The Kansas City Chiefs had a nightmare season in 2025. The Chiefs saw thier nine years of dominance over the AFC West come to an end, with the Denver Broncos winning the division, and failed to reach the playoffs.
Making matters worse, Kansas City lost its star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, to an ACL injury late in the campaign, and his availability could be affected for the start of next season.
In the wake of Mahomes’ injury, the Chiefs are changing their mind on how to proceed with his contract situation.
“The Kansas City Chiefs restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract this week, lowering his salary cap number from $78.2 to $34.65 million for the upcoming season and creating $43.56 million in salary cap space,” tweeted ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Kansas City Chiefs restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract this week, lowering his salary cap number from $78.2 to $34.65 million for the upcoming season and creating $43.56 million in salary cap space, as @Jason_OTC reported. pic.twitter.com/2MShU1GAmq
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2026
Fans reacted to the news on social media.
“Mahomes just gifted the Chiefs another $43M cheat code and y’all still think the dynasty ends soon? This man is single handedly salary cap maxxing the league into irrelevance,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Nice strategic move by the Chiefs! More cap space means they can chase top talent or lock in key players. Mahomes still gets paid,” another fan added.
“Patrick Mahomes isn’t just playing QB—he’s playing 4D chess with the salary cap,” someone else added.
It’ll be interesting to see how this move impacts the Chiefs in the years to come.