Rice is a full season behind McDuffie/Karlaftis. And a very obvious 'replacement' within the salary structure for Travis Kelce.

Karlaftis will likely be structured in a way that he back-fills for Jones. The cap management decision with regard to McDuffie was just made - they let Sneed walk because they wanted to maintain the long-term flexibility to be aggressive in their extension with McDuffie.

You can keep Creed, McDuffie, Karlaftis and Rice. You'll lose Thuney and Smith. You probably lose Bolton. You draft to replace a guy like Reid.

They're gonna be okay with the cap even if it includes Creed.
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They didn't get it a year early; they got the 3rd in 2025 (the same as they would've gotten the comp pick)
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It's been really REALLY hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about Hunter Nourzad.

I think he's starting somewhere on the IOL next season. Or at the very least he competes with Wanya Morris (and hell, it could be BOTH of those guys).

I think you se Nourzad in the Allegretti role this year before moving into the starting lineup next season. Then I think CJ Hanson (or another 3rd day IOL pick in 2025) ends up replacing Nourzad as the sort of primary swing IOL that the Chiefs seem to really value.
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It would be nice to actually have some continuity at center, but also really nice to know that you have flexibility at C/G.
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That would be ideal. I love the idea of wanya. Hope you’re right about nourzad. Hate the idea of losing Trey but these are unfortunately the kind of casualties great teams need to make.
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If Nourzad and Morris step in for Thuney & Smith and there's no drop off.... that would be pretty spectacular.

Then if a Tackle goes down, Morris slides over and you have Hanson, Niang or Caliendo step in if they prove themselves worthy. You'd likely also have a veteran OT from FA somewhere in there as well.
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I think it's still smart to always be paying at least one of the interior guys. Maybe if Sua turns into an incredible LT, then you just "shift" that chunk of cap cash over to him and go with some younger guys on the interior who will be helped along similar to the way Thuney is probably going to help Sua/Morris out this year.
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Unless it's just coach speak...Spagnuolo runs a very complicated scheme and Bolton is the on field facilitator.

It's seems it wouldn't be that easy to just plug-and-play a replacement...I'd pick a LB over a center everytime if I had to make a decision....if they were both pro-bowl level players.

I guess it'll just depend on how the staff prioritizes their importance...they know what each position requires schematically.

If they extend Creed...and let Bolton walk, it wasn't done flippantly.
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I just can’t bring myself to pay $18+ million a season for a guy who’s average in coverage.

If we can get him back at $12-14 million I’d listen. But when he went down last year and Tranquil stepped in, we didn’t see much drop off.
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Obviously, the coach's know the finer details of that substitution....It did seem it took a long time to finally find a good MLB..where as KC has had a few decent centers.

Butker should get payed whatever he wants...ask the Bills about the importance of a kicker...they can tank your entire season...as we all know too. *Cough
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I just remember the days of Nieman and Hitchens. Yuck. Bolton really turned that around. Plus he's Spag's guy.
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and Reggie Ragland. Our linebackers were horrible until veach fixed that position with a couple of 2nd round picks and then a great cheap FA signing. Don't sleep on Leo Chenal either!
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Essentially it comes down to paying the players whose value is higher than a cheaper replacement. Bolton just does so much for this defense and it’s not surprising that the really good to elite defenses have solid at worst MLBs.
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We just fielded, at worst, the league's no 2 defense last year.
Spags says Bolton and Reid are keys to that.
I'd guess both are resigned. Reid a good bit less likely due to KC probably having the best collection of safeties in the league right now.
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It's worth pointing out, however, that we did win a Super Bowl with that pair.

That's not to say they're good players but rather than the LBs aren't as critical to the defense as the DL and secondary. I mean look at how little value they placed on Gay in free agency -- they wouldn't give him $3 million to come back.

Now it's also worth pointing out that the team basically did nothing at the LB position to backfill for Bolton. And by and large, the team does seem to target a replacement for guys the year before they anticipate losing them.

I think they'll make a run at Bolton, I just think they'll have to pull the chute on it. I don't think they'll go as high for him as the market is going to support. ESPECIALLY if Hollywood proves to be a good fit and they look to bring him back.
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