The Kansas City Chiefs have made a move to create some salary cap space.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Chiefs have converted $12 million of Patrick Mahome’s 2023 roster bonus into a signing bonus. In doing so, the Chiefs have created $9.6 million in new salary cap space. They were tight against the salary cap after recent moves to sign Jawaan Taylor and Charles Omenihu, plus bringing back several restricted and exclusive rights free agents.
Mahomes was due nearly $35 million in roster bonus, so this wasn’t exactly a big conversion for Kansas City. It tacks on minimal cap hit and dead money in future years of Mahomes’ contract as a result.
The Chiefs have converted $12M of QB Patrick Mahomes’ 2023 roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating $9.6M in cap space, per source.
More flexibility for the champs throughout free agency. pic.twitter.com/lQZlD87acp
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 16, 2023
This doesn’t necessarily preclude a big move coming for the reigning Super Bowl champions. The team had to make a decision on Mahomes’ contract by the third day of the new league year (Friday, March 17) when the entire 2023 roster bonus would become fully guaranteed.
This puts the Chiefs somewhere around $10 million in cap space. They have other ways to potentially create more cap space, such as an extension for star DT Chris Jones. Considering they’ll want to continue to be active in free agency and will need money to sign their 2023 NFL draft class, plus money to operate during the season, expect more financial moves coming in the future.
