I'd be in favor of franchising Ford for a year and making him prove it for one more season before we invest in him long term. I'd also use one of our top 3 picks next year on a pass rusher, and more specifically not a project in the mold of Kpass or Speaks (both of whom I pray are not wasted picks).

Suggs has made about $4 m per year for the last 4 years. I’d agree to that for Houston.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimor...ll-suggs-1125/

Houston hasn't had double digit sacks since 2014, so not a great comparison. His performance is reasonable at roughly half his current salary. It's inexcusable for what he is making. We can't build a team with what we are paying to Houston and Berry considering the complete lack of return we are receiving on the investment.

Yup

man Chiefs fans love hanging onto to their fan favorites of yesteryear a year or two late.

The same people who rip Smiff for 5 years are the fist to sniff Houstons jock.


Houston has sucked since his deal. Just admit it. Quit blanking Sutton or his knee or whatever, fact remains: had we known he'd turn into this, no WAY does he get that mega deal

People are idiotic when it comes to sacks though. In his comeback year last year he had 9.5 which still put him in the top 20.

Last year:

Von Miller - 57 tackles 10.0 sacks
Justin Houston - 59 tackles 9.5 sacks

Would you all scream the Broncos should cut Miller and he isn't worth 20 million?

No, no you wouldn't.

It's been 2 games and because he doesn't have a sack everyone is up in arms? Sorry if I'm not worried about the best player on this defense.

I agree with the op here. He's not the same guy. Yes he is smart and can set the edge well still but he's not elite like he used to be. Pay cut or move on.

I'm not talking about the last 4 years. I'm talking about the contract before that when he came back from injury.

He’ll be gone I’m guessing, and we’ll be stuck with Ford

He would have to take a paycut to stay, and Ford is the complete opposite type of player that Veach has basically said he likes.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Yes it is early and he may turn it around. But so far the best players on defense have been Ford, Jones, and Hitchens. Without looking at their contracts I can say they probably make a similar amount or less combined than what Houston is making.

Houston just doesn't pass the eye test anymore. He gets stood up by average tackles and doesn't make plays. He should be singlehandedly wrecking offenses at his current pay, but he doesn't.

His money needs to be used on keeping Hill, Jones, Fuller, etc. If we're going to take advantage of Mahomes' contract before he breaks the bank we can't afford to be paying so much for such little production.

There's still a lot of football left, but Houston needs to show that he can be at least a 10 sack guy. He needs to be a 13-17 sack guy to be worth his contract.

He's still strong at the point of attack.

He still commands double teams at times.

He's still a heady player that's stout in run defense.

But some of that power and explosion is gone, and he was never a speed guy to begin with. That contract he received was for sacking Qb's and affecting outcomes of games, not just being a stout run defender.

So sacking QB's is what he needs to do to be worth that money. So unless something changes soon with his production, the Chiefs will be forced to seriously consider eating some dead money.

They will have to decide whether to let Ford walk and keep paying Houston that big contract, or give Ford a 15M (ish) contract and letting Houston go.

Speaks and Kpass exist on the this roster because it's time for one, or both of those guys to go.

You rush the passer much more effectively when you are playing with a lead. The Chiefs did that a lot more than the Broncos last year. I don't think it's a great comparison just like I didn't think it was a good comparison early on when Von was getting all his opportunities. Truth is, I think Houston used to be better than Von. That is no longer the case and hasn't been for a while. The money is better used elsewhere.