General manager Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs are using inventive methods to create salary cap room as the offseason progresses. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes provides the help this time. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Kansas City is renegotiating Mahomes’s deal. They will receive $21.6 million in cap relief in the process. Mahomes had a $9.85 million base salary for the 2024 league season before the reorganization. Along with that amount, there was a $34.9 million roster bonus, a $12.86 million prorated signing bonus, and a $58.6 million cap. Mahomes received more money from Kansas City last year as part of a “restructured his agreement” that covered the 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 seasons. I discussed the advantages of the updated Mahomes contract for both parties back in September on Arrowhead Report: Overall, the Chiefs are paying tribute to their standout quarterback with this. Having said that, there is a significant benefit for the team as well. Mahomes will receive a larger salary up front, and it is still anticipated that he will play with the Chiefs for many years to come. (The parties might just work out a fresh extension for 2026.) The roster bonus deadline was pushed back a few months, which gives Kansas City greater flexibility and clarity when making offseason decisions. This is just another example of how Veach and his staff have been inventive with their contract structuring lately, which also includes defensive tackle Chris Jones’s arrangement. Prior to the announcement of Mahomes’s restructuring, different projections of Kansas City’s cap space were available. Not everyone shared the optimistic view that the squad would make it through to the opening of the new league season on Wednesday. Both OverTheCap and Spotrac, salary cap websites, showed the Chiefs negatively. The resurgent winners don’t seem to be having any issues with Wednesday’s 4:00 p.m. ET deadline now that they have extra payroll room.
