Sammy Watkins has threatened to sit out next season, but one Chiefs reporter believes the wide receiver will end up taking a pay cut with Kansas City.
Watkins said in late January that he might sit out the season if the Chiefs ended up winning the Super Bowl, which they did.
“Not retiring, but I might just want to rest up and chill. I don’t know. I don’t want to say I’m going to do something, but you never know. I might want to go somewhere else and create another Super Bowl team. So it’s just all about how I’m feeling. I’ve got to sit down with my family, my parents and grandparents and everybody and just see what I want to do,” Watkins said on January 30.
The former No. 4 pick is entering the final season of a 3-year, $48 million deal he signed with Kansas City two years ago. He is set to make $14 million in 2020 with a $21 million cap hit. He can be cut this offseason for $7 million in dead cap money.
Nate Taylor, who covers the Chiefs for The Athletic, said on Sports Radio 810’s “Almost Entirely Sports” Wednesday that he thinks Watkins will take a pay cut to return to the Chiefs.
Really excellent insight by @ByNateTaylor on AES tonight:
Unless another team blows away Sammy Watkins’ agent with an offer this offseason, “Sammy Watkins will probably prefer to figure out a simplified way to stay at least one more year, to be a part of the repeat.”
— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) February 27, 2020
Chiefs GM Brett Veach indicated this week that the two sides would talk about a pay cut.
Watkins had 52 catches 673 yards and three touchdowns last season. He was big in the postseason with 14 catches for 288 and a touchdown, but he’s not dominating like someone who deserves $14 million.
