Clayton: A recent transaction was a big blow to the Broncos, AFC West

The Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers suffered a big blow with a transaction last week. It happened when the Seattle Seahawks cut defensive tackle Jarran Reed.

At first, Reed appeared to be a salary cap casualty. It turns out the move was a bad financial decision by Reed, which cost him $3 million.

The Seahawks were doing what most teams are doing this year with the $182.5 million salary cap, down eight percent from last year. They wanted to replace Reed’s base salary with signing bonus money to provide cap relief. Seattle hoped to stretch out the proration of the signing bonus over several years and put voids in the contract that would start next year.

His agent was in favor of the deal. Reed wasn’t.

The defensive tackle was upset the Seahawks weren’t offering him a contract extension. Reed was in the last year of a two-year, $23 million deal. He was scheduled to be paid $8.5 million this season.

It’s hard to get contract extensions from a team when they don’t know what next year’s cap is going to be. It’s not out of the question that next year’s cap won’t reach the $198.2 million level it was at in 2020.

That said, a good season for Reed in 2021 could put him in the $13 million to $15 million range in 2022 and beyond. So he balked at the Seahawks offer.

What’s bad for the AFC West teams is that Reed ended up in Kansas City. He got a one-year, $5.5 million deal.

He’s an interior defensive tackle who had a 10.5 sacks a couple years ago. His addition gives the Chiefs three defensive linemen who have had double-digit sack seasons. Defensive end Frank Clark and defensive tackle Chris Jones are making $18.5 million and $21.5 million, respectively, this season.

You have to figure this will be a one-year stop for Reed. There is no way they can pay more than $50 million a year for three defensive linemen. But in 2021, the addition of Reed gives the Chiefs one of the most dangerous defensive tackle combinations in the NFL. That’s bad news for the rest of the AFC West.

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