Kansas City Chiefs had a great season in 2015 which culminated in the Divisional Playoffs with a loss to the New England Patriots. The success for KC came after a promising 2014 campaign which saw them just barely miss the playoffs. A strong constant for Kansas City has been their two stellar veteran linebacker in Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson.
Johnson has been with the Chiefs since 2005 and Hali has been with KC since 2006 and in that decade both have been instrumental in most of the success out of Kansas City’s defense. Now both players are hitting free agency this spring with Johnson’s contract expiring and Hali is getting his contract voided after not agreeing to an extension with KC.
Following from Terez A. Paylor.
Reworking the final year of Hali’s contract freed up $7 million in salary cap room for the cash-strapped Chiefs in 2015, and Hali was guaranteed to remain with the team another year before becoming a free agent. But the deal also had a flip side; the team would be charged $4 million against the 2016 salary cap if it didn’t reach a contract extension with Hali by March 4.
March 4 passed Friday without an extension, which means the remaining four years on Hali’s contract have automatically voided, resulting in the $4 million salary cap charge, The Star has learned.
He indicated a desire to return to the Chiefs for an 11th season in 2016, but made it clear that if he did, he wanted to make sure he could play better. Hali also indicated after the season that his knee would require surgery.
