At 3:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, the NFL’s trade deadline will come to pass. It’s not yet clear if the Kansas City Chiefs intend to make a trade, but if they do decide to acquire a player, the salary cap shouldn’t be a problem.
According to the NFLPA’s public salary cap report, the Chiefs have just over $5.8 million in salary-cap space for the 2020 season. That’s the updated number after the recent signing of former New York Jets RB Le’Veon Bell. If the Chiefs are considering trading for a player on a long-term deal or one-year rental type of contract, they’ll need to keep that $5.8 million in mind.
Trading for a player on a long-term deal could be very prohibitive for Kansas City. Recent projections from the folks at Over The Cap have the Chiefs at $13.1 million over the 2021 salary cap floor of $176 million. The team has a number of different ways to get under the salary cap in 2021. However, adding more money to their current deficit could make re-signing some of their own free agents in 2021 a tricky ordeal.
There are two best-case scenario options for GM Brett Veach if he intends to make a trade. The first would be to add a player on a one-year rental type of contract for the second half of the season. This wouldn’t impact the 2021 salary cap, other than the amount of money the team would be able to roll over into the 2021 season. One option that’d fall under this category would be trading for former Chiefs TE Blake Bell, who is currently with the Dallas Cowboys.
The other best-case scenario would be to add a player who is still on their rookie contract, especially if it was someone drafted in the second round or beyond. Those contracts wouldn’t add much in terms of salary cap hit in 2021 and could prove crucial to a Kansas City team that is set to have a number of free agents next season.
