THURSDAY, 9:57am: The Chiefs have officially re-signed Hali, the team announced today in a press release.
TUESDAY, 6:53pm: Hali and the Chiefs have agreed to a three-year, $22MM deal that contains nearly $12MM in guarantees, tweets Rand Getlin of NFL.com.
12:16pm: The Chiefs have reached an agreement on a three-year contract for outside linebacker Tamba Hali, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Schefter notes that the new deal will allow the veteran pass rusher to finish his career in Kansas City.
Hali, 32, has seen his sack totals decline a little over the last two seasons after he piled up a total of 46.5 from 2010 to 2013. However, despite picking up just 12.5 total sacks in 2014 and 2015, Hali has continued to be an effective edge defender for the Chiefs. Pro Football Focus ranked the veteran 11th out of 110 qualified players at the position in 2015, assigning him solid grades as both a pass rusher and a run defender.
As I noted in PFR’s top 50 free agents list, in which I placed Hali 22nd, the longtime Chief had been one of the few edge defenders who fit better in a 3-4 scheme as an outside linebacker, rather than a 4-3 defensive end, so Kansas City did well to keep him from rival suitors looking for pass-rushing help.
With Hali back in the fold, the Chiefs have now secured two of their key free agent defenders, having used their franchise tag on safety Eric Berry. Still, there are plenty of Chiefs on track to reach the open market tomorrow. Defensive lineman Jaye Howard, cornerback Sean Smith, and linebacker Derrick Johnson are among the team’s free-agents-to-be on defense, while backup quarterback Chase Daniel and starting guard Jeff Allen are also eligible to hit the market.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
This is solid value for Hali and from a pure talent standpoint makes sense for the Chiefs. He’s still an upper-echelon pass-rusher and effective run-stopper outside. But it does make Kansas City’s selection of Dee Ford curious. For a team that’s constantly losing offensive linemen and has several other UFAs that could depart, paying market value for the 32-year-old Hali is curious. You could argue Derrick Johnson was the more valuable player to the Chiefs, even though he plays a less-impactful position, because of what’s behind him at ILB. Jeff Allen and Sean Smith’s defections will most certainly create bigger needs than Hali’s would’ve.