Chiefs' salary cap situation for the 2025 NFL season looks dire on the surface, but Brett Veach has several different ways to fix it

The NFL is set to have an expected salary cap of $272.5 million for the 2025 NFL season. 

The Kansas City Chiefs ' salary cap situation looks rather dire on the surface until you look at the different things the team can do to create cap space. With 50 players currently under contract for the 2025 NFL season, Over The Cap estimates K.C. is about $916K over the cap. The team must be cap-compliant for the top 51 salaries in 2025 by March 12, when the new league year begins. So, no rest for the weary after the loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. Chiefs GM Brett Veach has some work to do to achieve this.

Looks can be deceiving in the NFL, especially regarding the salary cap. With a few strokes of a pen, Kansas City won't just find themselves compliant, but they'll find themselves with more salary cap space than half of the NFL. 

How does Brett Veach get them there? Let's start with a move that we already know they'll make. . .  

Simple conversion of QB Patrick Mahomes' contract

The Chiefs do this yearly with Mahomes' contract, converting salary to a prorated signing bonus spread evenly throughout the remainder of the deal. This is one of the benefits of his contract structure, allowing the team to create a bit of a piggy bank each year. The team can make roughly $20M in cap space this year from Mahomes' contract alone, and they don't need permission for such a conversion. Last season, they did the same thing with Mahomes' contract on March 12.

Extension for LG Joe Thuney

Thuney has proven to be an All-Pro left guard, and he's proven to be a decent left tackle when the team is in a pinch. Extending him for a couple of years to soften his nearly $27M cap hit in 2025 should be a no-brainer for Kansas City. You could save nearly $12M in cap space with an extension for Thuney in 2025. 

Travis Kelce's retirement also plays a role

One of the biggest storylines for Kansas City this offseason is Travis Kelce's future. If Kelce retires before March 15, he'll save the Chiefs $17.25M for the 2025 NFL season. If Kelce doesn't retire, K.C. will almost certainly look to extend his contract to lower his $19M cap hit for 2025. What exactly would that look like, and how much would they lower his cap hit? That all depends on the role that they sell him on. 

Four other contracts the Chiefs can restructure to create cap space

Chris Jones: You signed him to the big contract, so you might as well kick the can further down the road. You can save up to $20M in restructures, but the Chiefs will likely be more frugal here. 

Jawaan Taylor: This one would cause me some pause. Taylor will be in Kansas City in 2025, given his contract. But restructuring him would almost be like committing to him again in 2026. You could, however, create $9.5M in cap space. 

Creed Humphrey: A simple restructure of Humphrey's new contract could lead to $4.5M in cap space for Kansas City. 

Drue Tranquill: If the Chiefs intend for Tranquill to play out his contract, they can get $2.9M in cap space for 2025 with a restructure.