KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs and wide receiver Sammy Watkins have agreed on a restructured one-year contract that gives the franchise much-needed salary cap relief, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs do not disclose contract details, said Watkins will make $9 million in base salary but that incentives could drive the total package to $16 million. More important for the club, the deal will give the Chiefs about $5 million in salary cap savings ahead of the NFL draft.

Yahoo Sports was first to report the agreement between the Chiefs and Watkins.

Watkins was headed into the final year of a $48 million, three-year contract, and he was scheduled to make $13.7 million in base salary and count a prohibitive $21 million against the cap. That made him an immediate candidate to either restructure his contract or be released, and the Chiefs were able to make the numbers work to keep him in the fold.

That is especially important given the uncertainty of the league schedule because of the coronavirus. The Chiefs have been trying to keep the vast majority of their Super Bowl-winning roster intact under the assumption that most – if not all – of the offseason will be wiped out as the nation deals with the medical crisis. That would mean only a handful of players would be forced to learn their system in a compressed period before the start of the season.

Before the deal with Watkins, the Chiefs had the lowest amount of money under the salary cap in the league. That meant they had to free up money just to ensure they could sign their draft class, which typically takes about $5 million.

They already had reworked part of defensive end Frank Clark’s deal to save another $5 million against the salary cap.

The big knock on Watkins throughout his career has been his health, and he’s missed plenty of games over two seasons in Kansas City. But he’s also been an effective complement to wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce when he’s been healthy, catching 92 passes for 1,192 yards and six touchdowns over the course of 24 games.

His value was never more apparent than during the Super Bowl run. Watkins caught two passes for 76 yards in the Chiefs’ comeback win over Houston, had seven catches for 114 yards and a score in the AFC title game against Tennessee, then caught five passes for 98 yards as his team rallied in the fourth quarter to beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl.

BEARS: Chicago declared the quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky and newcomer Nick Foles an open one.

General Manager Ryan Pace made that clear during a conference call, saying both players are “embracing” the battle that will play out whenever offseason workouts begin.

Coach Matt Nagy stressed that Trubisky will be the first quarterback on the field whenever practices begin, But he planned to give Trubisky and Foles equal time with the starters. He also said both will play in the preseason as part of the evaluation.

“It’s going to be equal and we as coaches need to make sure we do the right thing in regard to equal reps, and make sure they’re playing with similar or the same players on offense and going against the same players on defense,” Nagy said. “There will be some juggling that we’ll have to do. It might be a little different at times on how we do it and how we get to it. But I can promise you this: It’s going to be completely fair, it’s going to be extremely competitive in a good way. It’s going to be a healthy competitiveness.”

Pace largely staked his reputation to Trubisky when he traded up a spot with San Francisco to draft him with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017. The results have been mixed.

Trubisky was selected to replace Jared Goff in the Pro Bowl after his second season. But instead of taking another big step forward last year, he struggled as the Bears stumbled to an 8-8 record and missed the playoffs after winning the NFC North at 12-4 in 2018.

LIONS: Detroit agreed to terms with free-agent cornerback Darryl Roberts.

Roberts spent the past four seasons with the New York Jets. Like many of Detroit’s recent acquisitions, he also has ties to the New England Patriots.

Roberts has started 10 games in each of the past two seasons. He joins a Detroit secondary that is moving on without star cornerback Darius Slay, who was traded to Philadelphia last month. The Lions also acquired cornerback Desmond Trufant this offseason.

Roberts was drafted in the seventh round by New England in 2015, but he did not make his debut in a regular-season game until the following year with the Jets. Lions Coach Matt Patricia, now entering his third season with Detroit, was the defensive coordinator for the Patriots before coming to the Lions.

49ERS: Wide receiver Travis Benjamin and offensive lineman Tom Compton signed one-year deals with the NFC champions.

Benjamin is a ninth-year pro who has caught 19 touchdown passes and returned four punts for scores in his eight NFL seasons with the Browns (2012-15) and Chargers (2016-19). His 2019 season was cut short by a thigh injury.

Also a ninth-year pro, Compton is joining his sixth team in the last six seasons. After playing for Washington from 2012-15, Compton played for the Falcons (2016), Bears (2017), Vikings (2018) and Jets (2019).

Compton has played in 101 career games, including 14 for the Jets, five of them starts.

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