The Kansas City Chiefs are on to a good thing right now, and head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach are hell-bent upon keeping things intact at whatever cost. Privately, they surely realize that the ride is going to end sooner rather than later. That’s good news for the Raiders and the league’s
Chiefs lock up best offensive, defensive players within same week; Raiders benefit in strange way
I don’t know, Cork, good teams lose players all the time (especially after winning a Super Bowl) and still find ways to remain in the thick of the race and without having to tear down the entire roster and rebuild it. There are ways to massage the cap and salaries to keep core players while replacing others through the draft or free agency.
Isn’t the difference the amount of cash on hand the owner has to pay the salaries? The flusher the owner, the easier to manage the cap and salaries?
To your point, those good teams have two common denominators, typically: a great head coach and an elite quarterback — Patriots, Saints, now the Chiefs. That great coach can find talent beyond the first round, make shrewd moves and outcoach others to help offset salary-cap deficiencies.
I’d add the Niners to your list, they don’t have an elite QB, but the GM and Coach are doing a good job of building that team for consistent success (it seems).
This is great news for the Raiders. The Chiefs are a bunch of very talented players but now that their two best players have signed for big money most of other players will say I want to get paid. The Chiefs are the opposite of how the Patriots have done it.
I’m sure they are laughing at us for paying Carr so much money for nothing, so I’m not ready to do a victory lap just yet.