Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is helping the team in a big way with a contract restructure.
One of the major obstacles for the Kansas City Chiefs early in the offseason is money. General manager Brett Veach remains well over the salary cap with free agency less than a month away, which could make it quite difficult to add players to the roster.
Fortunately for the team, its best player is helping come to the rescue a bit. A new development with quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ contract is great news for the franchise.
Chiefs Restructure Patrick Mahomes’ Contract, Clear Significant Cap Space
Per a Wednesday report from Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, the Chiefs have restructured Mahomes’ deal. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed the news roughly an hour later.
“Chiefs restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract to open up just under $44M in cap space,” Fitzgerald’s tweet read.
Jason_OTC
Chiefs restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract to open up just under $44M in cap space
This move has a huge ripple effect on Kansas City’s cap situation. Per Schefter, the restructure lowers Mahomes’ 2026-27 cap hit from $78.2M down to $34.65M. That moves the organization $43.56M closer to breaking even — a massive chunk of change. The Chiefs remain an estimated $11.3M above the cap as of the publishing of this article.
Potential maneuvers to make more room are available. For example, releasing right tackle Jawaan Taylor ($20M in savings, $7.4M in dead money) and defensive end Mike Danna ($8.9M in savings, $2.2M in dead money) would be a nice start. Moving on from linebacker Drue Tranquill ($6M in savings, $1.5M in dead money) or restructuring deals of other in-house pieces are also potential avenues.
Per Over The Cap, Mahomes now carries a staggering $85.3M cap number for 2027-28. That comes with $89.5M in dead money and -$4.3M in savings if released (which obviously won’t happen). It’s this writer’s take that the cap hit is a non-issue; another restructure could take place a year from now, or a new deal could be constructed to help change the math in a good way.
This story is being updated.