On Tuesday morning, the Kansas City Chiefs created $49.5 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
On Tuesday afternoon — shortly before the NFL’s 2025 league year was due to begin — the team gained another $4.5 million in cap space when the NFL Players Association released its annual salary cap adjustment figures for all of the league’s teams.
These figures are based on adjustments to the 2025 cap because of likely-to-be-earned (LTBE) contract amounts that were not earned in 2024, along with not-likely-to-be-earned (NLTBE) amounts that were earned last season, insurance repayments and so on. When totaled, these figures can either add or subtract from a team’s cap space as the year begins.
The San Francisco 49ers led the league by gaining $12.2 million in cap space from 2025 adjustments, while the Buffalo Bills ranked last by losing $7.4 million.
A year ago, the Chiefs lost $4.1 million in cap space from these adjustments.
We now estimate that the team has between $9.1 million and $14.2 million in salary cap space — probably about $11.9 million.