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Chiefs lineman Jawaan Taylor at a team practice.
When the Kansas City Chiefs signed offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million contract before the 2023 season, they made him at the time the NFL’s highest-paid right tackle. While several tackles have since surpassed Taylor’s contract, the signing showed the value the Chiefs placed on protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, shelling out $20 million per year that did not even go into protecting the future Hall of Famer’s blind side.
Three years and two Super Bowl appearances including a championship later, the Chiefs will reportedly dump Taylor sometime early this offseason, ridding themselves of $20 million on their books as well as saying goodbye to one of the most penalized players in the league.
Predicting Taylor’s release in a Monday report, Jesse Newell of The Athletic called the pending move “a formality at this point.”
“The Chiefs can save $20 million against the cap by cutting the oft-penalized Taylor, who seems destined for a change of scenery at age 28,” Newell wrote. “Kansas City also has a suitable replacement in-house. Jaylon Moore, who signed a two-year free-agent deal last offseason, can easily slide over to right tackle with 2025 first-rounder Josh Simmons securing the left side.”
Chiefs’ Most-Penalized Player
For a seven-year veteran, Taylor’s propensity to commit penalties along the offensive line has been frustrating for the Chiefs — and their fans. His 41 accepted penalties in the three years he has been with the Chiefs lead the team, and according to a Fox Sports analysis, “the Chiefs have invested draft picks in their line to get ahead of this.”
In 2025, his 13 total flags were tied for second-most in the NFL, and in 2024 Taylor accrued 19 flags, tied with the Houston Texans‘ Laremy Tunsil for most in the league. But both of those seasons were improvements from 2023, Taylor’s first season in Kansas City, when his 23 total penalties were easily the league’s most, topping his teammate L’Jarius Sneed in second place with 18.
Cap Hit Makes Taylor Cut a Near Certainty
After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and posting a 6-11 record for the first time in head coach Andy Reid’s 13-year tenure — and entering 2026 potentially without Mahomes for at least the start of the season after the three-time Super Bowl-winning QB tore his ACL in Week 15 — the Chiefs are in need of a deep rebuilding effort.
But going into the offseason $54.9 million over the salary cap, general manager Brett Veach will need to make some significant cuts to the balance sheet to make that possible.
With his $27.39 million cap hit, cutting Taylor would be the easiest and most obvious place to start. Only Mahomes and seven-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Chris Jones carry larger cap hits than Taylor, and neither of them will be going anywhere.
Making a move to dump Taylor’s contract even more attractive, only $7.39 million of his cap hit stays with the team as dead money if the 28-year-old former Florida Gator goes.
One of Taylor’s advantages had been his durability, at one point playing 3,000 consecutive snaps, as well as playing every available snap in Super Bowls 58 and 59.
But his claim to iron man status ended last season, when he went out with a knee injury in Week 12’s game against the Dallas Cowboys and missed the remainder of the season on injured reserve.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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