Kansas City Chiefs: Was It Worth It to Extend Jamaal Charles?

This Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that they had extended the contract of running back Jamaal Charles for five years, a $32 million deal which includes a guarantee of $13 million.

Want the short breakdown?

Great choice, Scott Pioli.

Yeah, I didn't like that either. Who does like the short answer anyway?

Most people will agree that this is a great choice, and I will go along with them, to a certain extent.

Jamaal Charles is a great running back. He is an integral part of the Chiefs' highly touted group of running backs, and the fact that he clearly has a lot of good years of football in front of him really provides incentive for the Chiefs to want to hold on to this guy. Plus, with Thomas Jones likely headed out the door soon, the Chiefs are going to want consistency in the backfield.

On the other hand, though, Jamaal Charles suffers from the same stereotype that is slapped on guys like Darren Sproles: He is small (5'11", 199 pounds), consequently, there is a fear that he wouldn't be able to stand up to the punishment that an every down back takes.

This criticism isn't totally merited. Much like Sproles, Charles is astonishingly tough, powerful and durable for his size. There are plenty of people who would contend that he could stand up to the kind of punishment that a primary back takes.

This may be a bit of a stretch, though. At 5'11" and only 199 pounds, Charles simply just doesn't have a build that lends itself to long-term durability. If it doesn't hit him in the first year, it certainly will in the four after it.

Thus, Charles will likely remain in a tandem backfield. With a deal averaging just over $six million a year, Charles is really going to have to deliver to earn that money.

With that in mind, the eventual cost of running at least one other back with Charles will run up a cost of $12-14 million per year, a hefty price tag considering the investment that the Chiefs have in quarterback Matt Cassel.

In the end, though, this seems like the right choice for the Chiefs. They essentially ensure a future of good running in Kansas City, which is one less thing that they have to worry about as they continue their rapid rebuilding process.

You do have to wonder, though: Will the salary cap cost of this contract come back to bite them in the end? With the uncertainty of the new collective bargaining agreement, who knows. You do have to wonder, though.