Throwin' Benjamins: How To Spend Money in the NFL

There are a lot of differing opinions on how to spend money in the NFL. Some GM's like to bring in the big name free agents every year, even if they don't fit into their team system, overpay them in contract and guaranteed money, and then cut them a year or two later (Washington Redskins). Some GM's aren't afraid to let go of veteran talent that wants more money in exchange for more cap space for other players or for a future draft pick or two (New England Patriots). Some GM's don't delve into free agency, instead electing to concentrate on resigning their own players before anything else (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

There are, of course, other strategies about how to conduct one's business in the NFL when spending money on players. For fans, however, there is only one way to be successful in an offseason: SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!

If teams don't spend almost every single bit of their cap space, fans are always complaining. "Why aren't we spending more?" "Why aren't we bringing in so-and-so?" "We're never going to be a contender if we keep being cheap!"

These are statements that fans make every year about their team of choice, but these are statements that are especially prevalent if you are a Kansas City Chiefs fan. True or not, many fans have come to think of the organization as cheap. Not because of their lack of activity in free agency, not because the free agents they sign are ineffective, but because they are usually near the top of the available cap space list.

Yesterday, NFL.com came out with the updated cap space numbers for all the teams and the Chiefs were on top, being $32,984,542 under the new cap. Some fans will see this number and immediately think that we squandered our opportunity to bring in good players and that we won't stand a chance to beat San Diego in the division this season; after all, San Diego is only $2,864,800 under the cap.

Despite what Drew Brees thinks, spending money doesn't guarantee wins. Ask Dan Snyder in Washington. Spending money can help improve your chances of winning, but is in no way indicative of success. We can talk about the extreme examples of teams going hard at it in free agency and succeeding (2007 Patriots, 2010 Jets). We can even talk about the Eagles going Miami Heat on us and making a huge splash in free agency (even though their success can't be determined by their spending alone so far). But there are plenty more examples of teams spending equally and having very disappointing seasons.

While it's true that the Chiefs only spent 67% of their cap in 2009 and finished 4-12, they spent near to that same amount in 2010 and went 10-6. So throwing around money to try to fix immediate problems is not necessarily what is required to improve your team. For the Chiefs it was the draft.

The Chiefs current team has almost primarily been built around the draft. You look on offense and defense, and the majority of the players we count on were acquired through the draft, and although free agency and trades is a way to get good players, to sustain a franchises success requires good drafting.

The Chiefs haven't been silent in free agency. We have improved our team with the additions of Steve Breaston, Le'Ron McClain, Kelly Gregg and Jared Gaither. All but Steve Breaston, however, only received one year contracts, ensuring that the future of the team still rests in the hands of its draft picks. And because our future success depends on our draft picks, having this much cap space is a good thing.

Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr are both going to need new contracts after the season if the Chiefs are hoping to keep them. Dwayne Bowe is also on the final year of his contract. The Chiefs, with their extra money, now find themselves in the right situation of being able to sure up their own playmakers instead of allowing them to leave via free agency. And although we haven't done it yet, remember that Pioli gave out a few new contracts in the middle of last season (Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles, and Andy Studebaker). Don't be shocked if Pioli & Company do the same thing this season.

So every team has their own method; some work some years and fail other years. Do I as a Chiefs fan wish they would go out and sign every free agent on the market? Sometimes. But at the end of the day I know what the Chiefs are doing is a plan, and their plan is better than any plan I could formulate (because we're not the Redskins). And if you do want the Chiefs to spend more, then you only have a couple of years left until they are forced to spend about 90% of their salary.