As things stand at the conclusion of the 2025 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ salary cap situation for next season looks to be a significant concern. A few months from now, that might not be the case at all.

With just 44 players currently under contract for the 2026 NFL season, Over The Cap estimates K.C. is about $52.7 million over a projected $295.5 million salary cap. Spotrac estimates that they’re $43.7 million over the salary cap. Either way, that’s good for 32nd in the league.

Chiefs GM Brett Veach must get the team salary-cap-compliant for the top 51 salaries in 2026 by March 11, when the new league year begins. Looks can be deceiving when it comes to the NFL’s salary cap, though. With just a few strokes of a pen, Kansas City won’t just find themselves compliant, but they’ll find themselves with more salary cap space than several other clubs across the league.

Chiefs RT Jawaan Taylor among several cut candidates

The most significant cap savings the Chiefs can get from a single cut in 2026 is to release starting RT Jawaan Taylor. He has the third-highest cap hit on the team next season behind Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones. He’d go on the books for over $7 million in dead money, but yield $20 million in salary cap savings. With Jaylon Moore also under contract for the 2026 NFL season, the promising play of both Esa Pole and Chu Godrick, and Taylor’s inability to overcome his pre-snap penalty problems in Kansas City, this one feels like it’s written in chalk.

Next up is Chiefs DE Mike Danna, who has the eighth-highest salary cap hit on the team next season. Releasing him would save you $9 million in salary cap space. His production in 2025 doesn’t justify the cost, and you don’t need much more justification than that.

One who could be hard for Kansas City to land is LB Drue Tranquill. He actually has the seventh-highest salary cap number on the team in 2026. Releasing him would cost $1.5 million in dead money, but save $6 million in salary cap space. With a young player like Jeffrey Bassa waiting in the wings to take over as a weakside linebacker, it’s one you may have to consider.

Chiefs CB Kristian Fulton is another name to watch here. It doesn’t feel quite as likely after his performances in Week 17 vs. the Broncos and in Week 18 vs. the Raiders, but if the Chiefs were to re-sign a pending free agent like Jaylen Watson, it might make Fulton expendable. He can save $5 million in cap space if he were to be released.

Several Chiefs stars among contract restructure candidates

The Chiefs have a few different routes to pursue with contract restructures that could help them get out of the red on their 2026 salary cap space. You could save $58.3 million with these moves alone. Typically, the unwritten rule is that you don’t want to restructure contracts that you intend to move off of because you’re simply guaranteeing more dead money down the line.

Smith, Humphrey, Karlaftis, and Bolton are almost certainly locks to stick around. Still, the Chiefs can realistically get out of Jones’ contract in 2027 with over $18 million in cap savings (and $19.5M in dead money) if you were to cut or trade the star defensive tackle. It’s something you’ve got to think about if you’re Brett Veach, given Jones’ dip in production and mental mistakes in 2025.

What will the Chiefs do with Patrick Mahomes’ contract?

Previously, I expected that the Chiefs would rip up QB Patrick Mahomes’ contract in 2026 and give him a new deal. Now that he’s suffered a significant knee injury, I’m not so sure what that might look like for No. 15, who remains under contract through 2031. Typically, they restructure a portion of his contract to create salary cap space, and that remains an option this year by turning some of his $45.3 million base salary into a signing bonus. I’d wager that’s the route they go this year, but they might want to keep that number on the lower side this season.

A Trent McDuffie trade or extension could free up salary cap space in 2026

Trent McDuffie is on the books for a fully guaranteed $13.6 million in 2026 due to his fifth-year option. If the Chiefs plan on keeping McDuffie beyond the 2026 NFL season, extending him could lower his salary cap hit next season if they were to rip up the fifth-year option year. That’s pretty rare among teams that are using the fifth-year option because, in most cases, they’d actually have to pay more for a single year. A trade, on the other hand, would wipe McDuffie’s $13.6 million off the books entirely and likely net a pair of high draft picks in return.

Kansas City Chiefs News

Kansas City Chiefs do one player a solid with the season now over — and Brett Veach begins building for the future

A gesture of gratitude to Shane Buechele from the Chiefs, plus four practice squad players signed to reserve/future contracts.

Charles Goldman