The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly preparing to bid farewell to two-time Super Bowl champion Tershawn Wharton due to the team's ongoing salary cap woes. The 26-year-old defensive tackle is poised to enter free agency in a matter of months, and it seems unlikely that the Chiefs will be able to persuade him to stay.
Wharton, who notched up 8.5 sacks last season in what was a breakout year for him, has become an integral part of the Chiefs' defence. Despite head coach Andy Reid's probable desire to retain him for next season to bolster his squad for a fourth consecutive Super Bowl run, if Wharton enters free agency, he is expected to attract interest from numerous teams looking to beef up their defence.
However, regardless of Reid's sentiments, it appears the Chiefs may not have the financial capacity to keep him. At present, Kansas City is $2 million over the salary cap and urgently needs to make some adjustments to restructure the team.
It's evident that the Chiefs are striving to rectify the salary cap problems they inherited from the previous season. Last season, Kansas City finished a staggering $16.9 million over the salary cap and promptly began making changes.
On Wednesday night, the team traded All-Pro left guard Joe Thunk to the Chicago Bears for minimal compensation - a fourth-round draft pick in next year's NFL Draft.
The Chiefs have made a significant saving by avoiding Thuney's 2025 salary of $15.5 million, not to mention a $500,000 workout bonus. However, they will carry over $11 million in dead money, which comes from $3.4 million in a signing bonus proration and $7.6 million in restructure proration.
Despite this, the Chiefs are now only $2 million over the salary cap, meaning that while things may seem grim at Arrowhead, they are not as dire as before Wednesday's trade. The Chiefs will have a salary cap of $960,000 from McKade Mettauer's contract.
With less than two weeks to go before the new league year officially begins, Kansas City has until the afternoon of March 12 to get under the cap and negotiate more trades.
This article originally appeared on Mirror US