With the 2025 league year beginning at 3:00 CST, the Kansas City Chiefs and the other 31 NFL teams had to get under the salary cap ceiling. In the Chiefs’ case, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones created much-needed space for Kansas City.
The NFL Salary Cap is the measuring line in the sand that every team has to dance on each day in building competitive rosters. The Kansas City Chiefs were over the cap as the day started, but two stars came to the rescue afterward.
Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones both restructured their contracts, giving General Manager Brett Veach an additional $49.4M in cap space. After tendering Linebacker Jack Cochrane and Cornerback Nazeeh Johnson, the Chiefs opened the league year with roughly $28.4M in cap space.
Now, before we jump up and down with glee, the cap does not include Nick Bolton’s contracts, and free agents Defensive lineman Malik Herring, Running Back Elijah Mitchell and Cornerback Kristian Fulton will eventually eat some of that cap space.
Add those 2025 salaries, and the Chiefs will need roughly $9.5M for their new draft class. So, that doesn’t leave much room for Veach to sign more players.
However, he could work out a long-term deal with Trey Smith, who signed his franchise tag last week. Currently, he’s counting $23.4M against the cap, and an extension would lower that number.
The two sides will eventually reach a deal, but when is the big question? If the Chiefs have opportunities to retain some of their other free agents or pluck one from another team, I expect Veach will push to get Smith extended.
The Chiefs are bringing in their free-agent class to get a physical and sign their new contracts. They have been rumored to be interested in other players and could bring them through the weekend.
It remains to be seen how Veach will handle the rest of free agency, but it got off to a hot start by signing left tackle Jaylon Moore. Kansas City is banking on Moore to solve their left tackle spot for the next two years.
