Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
Giving a contract extension to All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and/or quarterback Patrick Mahomes would free up quite a bit of cap space for the Kansas City Chiefs this off-season. The team could also extend cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who has one year remaining on his rookie deal and is deserving of a payday.
But there’s another Chiefs player that has gone relatively unnoticed when Kansas City’s contract extension candidates are brought up, and Matt Conner of Arrowhead Addict is pounding the table for him publicly:
Mike Danna.
“A contract isn’t always about who has earned further financial incentives on the field. It’s about keeping the books balanced, fielding a competitive team, positional value, and more,” Conner wrote on June 1. “That means even deserving players are allowed to walk sometimes to other franchises with more money to offer. Just because Mike Danna has been better than expected and is hitting free agency doesn’t necessarily mean he should be given an extension. But we believe he’s one of the few who should be locked up shortly.”
In terms of what an extension for Danna might look like, Conner suggested some numbers for a potential short-term offer from Kansas City to Danna.
“If Brett Veach could find a way to bring back Danna for another 1-2 years on $5-6M annually, it’d be a deal worth making,’ he wrote.
Mike Danna Has Shown Steady Progression
Mike Danna, 25, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chiefs in 2020. Since then, he has established himself as a solid role player for the defending Super Bowl champions and has steadily improved in each of his first three seasons in the league.
In 2020, Danna accumulated 15 quarterback pressures (9 QB hurries, 3 QB hits, 3 sacks) and 12 stops in 13 regular season games played according to PFF. In 2021, he registered 22 QB pressures (12 QB hurries, 7 QB hits, 3 sacks), 12 stops, and 2 forced fumbles in 17 regular season games played.
In 2022, Danna recorded 35 QB pressures (25 QB hurries, 5 QB hits, 5 sacks), 17 stops, and 2 forced fumbles in 13 regular season games played.
Chiefs Should Be Patient With Mike Danna
Though Mike Danna has steadily improved during his first three seasons in the NFL, some of the additions made by the Chiefs this off-season put his role into question for the 2023 season.
The additions of Charles Omenihu and Felix Anudike-Uzomah have seemingly pushed Danna down the depth chart. And if fifth-round pick B.J. Thompson develops into a key role player, then Danna will be pushed down the depth chart even further, making an extension for the fourth-year edge rusher a bad use of money from Kansas City’s perspective.
That’s why, if the Chiefs have a desire to extend Danna, they should at least wait to see how their roster shakes out over the course of the training camp and the preseason before they pull the trigger.
As it stands, Danna is in the final year of his rookie contract. He’s on the books with a $2.7 million base salary and a $2.8 million cap hit in 2023.
According to Over The Cap’s effective cap space (the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster), the Chiefs are currently $652,557 over the cap.