Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach has begun his work to get the salary cap in order ahead of the start of the 2022 league year and his first cost-cutting move was an expected one.
The Chiefs released LB Anthony Hitchens, who was in the final year of a five-year contract worth $45 million. The move saved the team $8.4 million in salary-cap space while only costing them $4.2 million in dead money.
According to the latest projections from Over The Cap, the Chiefs are expected to have around $11.2 million in salary-cap space to start the 2022 NFL offseason. That’s actually less than the Chiefs were projected to have at the beginning of February, but remember the NFL still needed to audit postseason bonuses on rollover money and the team added several reserve/future contracts since.
The Chiefs still have a number of cost-cutting moves to make, including simple restructures to the contracts of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. An extension of Tyreek Hill could help them push some money from 2022 out into the future. They also have a decision to make on Frank Clark, who could save the team anywhere from $12.7 million to $19.5 million depending on whether he’s released outright or designated a post-June 1 release. Basically, this is only the beginning for the front office when it comes to freeing up salary-cap space.
Kansas City will need to make some of those moves rather quickly, though. The team will need around $16.5 million in cap space available in order to place the franchise tag on Orlando Brown Jr. in the coming weeks. They’ll also need to be under the salary cap by March 16th, when the new league year officially begins.
