When the Kansas City Chiefs decided to re-sign veteran outside linebacker Tamba Hali this offseason, the assumption was that it was mainly meant as a means to add depth to the position and allow Hali, as well-liked a public figure in Kansas City as the entire World Series-winning Royals squad, to finish his NFL career in red.
But with some fresh news out of the NFL's annual owner's meetings early this week regarding Justin Houston, the long-time yin to Hali's yang on the Chiefs "D," the new deal for the 32-year-old pass rusher makes a lot more sense and, really, may have been more of a necessity than most people thought.
Kansas City head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder told reporters at the owner's meetings that Houston, who was hampered by a knee "sprain" late in the 2015 season, had the joint scoped shortly after the Chiefs were bounced from the playoffs by the New England Patriots. At the time, it was expected that the clean out for an injury that cost Houston five regular season games and left him limited during the postseason wouldn't affect his availability for the 2016 league year.
That expectation was wrong.
According to Burkholder, whatever was discovered in Houston's knee during the scope will keep the vaunted pass rusher off an NFL field, practice or otherwise, for the next six to 12 months.
At this point, that means the earliest Houston can return for the Chiefs is August. At worst, some or all of his 2016 season is very much in doubt. And according to some of the folks at the owner's meetings, it's very possible that Houston misses the upcoming campaign.
Speaking to people at NFL owners meetings, it's clear that Chiefs' LB Justin Houston's 2016 season is in jeopardy.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 22, 2016
Of course, six to 12 months is a big range and could mean just about anything for the Chiefs and Houston. But the only thing for certain at this point is that the Chiefs' chances for next year were dealt a blow with Burkholder's announcement.
Houston, 27, has proven a nearly unstoppable force when on the field and healthy. Through five NFL seasons he's amassed 264 tackles and 56.0 sacks. His career-high 22.0 sacks in the 2014 season were followed by a paltry, but still impressive, 7.5 sacks in just 11 games this past year.
Losing him for any amount of time will hurt the Chiefs, who have dealt with serious defensive issues often in recent years with Eric Berry's cancer scare and the dual Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito injuries.
Fortunately, the Chiefs do seem to have a ready replacement for Houston in former first round pick Dee Ford, though Ford's production to this point has been limited - 30 tackles, 5.5 sacks in two NFL seasons - and he's operated mostly as the understudy to Hali on the left side, not at Houston's spot on the right.
Still, the Chiefs have endured injuries before and it's likely they'll absorb this blow and keep coming. But the task for 2016 just got a whole lot bigger for Big Red and his team.
