The Chiefs Have More Salary Cap Space Than Usual — What Will They Do With It?

Earlier in the offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs restructured the contract of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Later, after most of free agency had come and gone, they traded away franchise-tagged cornerback L'Jarius Sneed. Now, before signing their 2024 draft class, the Chiefs have over $15 million in salary cap space (16th in the NFL) according to Spotrac. What will the Chiefs do with that space? Albert Breer of SI gave his perspective on KC's next move — or lack thereof.

In a new mailbag on SI.com, Breer took a question about the Chiefs' cap space and what KC plans to do with the space, and Breer didn't exactly tell Chiefs fans to expect a splash signing.

"Their cap space is a moving target because of the restructures of Patrick Mahomes’s contract. They pushed more than $21 million into the future, and that eventually has to be accounted for," Breer wrote. "To simplify it, let’s say you have $200 to spend on your team today, and $220 to spend on it tomorrow. So on one player, you push $20 off to tomorrow. Now, on paper, it may look great that you have that extra $20 today. But you’ll still have to account for it tomorrow. So if you have the choice, with your team built, to take $20 off the top today to add to what you can spend tomorrow, would you do it? You probably would."

Pausing halfway through Breer's analysis, it's worth noting that the logic of Mahomes's pliable contract has been purposeful since he signed his original 10-year extension. And while Mahomes's moved money does need to be accounted for, his deal was restructured when the Chiefs were still carrying nearly $20 million in cap space to retain the rights of Sneed. Still, Breer is expecting the Chiefs to push their savings into the future.

"So that’s my convoluted way of saying the Chiefs probably take the money and roll it over," Breer said. "One thing that’s interesting, too, is that with Travis Kelce’s new deal—which essentially added $4 million this year, guaranteed his money, and added an early vesting date for next year’s guarantees—there are no void years. I’d look for the Chiefs to do more deals that way, to make it so Mahomes’s deal is the only one pushing money forward, which will allow them to build in a more sustainable way."