The Kansas City Chiefs have a new contract in the books to account for over the next dozen years.
Star QB Patrick Mahomes signed a contract worth $503 million on Monday. It’s a contract number that left the entire sports world stunned, but the reality of the contract is that it’s shockingly team-friendly.
According to the folks at Over The Cap, the Chiefs have just over $6.2 million in cap space remaining for the 2020 season. That’s basically the same amount they had when we talked about why the team hasn’t yet signed their rookie class nearly a month ago.
Kansas City only added around $30,000 dollars in salary cap hit for the 2020 season with Mahomes’ new contract. That means they’ll still have enough money to sign their rookie class. They could possibly even come to an agreement with Chris Jones in the next eight days.
What makes an extension possible for Jones is the money that is freed up over the next several years. Things might still be tight this year, but if they can get him to agree to a number similar to what he’d earn under the franchise tag, it’s not out of the question.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what the Chiefs’ salary cap space currently looks like through 2024 according to Over The Cap.
| Year | Salary Cap Space |
| 2020 | $6,222,787 |
| 2021 | $35,029,709 |
| 2022 | $107,800,961 |
| 2023 | $166,350,000 |
| 2024 | $212,210,000 |
With these numbers and the added flexibility in Mahomes’ extension — the ability to convert salary to signing bonus in future years — this team will have more than ample cap space to keep a full supporting cast around Mahomes. They’ll still have to choose wisely with who they retain and release. They’ll still have to draft well. But this contract hardly puts Kansas City into salary cap trouble for the future as many claimed when they saw the total value of Mahomes’ contract.
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