Chiefs restructure Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones deals to make salary cap room | Report
The Kansas City Chiefs have restructured the contracts of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones to clear up $49.446 million in cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Those transactions were necessary, as KC had to get under the NFL salary cap of $279.2 million before the new NFL year started at 3 p.m. Central on Wednesday. Before the Mahomes and Jones moves, the Chiefs remained about $19.8 million over budget, according to OverTheCap.com.
Mahomes, according to OverTheCap, will have a cap number of $28.06 million in 2025. That now jumps to $78.2 million in 2026 without any further maneuvering.
Similarly, Jones will count $23.6 million against the cap in 2025 before seeing that number jump to $44.9 million in 2026 if it’s not restructured again.
Jason Fitzgerald at Over The Cap estimates that Mahomes’ cap number, after Wednesday’s restructure, will now rise by $9.59 million in each future year of his contract. Jones’ cap number, meanwhile, will go up by $3.75 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Despite a tight cap situation, the Chiefs remained aggressive in free agency and with retaining their own guys. KC picked up the $23.4 million franchise tag on right guard Trey Smith and also recently re-signed linebacker Nick Bolton and receiver Hollywood Brown.
In separate two-year deals, the Chiefs also brought on a new left tackle (Jaylon Moore) and cornerback (Kristian Fulton).
The Chiefs are currently $29.5 million under the cap, via OverTheCap’s projections, but that doesn’t yet include new contracts for Bolton, Fulton, running back Elijah Mitchell and tight end Robert Tonyan.
