Pretty sure you need like 3-4 years of history with a team before they can offer a NTC, this would only be his second year there. He’s also not good enough to command an NTC
He's only been there 1 year, need 3 for full bird rights. I'm pretty sure the cap hold is the previous years contract plus 20 or 25% (whichever early bird allows for) so bringing back KCP at 12 instead of 23 will create cap space
I'm guessing he would have made more had he signed a 2+1 opt'd out and signed a max, or maybe he would have only been able to extend for 4 years after that? IDK gonna need Bosox to run the numbers