Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins was as good as gone after the 2019 NFL season. His salary-cap hit was very prohibitive to the Chiefs’ ability to go out and re-sign players. Few believed it’d be possible to renegotiate a new deal with Watkins and thought he’d surely be a salary cap casualty.
Then, in early April, Watkins surprised by agreeing to a restructured contract for the 2020 season. The restructured contract lowered Watkins’ cap hit from $21 million to $16 million, creating $5 million in salary-cap space for Kansas City. In a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Watkins provided some additional insight into his decision to take a pay cut and stick with the Chiefs.
“I’m at the stage of my life now where at first I was like ‘Man, I want to get paid big money again,'” Watkins said. “But then I realized, ‘How much money do I need?’ My family’s taken care of well. Do I want I go to a team and lose, and get 1,000 yards or go to a team that’s sorry, whatever the case may be. Or do I want to come back with one of the best coaches, the best quarterbacks, the best organizations, the best team, the best wideout group — arguably — and come try to fight for another championship?
“I sat my agent down, and we were trying to shoot for these big (contract) numbers. And I’m like, ‘Man, let’s just take heed of winning. I’ve been on a winning team within three years. I know how it felt to win. Shoot, I’d rather win another championship than go get another whatever type of crazy extension or crazy contract.”
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