Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Chiefs franchised OLB Justin Houston is “very upset” with the team and the belief is that he will actively solicit an offer sheet from another team.
The problem for Houston is that any team interested in signing him to an offer sheet would need to part with two first-round picks if the Chiefs were to pass on matching the offer.
That’s a lot of compensation for a player on top of a market-value contract, and probably the main reason that franchised players haven’t changed hands in recent years.
According to Florio, if no one signs him to an offer sheet before this year’s draft, there’s a chance he could receive one shortly afterwards. As Florio points out, “at that point a team signing him would give up first-round picks in 2016 and 2017.”
There has been talk that Houston has no plans to sign the franchise tender he received from Kansas City and instead is likely to holdout of offseason work.
Houston, 25, recorded 68 tackles, 22 sacks, four forced fumbles and five pass defenses over the course of 16 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 1 outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense this year by a wide margin.
We’ll have more regarding Houston and his situation as the news is available.
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