Rounding Up the Latest Kansas City Chiefs Offseason Buzz

With an active free agency and a busy draft, the Kansas City Chiefs have been active this offseason. With OTAs recently wrapped up and with a three-day minicamp set to begin Tuesday, the Chiefs are close to putting a bow on the offseason.

Between the end of minicamp and training camp, they team may make one or possibly two notable roster moves. The Chiefs are still waiting for their top player to appear and participate in offseason practices.

As always, there's never a real offseason in the NFL, as players, coaches and front-office personnel are always busy. Here are some of the recent rumors and stories surrounding the Chiefs.

Justin Houston Expected to Miss Mandatory Minicamp

Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

To no one's surprise, outside linebacker Justin Houston missed all of OTAs for the second consecutive season. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said he is not expected to participate in mandatory minicamp this week because of a contract dispute.

The Chiefs used the franchise tag on Houston, which gave him a one-year deal worth $13.195 million.

Houston is coming off a 22-sack season, which gives him more leverage as the two sides have not come close to an agreement. He has been asking for a new contract for more than a season. After collecting 22 sacks, he has even more reason to demand a long-term megadeal. 

The two sides have a little less than a month to rectify the situation before the July 15 deadline.

After that, Houston can agree to only a one-year contract with Kansas City. If he decides to miss out on games, which would be a surprise, he will miss $770,588.23 per week, according to Florio.

In less than a month, Houston and the Chiefs will agree to a new deal, or he will have to settle with his one-year option. If they cannot reach an agreement, it is unclear whether Houston will decide to show up to training camp.

Can Dee Ford Step Up If Needed to Start?

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

ESPN.com's Adam Teicher wrote about the possibility of Dee Ford starting if Houston's contract dispute leads to him not playing.

As we saw this past season, Ford had just 1.5 sacks while playing in a stacked unit behind Pro Bowlers Houston and Tamba Hali. As a rookie, he saw some playing time on third down later in the season. He was also getting used to playing outside linebacker, since he played defensive end at Auburn.

Though his 1.5 sacks are not attention-grabbing for a first-round rookie, Ford played just 122 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

Even if Houston comes back and starts opposite Hali, the Chiefs may try to find a way to keep Ford more active and give him more experience as an outside linebacker. Given that he was a first-round pick, he will have to be a primary guy at some point with the Chiefs, so the team might as well try to give him more reps in his second season.

Will Evan Mathis Come to Kansas City?

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The Philadelphia Eagles released guard Evan Mathis last week, and he is looking for a new home. ESPN's John Clayton reported that Kansas City is one of four teams interested in Mathis.

Mathis is 33 and signed with the Eagles in 2011 when they were still coached by Andy Reid. Mathis made the Pro Bowl twice as an Eagle, but it was not enough for him to stay.

While Mathis to Kansas City makes sense due to the connection with Reid, it is unlikely for three reasons.

First, Mathis is a left guard and has not played right guard since 2008, back when he was with the Miami Dolphins. The Chiefs already have a left guard in Ben Grubbs, whom the team traded for from New Orleans.

Second, if Mathis is willing to play right guard, the Chiefs would have too many right guards with Jeff Allen, Zach Fulton and newly acquired Paul Fanaika. It would lead to at least one of those three being released.

Third, the Chiefs would need to restructure Chase Daniel's contract or release him if they want to add Mathis. According to the NFLPA's public salary-cap report, the Chiefs have just $388,565 in cap room, the least in the NFL.

Mathis probably won't have a problem shifting from left to right guard, but the Chiefs would need to create some cap space if they want this to become a reality.

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