Chiefs Retain Charvarius Ward, Ben Niemann
The Kansas City Chiefs have retained cornerback Charvarius Ward and linebacker Ben Niemann just minutes after the start of the new NFL league year.
First reported by Matt Verderame of Fansided, it's a second-round tender designation for Ward and a re-signing for Niemann.
This move brings Ward back to a cornerback group that may lose its starter on the other side of the field, Bashaud Breeland, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. With Ward, second-year corner L'Jarius Sneed and third-year corner Rashad Fenton at the top of the depth chart, the Chiefs still have an extremely young and cheap group of corners heading into 2021.
Niemann, often a subject of fan consternation in 2020, is returning but not as a tendered restricted free-agent. This is notable because Niemann is likely returning on a sub-tendered contract level, making less than the $2.1 million designated for original-round tendered players.
Here's the math on a second-round and original-round tenders from NFL.com:
Second-round tender: One-year contract worth the greater of (a) $3.259 million or (b) 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary. Draft-choice compensation: second-round pick.
Original-round tender: One-year contract worth the greater of (a) $2.133 million or (b) 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary. Draft-choice compensation: a pick in the round the player was originally drafted in.
What does this mean for the 2021 Chiefs?
First, for Niemann, the phrasing of "re-signing" when he could have been original-round tendered makes me assume Niemann's deal will be a cheap one and his role will be as a core special teamer and a rotational linebacker in 2021 as second-year linebacker Willie Gay Jr. sees an increased role alongside starting veteran linebacker Anthony Hitchens. I know Niemann isn't exactly a fan-favorite and he absolutely shouldn't be one of the team's top three linebackers, but on special teams and in a limited role, he's a fine fit.
For Ward, I physically exhaled when I saw Verderame's report. There was no news about Ward being tendered even as the Chiefs were making other moves over the last two days, and tagging him as at least an original-round tender seemed like an absolute no-brainer for one of the team's top two corners if Breeland doesn't return.
The second-round tender is fine by me as well, making it more expensive for another team to swoop in and take Ward off the roster, which would now cost a second-round pick. A $3.259 million cap hit for one year is also more than reasonable for Ward.
Though Ward did take a small step back from 2019 to 2020, he's still a quality starting-caliber cornerback, which is always extremely valuable in a league that essentially demands three starters at all times, lest your defense be picked apart by any competent quarterback.
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