The Chiefs Are Keeping Drue Tranquill, Confirming Something Has to Give

For much of the Kansas City Chiefs offseason, two big-time free agent names have stolen the spotlight—cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and lineman Chris Jones. The defending champs, common logic dictates, would love to keep both under contract, but the salary cap makes things difficult; even if you can fit everyone in this year, there could be a logjam next spring when the likes of Creed Humphrey and Nick Bolton need extensions.

However on Thursday night, news broke that KC was hammering out a new deal with another defender: linebacker Drue Tranquill.

And while that deal certainly seems positive from an on-field perspective (we'll discuss that more momentarily), it does confirm an underlying reality of the KC offseason: Something somewhere is going to have to give.

Tranquill Earned His KC Chiefs Extension

If you flashback to the 2023 offseason, KC general manager Brett Veach was searching for reinforcements. While most expected those to arrive on the offensive side of the ball, the value wasn't there. Faced with that reality, he brought three veteran defenders, Charles Omenihu, Mike Edwards and Tranquill, to Arrowhead on smaller contracts.

All three contributed at various points of the season, but the latter linebacker proved to be especially important.

Nick Bolton, the club's rangy linebacker, is usually an ever-present at the center of the defense. He handles communication duties and has shown a knack for producing a clutch play in the big moments. During the 2023 campaign, though, injuries limited his availability to eight games.

With him out of the lineup, Tranquill stepped into the green dot role without missing a beat. And even when Bolton returned, the former Charger proved to be a valuable contributor, recording 78 total tackles on the year.

On the back of that performance and the club's Super Bowl victory, Veach rewarded the linebacker with a new deal. And while we've yet to hear official terms, Adam Schefter has reported on X, formerly Twitter, that the deal will be rather affordable.

It's also worth noting that keeping Tranquill around is savvy from another perspective. In addition to the fact that he played well in 2023 and can cover for Bolton in case of injury, fellow linebacker Willie Gay Jr. is also a free agent. Since Gay is younger and coming off his rookie deal, he'll likely be seeking a big-time payday; KC may have landed his cost-effective replacement before free agency even opens.

Salary Cap Compromises Have to Be Made

Given that Tranquill hasn't put pen to paper just yet, we don't know the official terms of his deal and how things will break down for salary cap purposes. However, the Chiefs really aren't in position to add even (comparatively) small sums to the 2024 cap without making compromises elsewhere.

Gay seems like a prime candidate to leave town in free agency. Punter Tommy Townsend was probably replaced earlier this offseason. It may feel strange on an emotional level to move on from players who helped the club capture back-to-back Lombardi Trophies, but that's the reality of trying to keep a championship window open. Compromises simply have to be made.

Beyond that, there's the bigger reality of Sneed and Jones. Sneed is technically on the books for 2024 thanks to the salary cap, but trade talks remain in the background. On the defensive lineman's front, we've heard talk about a potential target price, and that would still put KC over the ceiling even if Sneed comes off the books.

Will Tranquill's comparatively small cap hit push things over the edge? No, but it makes the margins that much finer. And remember, we've yet to get to the point of the season where the Chiefs would bring in any external reinforcements and sign their draft class to rookie contracts.

That probably shifts the onus to restructuring Patrick Mahomes' sizable contract, as the club has done before. That's a relatively safe move—the club won't be moving on from the quarterback anytime soon, so money can just keep getting kicked down the road—even that will eventually have to be addressed. You could argue that paying out becomes less and less painful as the salary cap continues to rise, but the Chiefs are already looking at cap hits around $60 million for the next four years. If you keep restructuring year-over-year, the deferred costs will stack up.

That's not to say that restructuring Mahomes' contract is a bad move by any means. He's the straw that stirs the drink, and you have to strike the right balance between keeping him around and surrounding him with weapons. But the process is exactly that: a balance.

If you're Kansas City, you don't want to leave cash on the table right now. After decades of feeling like nothing could go right, no one can take Mahomes, Andy Reid and Travis Kelce for granted. But, by that same token, there has to be some measure of sustainability. If Tyreek Hill was still in Kansas City, for example, compromises would have been made elsewhere; maybe the 2023 defense isn't as strong as it turned out, and KC can't outscore San Francisco in the Big Game.

And Tranquill, despite his affordable deal, is a reminder of that reality. When you're in dynasty mode, no move is made in isolation.