Looking ahead: Additional Chiefs cap situations that bear monitoring

The following players have interesting cap situations that need to be monitored:

▪ CB Sean Smith: Smith, who has one year remaining on his deal, picked a heck of a time to have a career year. With another, cap expert Joel Corry figures Smith will cash in as a free agent at 28 years old. “He’s looking at a big contract.” Corry said. “The first thing he’ll say is that this team has established that its No. 1 corner is worth $10 million (with Brandon Flowers) and right now, that’s where the top of the second-tier market is. So if I’m Sean Smith, I’m talking $10 million a year just to get my attention.” The Chiefs could also franchise Smith after next year, but that number figures to be somewhere north of $13 million.

▪ NT Dontari Poe: The Chiefs can exercise a fifth-year option for Poe, which will keep him in Kansas City in 2016 for roughly $5.9 million, Corry said. “He’s a no-brainer for a fifth-year option,” Corry said. But Corry said Poe shouldn’t mind — Buffalo’s Marcell Dareus and Detroit’s Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley will soon set the market for him.

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Looking ahead: Additional Chiefs cap situations that bear monitoring."