With the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in the books, the Kansas City Chiefs now have a better idea of where they stand heading into a crucial juncture of the offseason. They’ve met with the representation of their key free agents and will be working hard to retain some of their players ahead of the start of the free agency period on March 15. In order to do so, however, they’ll need to clear some salary cap space. They have a number of different options to create salary cap space, including extending current contracts and releasing players from their contracts as well. Another option is to restructure contracts, converting base salary and/or roster bonus into a signing bonus. They can use this method with a number of different contracts, but doing so isn’t always the best option for the team.
Below you’ll find a quick look at the contracts that the Chiefs can restructure, an estimate of the maximum amount of cap space that can be cleared and an outlook on the likelihood of a restructure happening this offseason:
QB Patrick Mahomes
Maximum: $33 million
Outlook: The more you play with Mahomes’ contract, the more you pay for it down the line. The Chiefs didn’t touch his contract last season, despite having the ability to do so and free more salary cap space. Converting his base salary and roster bonus to a signing bonus would mean that he’d have some massive salary cap hits in the coming years, providing less flexibility in the future. Knowing that you’ll likely have to sweeten this contract at some point due to the rising quarterback market in the NFL, it’s probably best that Kansas City leaves this be and finds cap space elsewhere for the foreseeable future. That said, they might not have much of a choice, but to dip into the bank of Mahomes. That’s especially true if they can’t lock up Orlando Brown Jr. on a long-term deal, extend Chris Jones and find a solution for Frank Clark’s contract.
LG Joe Thuney
Maximum: $9.2 million
Outlook: The Chiefs restructured Thuney’s contract last season to clear over $9 million in cap space. I tend to think they won’t restructure it again in order to give themselves the flexibility to move on from Thuney’s cap hit of $22.6 million in 2025. They can save $16 million against the cap with only $6 million in dead money if they cut him that year.
TE Travis Kelce
Maximum: $7.2 million
Outlook: Kelce is going to retire as a Chief, so kicking the can down the road some more probably isn’t the worst financial strategy for Kansas City. He restructured his contract in October of 2022 to help the team clear $3.4 million in cap space. That helped give the team the flexibility to go out and trade for Kadarius Toney at the deadline.
S Justin Reid
Maximum: $4 million
Outlook: Converting Reid’s $8.9 million base salary for 2023 might be a good option if you plan to keep him through the life of his contract. He has an out year in 2024 as things currently stand, but it’d be more difficult to cut him at that point with a restructure. It feels like they’re best leaving this one be.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Maximum: $3.9 million
Outlook: Restructuring Valdes-Scantling’s contract only increases the likelihood that you’re keeping him through the life of his deal. As things stand now, the Chiefs can create $12 million in salary cap space with only $2 million in dead money if they release Valdes-Scantling in 2024. It might be wise to leave this contract alone for now.
K Harrison Butker
Maximum: $1.2 million
Outlook: Even with his struggles this past year the Chiefs stood by Butker and I suspect that will remain the same in the future. This is a small restructure in terms of cap dollars, but it could be the likeliest for Kansas City to help them get under the cap by the mid-March deadline.
