Let's talk about the Nate Taylor monologue
 

Nate Taylor, on the most recently episode of Time's Ours Only Weird Games, said that the Sneed dynamic is a punishment for both the Chiefs and Sneed, despite the fact that both parties did everything right.

They drafted him, they developed him, they rostered him and played him.

He did everything they asked, he had zero off the field concerns, and played for them at an All Pro level.

And now, because the marriage between the parties was so successful, he likely has the leave the team and play elsewhere.

I was thinking this over. And I agree, this is a less than ideal situation for both teams -- sure Sneed gets paid, and the Chiefs likely get compensation. But the best outcome would have been for Sneed to stay in KC and get paid here. That's just structurally unlikely, however, because of the restriction of the salary cap.

I also think that maybe this is the least worst way we can approach the issue.

Maybe the league could carve out salary cap exceptions for players that a team drafts. Or maybe even that a team drafts on the third day, to reward both sides for their development and hard work.

What are your thoughts on this issue? How might you opt to resolve it?

I listened to it. Personally, I don’t agree.

They’re going to part ways largely because they are electing to pay other guys that they’ve drafted and developed. Chris Jones. Trent McDuffie. Creed Humphrey. Nick Bolton.

You can’t pay everyone in this league, and I say good for both parties that they are foregoing a one-year tag to get Sneed his pay right now.

This is a business and because of the cap teams can only keep so much talent on high salaries. In order for it to work, both side have to give some. Sneed deserves and will get far more than what his fourth round salary was. But if he wants to reset the market (of which he has every right to do) that will mean he is gonna have to get it elsewhere most likely. The Chiefs can only retain so many players they developed. It’s why Hill is gone despite all KC did for him and his career.

I think there needs to be a separate cap for just the QB position. It’s the Mahomes impact of the cap that leads us to the problem and it’s a problem that’s not just related to the leagues best qb. Teams are committing huge sums on money every year to even just OK qbs. So maybe it’s time to do something different for the position. Encourage teams to draft and develop QBs. Give them space to develop qbs on the roster.

I agree. The league created this problem with all its rule changes over the years to make the NFL QB-centric which inflated salaries at the QB position even for mediocre players. The cap calculation should probably be adjusted to account for that fact too. The current state is not a great deal for people who play any other position, apart from pass rushers and the higher end of LTs and WRs.

Or, maybe quarterbacks need to stop resetting the market. Who cares if you're making $30M per year instead of $50M per year if it's more money than you could ever possibly spend? I get wanting to get paid what you're worth. But when is enough enough? And don't start about the owner can afford it. The teams not only have a salary cap, but a salary floor. And most teams are up against the cap every year. So it's the rest of the team that is paying that exorbitant salary in reality. They're either going to pay a quarterback $50+ million per year, or they're going to pay their talent in other places. It's crazy to me that quarterbacks are getting paid so much now at the expense of the rest of the team

Agree. And I think a QB cap could actually accomplish that.

I don't agree that QB should be exempt from the salary cap -- that just gives an unbreachable advantage to Great QB teams. And I know I'm arguing against my own self-interest here, because my team has the best QB.

Forcing Mahomes to do battle with a cap-strapped roster against, say, Geno Smith and a roster flush with investment is the only way to get a fair game most Sundays.

But the second you allow all teams to flush their roster with investment, then it's simply going to come down to who has the best QB.

And while the Chiefs would win all the Super Bowls under that arrangement, it wouldn't make the league very exciting to watch for 98% of the fans.

Elite QBs are worth what they’re paid.

It’s the dumbass franchises over-paying the average guys that’s ****ing up the market.

I guess you could try to combat this with a vet maximum salary like you have the vet minimum. It goes up every time the cap increases. I'm not really a fan of capping wages in jobs but it's just a thought. Course I wonder if Jones had taken his deal last year, sneed might have gotten his deal done last season before he got top of the market value.

A QB cap isn't a great idea either, unless you want to turn the NFL into the NBA.

The best players in the NBA can only earn so much, far as I understand it, with "max" and "supermax" contracts. So they can freely wander from team to team with no sense of having to stay here or stay there because they'll get paid the same everywhere, and the franchise is helpless to retain them.

The entire franchise is dependent on keeping the superstar emotionally happy (or in the Lakers case, hope there's endorsement deals that lock a superstar into your city), which is a silly way to run a railroad.

Well, the team with the highest paid QB last year just keeps winning the Super Bowl, so it's hard to argue that you can't win this way if you manage the team well.

Let's talk about the Nate Taylor monologue
 

A QB cap doesn’t make sense. What’s the cap on it? Whatever the current highest paid is? If it’s higher than that, say $75 million, why would the top QBs not just demand that?

Regarding Sneed, he is still allowed to play here, therefore, no one is being punished. That’s just silly.

This has always been the reality of a cap league. Sometimes players have to go somewhere else to get what they think they're worth.

But what 'punishes' Sneed probably helps elsewhere in the league. As they alluded to, there are maybe 30-50 guys in the league who are worried about the tag and what it portends. But because the tag is a thing, it keeps some of the salaries down a bit and in so doing leaves more of the pie available elsewhere.

As who who this 'punishes' - well....I'm not sure it punishes anyone. The Chiefs drafted and got the benefits of a great player on a rookie contract. Now he wants to get paid and will - somewhere. What's Taylor's alternative? No free agency? Annual deals and a yearly free for all for everybody? No cap? No floor?

Who's 'punished' by a market being a market?

This is one of those things that must've sounded good in Taylor's head as he was trying to be high and mighty but really didn't make any sense because what we are seeing is a fairly natural progression.

Mahomes is actually underpaid for what he’s worth.

How much money have the chiefs made since he’s been the qb?