Chiefs lose center Rodney Hudson to Raiders but gain salary cap space

On the same day the Chiefs found out they soon stand to lose a player to free agency, they also managed to ensure the return of a pricy veteran in 2015.

Monday, however, initially began with a thud for the Chiefs, as a league source confirmed to The Star that starting center Rodney Hudson will sign with Oakland for five years and $44.5 million after the NFL’s free-agency period begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports first reported the agreement.

Despite losing Hudson, the Chiefs will retain defensive end Mike DeVito on a restructured contract that will create $2.5 million in cap space. Also Monday, The Star learned the terms of outside linebacker Tamba Hali’s restructured deal, which will save the team $7 million in cap room.

As for Hudson, the Chiefs were believed to be making a hard push to retain him. He was coming off his best professional season and was the most coveted free-agent center on the market.

In 16 games in 2014, his grade of plus-13.0 ranked third in the league among eligible players at his position, behind two Pro Bowlers in the Jets’ Nick Mangold (22.6) and the Cowboys’ Travis Frederick (19.8) and ahead of two more in the Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey (9.8) and the Eagles’ Jason Kelce (7.5).

Hudson, 25, was better than he was in 2013, his season first back after he broke his left leg in the third game of 2012. His blocks sometimes lacked the efficiency he flashed this season, particularly in space, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Doug Pederson repeatedly touted the mental strides Hudson made.

To replace Hudson, the Chiefs could draft a center — Florida State’s Cameron Erving is the only player at the position expected to go in the first round — or give third-year pro Eric Kush his first opportunity to earn a starting job since he was taken in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of California University of Pennsylvania.

Kush has appeared in three games, with one start, in his two years as a Chief. All came in 2013, his rookie season.

“I think Kush is ready to play,” general manager John Dorsey said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “He’s champing at the bit.”

One position where the Chiefs won’t be seeking a replacement in 2015 is defensive end, as the team finalized the terms of a restructured contract for DeVito that will lower the veteran run stuffer’s 2015 salary cap hit and keep him in Kansas City for at least another season.

DeVito posted the news of his impending return Monday on Twitter, writing “Contract stuff is done! Thanks for another chance … I won’t let you down!”

DeVito agreed to reduce his $5.4 million cap number in 2015 to $2.9 million. He can make up a significant portion of the reduced salary bonuses. Pro Football Talk first reported the news and multiple sources confirmed the numbers to The Star.

The Chiefs could have saved $4 million by releasing DeVito, who was set to enter the final season of a three-year, $12.6 million contract, but his run-stopping ability was missed up front, as the Chiefs fell from 11th in run defense with DeVito in 2013 to 28th without him in 2014.

DeVito became the latest veteran Chief to agree to a restructured deal, as veteran outside linebacker Tamba Hali did the same. According to cap expert and former agent Joel Corry, who has seen the parameters of the deal, Hali’s 2015 salary will drop from $9 million to $6 million this year, the final season of a five-year, $60 million contract.

Corry said the $6 million salary is comprised of a $5 million signing bonus, a fully guaranteed $870,000 base salary and a $130,000 workout bonus.

The restructuring adds four years to Hali’s current contract that will automatically void five days after the 2016 Super Bowl. This will add $4 million in dead money to the Chiefs’ salary cap in 2016 because of the $5 million signing bonus he will receive this year. Barring an extension, Hali will be a free agent in 2016.

Together, the DeVito and Hali moves helped create $9.5 million in cap room for the Chiefs, some of which will no doubt go toward paying receiver Jeremy Maclin, who is expected to sign a five-year deal that averages $11 million per season on Tuesday, a source told The Star.

Though the Chiefs’ current cap standing is fuzzy — they were approximately $1.1 million over the cap prior to the DeVito and Hali restructures and the Maclin deal — it’s reasonable to assume they will be able to get under the cap, as all teams must, by Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, which is the start of the new league year.

If the Chiefs still need to create room, whether to get under the cap or make another splashy signing like Maclin, they have options. They can create more room by negotiating a lower salary with safety Eric Berry, who is slated for an $8.3 million cap hit but is currently battling lymphoma, and/or converting quarterback Alex Smith’s base salary to a bonus.

Other players whose release would create a sizable amount of cap space include receiver Dwayne Bowe ($14 million cap figure in 2015), inside linebacker Derrick Johnson ($5.2 million) and quarterback Chase Daniel ($3.8 million).

This story was originally published March 9, 2015 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Chiefs lose center Rodney Hudson to Raiders but gain salary cap space."