AFC Notes: Chiefs, Jaguars, Texans

Chiefs

• Adam Teicher of ESPN writes that while the Chiefs traded up to get QB Patrick Mahomes in this year’s draft, they don’t have to force the issue any play him before he’s ready to handle the job due to the presence of Alex Smith.
• Smith still has another two years remaining on his contract and while there are no guarantees beyond the 2017 season, they should be able to buy Mahomes enough time to develop.
• One issue working against Smith remaining with the team in 2018 is the fact that he’ll cost the Chiefs over $20 million against their cap.
• Teicher says that Chiefs CB Marcus Peters shouldn’t expect to receive a long-term extension in 2020, as the Chiefs will undoubtedly exercise their fifth-year option on him. In fact, Teicher says that Peters should expect to be franchised after that, based on how the Chiefs handled Justin Houston and Eric Berry in recent years.
• The next offensive lineman in line for a new contract, according to Teicher, is C Mitch Morse, whose contract is up after the 2018 season.

Jaguars

Last year, both Jalen Ramsey and Tashaun Gipson were critical of the team’s defensive scheme and DC Todd Wash.

As Ramsey and Gipson reported for the start of the offseason program this year, Wash met with them and says he had a productive conversation.

“As soon as we were able to with the new agreement, the CBA, we were able to sit down and talk about it,” Wash said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN. “Both of us were frustrated by the comments. We understand where they came from [and] had a great conversation. We understand that all of that stuff needs to stay in-house.

“Once again, they can say what they want. They’re grown men. We’ll talk about that stuff when it happens, one-on-one.”

Ramsey previously took issue with the fact that the defense never changed.

“Every week we ran the same defense,” said Ramsey. “We never changed defenses. We never changed plays. What we were running on first down at the beginning of the season we were running on first down at the end of the season. What we were running on second down, third down, same. Nothing ever changed.”

Meanwhile, Gipson didn’t like that he was left as the team’s single high safety.

“I called myself ‘the babysitter,’ man,” Gipson said. “I saved touchdowns [with tackles on run plays]. I’m blamed when I don’t catch six picks but what can you do? Rush and cover go together. … I’ll never make an excuse. There’s plays that I left out there, 100 percent, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re plus-one, 15 yards in the middle of the field 98 percent of the time. Like I said, if you go back I’ve never been that type of player in my career. This was definitely new to me.”

Texans

• Aaron Wilson reports that the Texans signed OL Breno Giacomini to a one-year contract worth $2.75 million, which includes a $1 salary (non-guaranteed), a $750,000 signing bonus and up to $1 million in per-game active roster bonuses.
• According to Wilson, the Texans signed LB Sio Moore to a one-year contract worth $775,000, which carries a cap figure of $615,000.