[Kansas City.com] The Chiefs had an extra $7.5 million of salary-cap room dropped in their laps when the NFL and its players agreed to a last-minute extension of the collective-bargaining agreement.
That extra cap space won’t make the Chiefs major players when the free-agency signing period begins tonight.
“It really doesn’t change our thoughts on free-agency,” president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “We didn’t plan to be much of a player this year no matter what the salary-cap figure was.”
“We’re not going to bring anyone in for the first few days. It’s not a priority. We’ll observe who’s out there and let the other teams spend the big dollars.”
The salary-cap increase from $94.5 million to $102 million should give the Chiefs a chance to retain their own free agents. Peterson said the Chiefs would make a stronger effort to re-sign fullback Tony Richardson and defensive tackle Lional Dalton, the two starters among their nine unrestricted free agents.
Peterson said the Chiefs would try to re-sign some of the players who are heading into the final seasons of their contracts. Three such players are tight end Tony Gonzalez, defensive end Jared Allen and linebacker Kawika Mitchell.
Running back Larry Johnson has four seasons left on his contract, but the Chiefs may decide to give him a raise over the $741,000 salary he is scheduled to make this season.
The Chiefs’ other unrestricted free agents will be wide receiver Marc Boerigter, quarterbacks Todd Collins and Damon Huard, defensive end Carlos Hall, cornerback Dewayne Washington and long snappers Kendall Gammon and Ed Perry.
