The Chiefs have been able to extend a multitude of important players this offseason, but how does the money look in the future years? We take a look at what you can expect going forward from a salary cap standpoint.
Any important catalyst you can think of for Kansas City’s run to a Super Bowl title is under contract through the 2021 season. Kudos to Brett Veach and his team to be able to get all of these extremely important pieces to remain Chiefs till then.
At some point though, the Chiefs will have to make some hard decisions regarding the cap. Starting next season, the Chiefs will begin the year over the salary cap. According to Spotrac.com they already have over $201 million going towards the cap and it puts them about 15% over the projected cap. Look for the front office to try and restructure some deals like they have done this past offseason with guys like Watkins and Okafor.
In the beginning of the 2022 season you have guys like Mitchell Schwartz and Tyrann Mathieu designated to become free agents. You have to think those are guys the Chiefs are going to want to keep given how significant of a role they play on the team.
According to Spotrac.com Kansas City still has room to work with in that year. They only have $143 million committed to the cap and that gives them approximately $43 million to work with before the year starts. It is also being reported that the NFL will have TV deals associated with Monday Night Football and other companies that are due in the coming years which could also inflate the cap. The Chiefs know this though given how they structured the Mahomes deal, you can see starting in year 2022 is when Mahomes starts getting more of his committed money.
Those new TV deals will also be crucial to the years after as well. Guys like Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman become free agents the next year. You can assume contracts will go up for these players because teams will have more cap to work with than ever before.
The Chiefs front office has already shown to be ahead of the curve when it comes to getting deals done, so don’t expect the Chiefs to let those guys ever get to the open market, expect them to get those deals done just like they have been doing this season.
The cap situation can seem a little worrisome if you are a Chiefs fan. The only issue could potentially be next year. The Chiefs are currently projected to be over the salary cap, but again, I think we can all put our trust in Brett Veach and the front office to make sure they Chiefs don’t get devastated with losing important pieces before that season starts.
Look for them to restructure current deals or maybe get some value for players on the trade market because let’s face it, draft picks are going to be very important going forward given the big deals the Chiefs have on the books. Being able to find good players through the draft and not having to pay them big money for at least four years will be extremely important for this team.
Again, don’t lose sleep over the cap situation. The Chiefs are set-up well and will continue to work around it and be a dominant team in this league for a multiple years to come.
