KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the Chiefs look to get under the salary cap in the coming days, they anticipate using quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract for assistance, a source told The Kansas City Star.
Mahomes’ contract permits the Chiefs to convert portions of his salary and roster bonuses into a signing bonus, which would free up significant cap space. The Chiefs can create $17 million with the move, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The move has not yet happened but is anticipated to take place before the NFL’s new league year starts on March 17, a source said.
Teams must drop below the reduced salary cap of $182.5 million by that date. If the Chiefs free up $17 million, they would not only be cap compliant, they would offer themselves room to be active — though still not overly aggressive — in free agency, which starts in conjunction with the new league year next week.
Before any such conversion, the Chiefs sit about $4 million over the cap, according to Spotrac and Over The Cap.
Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension last offseason worth up to $503 million. It’s not unusual for a high-priced contract to include language permitting the team to convert money to signing bonuses to create immediate cap space and divert money to future seasons. The Chiefs did it last year with Frank Clark, converting $5 million of his base salary to a signing bonus, prorating the cap hit over the remainder of his contract.
On Thursday, the Chiefs released offensive tackles Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, two transactions that cleared a combined $18 million in cap space. The Chiefs were previously projected to be more than $20 million over the salary cap, which was lowered this season due to the drop in revenue during the 2020 season.
