Getty Images Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (left) and head coach Andy Reid (right)
The Kansas City Chiefs have been relatively quiet on the free agency front throughout the first two days of the league’s legal tampering period. Entering the offseason, the defending Super Bowl champions faced an uphill battle with two dozen impending free agents. With a number of transactions this week, including placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on DT Chris Jones and exercising club options on RB Damien Williams and LB Damien Wilson, the front office has put a dent in that total.
As a result, general manager Brett Veach and company now find themselves in a financial hole after beginning the process with approximately $13 million. Per Over the Cap, the Chiefs are one-of-three franchises in the red in terms of salary cap space.
The #Chiefs are currently over the salary cap by $6.4M, according to Over The Cap. The most of any team.
All teams must be cap compliant by 4 p.m. ET tomorrow.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers (-$3.9 million) and Baltimore Ravens (-$1.8 million) are the only other teams who find themselves in the negative with Kansas City as of this writing, per Over The Cap. However, it is worth noting that Spotrac’s cap tracker paints a less bleak outlook, with the Chiefs actually listed at $409K above the cap threshold and the Steelers as the only team over the limit (-$4.6 million).
To remain in accordance with the Top 51 rule, Kansas City must drop a significant amount of cash before 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday when the NFL turns the page to the new 2020-21 league year. This rule states that only a franchise’s 51 most expensive players will apply towards the current salary cap total prior to final cutdowns ahead of the regular season.
With that in mind, the team is expected to take action on one or more of their top players today, including WR Sammy Watkins and G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Speculation has long surrounded the pair, who account for two of the Chiefs’ largest cap hits in 2020 at $21 million and $8.9 million, respectively.
Another player who could help provide the team with some financial relief is DE Frank Clark. Entering the second season of his five-year, $104 million deal, the 26-year-old Pro Bowler is the owner of the team’s single most expensive contract and cap hit. Clark absolutely earned his pay with 8.0 sacks and 12 tackles for loss while playing through multiple ailments in 2019, but remains a logical candidate to approach for a restructure.
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