The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have a lot of salary cap space to make moves heading into training camp. Brett Veach has several ways to change that, but one NFL Insider says the team hasn’t really been in “spend mode.”
Jul 22, 2025; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach walks down the hill to the fields during training camp at Missouri Western State University.
Denny Medley-Imagn Images
The Kansas City Chiefs will soon head to St. Joseph, Missouri, at Missouri Western State University for their 2026 NFL training camp. If general manager Brett Veach aims to improve the 90-man offseason roster heading into training camp, he’ll have some work to do regarding the salary cap.
You might recall that the Chiefs restructured DE George Karlaftis’s contract back in May. Those funds were used to pay for the contracts of rookies, CB Mansoor Delane and DT Peter Woods. They had enough funds leftover to reunite with CB L’Jarius Sneed. After that, the team signed QB Patrick Mahomes to a contract extension. However, that deal didn’t clear any new salary cap dollars for 2026.
According to the folks at OverTheCap, the Chiefs have $4,119,901 in salary cap dollars with rookies and QBs slated to report to training camp this week. That’s typically around the amount the team carries into the season for procedural moves. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t create more, though. In fact, Veach still has plenty of ways to create salary cap space. The big question is whether he actually will do so.
How can the Chiefs create more salary cap space?
The Chiefs can still create more salary cap space through simple restructures of several players. The big thing about these contract restructures is that it only makes players more expensive for the team down the line. If there’s even a slight chance you could move on from a player in 2027, the team is unlikely to pursue a restructure.
Contract restructure moves the Chiefs have available to them
Remember, NFL teams can restructure a portion of a contract. They’re not required to restructure the full contract amount.
Chris Jones – up to $22m
Trey Smith – up to $12.5m
Creed Humphrey – up to $8.8m
Nick Bolton – up to $6.8m
Harrison Butker – up to $3.7m
Noah Gray – up to $1.8m
From my view, Humphrey and Smith are the most likely restructuring candidates. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Chiefs pursue a reworked deal with Noah Gray, just like they did with LB Drue Tranquill.
The Chiefs can also cut players to create salary cap space. They’d incur dead money costs in that scenario. They’re on the books for practically $10M in dead money already after releasing RT Jawaan Taylor and DE Mike Danna.
Gray, Kristian Fulton, and Chamarri Conner are cut candidates, but Fulton seems like the most realistic one of the bunch. They’d also be better off if they found a trade partner for Fulton, especially with a few teams around the NFL needing cornerbacks (Dolphins, Patriots, and Lions, to name a few).
NFL Insider says Chiefs are not in ‘spend mode’
Jeremy Fowler recently joined his ESPN colleague John Keim to discuss the Washington Commanders. They spoke about several free-agent wide receivers, and the Chiefs came up because of that. When they spoke about WR Stefon Diggs, Fowler could see the fit. However, he doesn’t see them as a team eager to spend right now.
“Kansas City makes some sense,” Fowler said. “It would be a fit and, you know, they could use an extra body, but Kansas City hasn’t really been in spend mode, so I don’t know that they want to do that and go that route. You know, we’ll see. And they just gave Patrick Mahomes more money, but that would be a fit for me…”
Fowler also mentioned Baltimore and, of course, Washington as a potential fit for Diggs. The Ravens have often been in on the veteran wide receiver market in recent years, and they’re a clear competitor alongside Kansas City in the AFC.
The bottom line is that the Chiefs can create salary cap space and improve their roster. Whether they’re actually interested in doing that at this juncture is an entirely different story. It’s a story that will likely be informed by the early goings of training camp and the team’s performance during the preseason. That could provide Veach with the information he needs about the team’s strengths and weaknesses, at which point he can pursue a free agent or trade.
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