Chiefs' updated cap space after restructuring Patrick Mahomes' contract originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Kansas City Chiefs have begun the process of digging out of the financial hole they find themselves in for 2026.
According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, the Chiefs restructured quarterback Patrick Mahomes' contract, which will free up a whopping $43.56 million in cap room.
The restructure lowers Mahomes' cap hit from $78.2 million to $34.65 million for this coming campaign. The Chiefs did this by converting $54.45 million of Mahomes' salary into a signing bonus.
This is the fourth time the Chiefs have restructured Mahomes' contract. The move will now lead to Mahomes' cap number rising by $10.89 million per year over the next four seasons.
While that's all well and good, the Chiefs still have some work to do.
Chiefs' updated cap space
Over The Cap now estimates Kansas City is $11.3 million over the cap, which is a far cry from the $54 million-plus the Chiefs were over before the restructure.
Kansas City still needs to clear more space, though, and not only to become cap compliant, but to also to free up money to make some moves and have funds to make it through the 2026 season.
More restructures could be coming, and we would fully expect some cuts to happen to get the Chiefs where they need to be.
Even with all that, Kansas City isn't likely to have a great cap space situation and the best approach for 2026 continues to be the Chiefs staying conservative and going through a transition year to set themselves up for a better financial future.
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