because you feel like you can't put him in a position or you can't put Crystal and Wallace in that position because you need him at safety. That's it all plays into it. It definitely does. And honestly, this is a tough one. And to Trey's point, as he said today, you're never 100% in the NFL. I know Gilman's been dealing with stuff. Hopefully he's ready to go by the time they start practicing next week. And honestly, when we get to Tuesday's practice, it's Tuesday I walk through them Wednesday and Thursday are the hard ones. We will know at that point, but I don't know if they're going to know before that. I think it may come down to, hey, get on the field. Let's see what you can do. Yeah. And it could. And I just don't know. I mean, we're not going to see, and here's the other problem about this. This is the last day of practice. They don't, they're going to have almost a week off before they practice again because the next practice is going to be in the Wednesdays and say have a Monday night game. They're going to have a whole bunch of time to, you know, relax, not necessarily relax,

17:01but you know, I mean, rest, recuperate, do all that stuff. And are you going to be able to get to more corner to be able to be ready to go for Monday and F. Apply? I hope so, because I think he's better. It's not just that I think corner is better at safety than than roll walls. I think that the ability to use corner and roll and walls on the field at the same time, and that the multitude of things that you can do with both of those guys and adding in the luxurious need gives your defense way more you can do if all of them are going to be playing. If corner is out, I almost think that it's going to hamstring them to where you have to have sneak in the slot and roll and walls is going to be a safety. Yeah, I have to agree with you because the last thing that they can afford to do right now is to have Mansort Elaine, a rookie, no Williams, a sophomore for all intents and purposes, and Jane Kennedy and the nickel. You cannot start two rookies and a second year guy against the Denver Broncos in hope to

18:01contain that passing kit. That is what I am certain of. That is a big question about who's going to play where and it's not the only big question. What tackle is going to play in this game? That's next. Before the season kicks off, everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at seasons end? On CalChi, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Will the Kansas and the AFC championship this season? It's currently trading at about a 13% probability, meaning $100 trade would pay out almost $785 if they take home the title. On CalChi, your trading to get peers in a live market, meaning there's no house and as the probability changes you can buy in and out of your position. Trade the draft pick, the game, and more on CalChi. Download the CalChi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. AAL, SHI, CalChi, trade on anything. 18 plus only, restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risks and may not be suitable for all investors.

19:02CalChi products are not available on the knowledge restrictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see CalChi.com slash regulatory. Now, everything's always an update. If you want more, you can find Chris, the KCT's corner. You can find me at NFL33.com and rgrfootball.com. Check those out. What we're at right now is a question mark with Josh Simmons, not on the practice field, obviously trying to give him some rest. Andy Redid addressed it a bit in that he needed to get the second pinion. They understand what happened, supposedly working through it. I'm not here to say that that's not true, but I would have hoped that he was out walking practice at least doing something with trainers at this point because he went, remember, basically a full go one day to not participating the next. And we have not seen him do anything of substance since then. So I am starting to have some concerns. I also am concerned.

20:03He said, Josh Zoodoo is getting reps at both guard and tackle. And obviously they have the other UDFA rookie in Diego Pounds that's listed as the left tackle. Clearly, my guess is by trying to get a Zoodoo and him up to speed, they will likely go with the veteran if they have to. No idea, but it all comes back to one thing. Does Josh play or not? It's not looking like it. Go back to what I said last segment. You were looking at a scenario where this team is going to practice for almost another week. So it's possible that in another week, Simmons will be practicing and we will be looking at this like it's nothing to be clear. We're shown who mispractice on Wednesday, practiced on Thursday. So there was a little bit of a positive in that regard. I just don't know. I mean, based on the answers we've gotten, which it sounds like they found something in

21:04his back that they're trying to get worked out and read a sentence going to take some time, that to me doesn't sound like they're expecting that he's going to be ready week one. The fact that they have all these guys, the two obviously pounds is going to get left tackle snaps. That's what he was brought in for. But the fact that they're getting a zoo do tackle snaps tells me that they're trying to get as many of their pieces ready as they possibly can. Who is going to be the starter becomes the question because you look at it and we've talked about this. Matt said this. I believe on Wednesday's show talking about how Andy Reed generally doesn't like to make two positions worse by moving somebody from one position to another. So that would almost make you feel like more isn't going to be the starter left tackle. The only other option you have is either played two of the undrafted free agent rookies or play a zoo do who is both a guard and a tackle.

22:05And I think I know where I land. I would rather go with the guy with some experience even though he has not worked out at left tackle and half if you have to change it up, you have to change it up. We're going to talk about the game plan quite a bit next week as it evolves as we know some of these players. But right now any elongated dropback is at risk for Patrick Mahomes and it doesn't really matter to me. None of these options are good. There's really only one solution to this and I don't know if he's going to be there. And at this point, the solution becomes part of the question as well because if he misses this week, how long is he going to be out? And then you start talking about, you know, if he's out more than a couple of weeks, at what point do they haven't put him on IR? So that tells you they think that he's going to be back within the next three weeks. When this injury happened, they said it was a day to day thing and that's not the stance

23:06they seem to be taking right now. And I just don't know what to make of it because you saw what happened last year and I'm not going to fault him for the injury you got late in the season. That's a whole different ball game. But him missing time for his personal reasons. Just makes you wonder. And the fact that he went and got a second opinion, I just I still question. What is where is he on this team and where is he in the future? You want him to be the starting left tackle. But it does like you said to start this, Trace Smith said, you're never going to be 100% in the NFL. And that's the line. Being comfortable being uncomfortable is what you have to do is and we know all the horror stories about guys that that have trouble with joints later in life or you know, flexibility later in life because of injuries they sustain here and that's absolutely true. But it is also true at the time when you're a 20 something year old professional football

24:07player, you play. And unless this is something structural, which I can't believe that it is given how much training he did to get into the shape that he's in. I find it difficult to think that something has been wrong all along. You know what I mean? So maybe it's a poll, maybe it's something, you know, an exotic kind of positional injury. I don't know. But I would think other than the history that Josh Simmons has that this is something that can and would be played through normally. Seems like it seems like it should be and it seems like the team seems to think it should be something he's playing through. But again, I'm trying to remember and again, I hate saying stuff like this because we don't know everything that's going on and that makes it tougher. But outside of a death in the family, can you remember players missing time for a personal

25:09choice? Like every now and then somebody who's going to have a baby and they're going to take that day. Right. That has happened before. Right. But a month. Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. Like major life event too. And yeah, it's usually a one week. Right. So, you know, that's kind of where I'm coming from with this is like you look at what happened last year and it's like, okay, I don't know what we should take about that or take from that. But then you look at this year and it's the team seems to be saying or has said this should be day to day. We think he's fine. We're not concerned about it. They've completely changed their tone. And I don't know if that's because of what Josh is saying to them or because they have gotten more information that they feel like, okay, this is something that is legitimate that is going to need to take some time. But they're not telling anybody who's going to be playing week one and obviously they shouldn't. But the fact that he's not even on the practice field makes you concerned that he may not be available for week one and with a back issue with alignment, who knows when he would be

26:12available. Yeah, I mean, and that goes back to the information we got about Zulu taking reps not only a guard, but at tackle because that tells me that they've at least evaluated pounds the same way I have understanding. He's got upside, but he's not ready to protect Patrick Mahomes in live fire action. That tells me that you are preparing for an alternative to Josh Simmons. And I hope that it doesn't come to that, but it does seem like they're trying to cover their bases. Well, to be fair, they would be silly not to be trying to figure out a different, you know, somebody else to play in Simmons place just based on everything else that's been going on like the fact that he seems to be injured like you have to be planning for what happens if he's not available. So I have no, I don't fault the team for doing it, but I, I just don't know at this point because the reality of the situation is is that we're going into week one. And the worst part about all of this is we're getting ready to go into week one and the

27:16starting right tackle as we feel like it is right now is going to be Jalen Moore. I guess we technically don't know that, but it should be Jalen Moore who didn't get most of the starting right tackle snaps during the preseason and during training camp. He's the only guy who's ever started regular season ever played in a regular season game at tackle for this franchise. He's the only guy available right now. Yeah, I understand. There's no way around it. Yeah, I mean, we are making an assumption you're right, but I mean, there's no other way to assume at this point. You say that, but at the same time, we both argued for weeks that if he's the starter right tackle, there's no reason he shouldn't be getting the starting reps at right tackle. Completely agree. So I want to be clear. Like I was excited about Benson. I still think that there are things that are positive about Benson.

28:17I don't want to try to knock him down and say there's nothing positive. I do think there's positive there. He looked really good at guard. I'm not going to say he looked great, but he looked really good at guard. He had some decent snaps at tackle, but it's the bad snaps that concern you and that's always going to be what concerns you. To be fair, Jaylen Moore didn't look great at left tackle or right tackle. He wasn't getting the amount of snaps that you would like to see him get there in the preseason and you didn't have them play for most of the preseason. So I just don't understand the whole thought process and how they continue to or how they got to this point when it comes to their tackles. None of it makes sense to me. And none of it makes sense. Period. It's not just you. Okay. I'm sure in a situation where we don't even know who the starting left tackle is because of Simmons. And I don't know what to think about that. I wish I could give you a thought that makes sense.

29:17This is going to be your starting on tackle and he's going to be doing this for the next couple of weeks. I just don't see that. And with the way Andy is talking, I don't think the team has any clue when Simmons is coming back. I think they're going to have to evaluate after another weekend of rest because one thing I do know is what it affects is the guy that wears 15. That for sure. And we are going to on Monday, break down everything around Patrick Mahomes game right now and how they move forward in this first week of preparation. They won't be on the field on Monday, but we'll have the breakdown on what they should be doing. So don't miss that. If we have questions answered, we'll let you know that as well because that's what we do. Thank you. And you guys are ready because real football prep starts on Monday and goes through the following Monday when the cheese around the field for the first time. Be with us the whole way we would appreciate it. You can like and sub and do all those things. Check our sponsors hit our sites and we would appreciate that as well. Thank you for being with us. Have a great weekend.

30:19We'll catch you on Monday. Hey, NFL fans. I'm Brian Peacock and that is Matt Williamson hosts of the NFL six pack part of the Lockdown podcast network. Your team every day. NFL six pack brings you the latest NFL news and analysis and breaks down all of the weekly action. A six pack of takes daily on the playoff pushed in the 2025 season or if your team's in draft mode, yeah, we'll hit that too. All right here every day on the Lockdown podcast network. The NFL six pack subscribe on YouTube or everywhere you get your podcasts.