National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell made an announcement on Wednesday that likely came as very welcome news to every franchise—some more so than others—stating that the league’s salary cap could be as high as $208.2 million in 2022.
For the last year, NFL teams have made serious roster concessions to get under this year’s deflated salary cap total of $182.5 million—a much lower total than the 2019 season that sunk due to the financial losses brought about by a global pandemic. Many teams were forced to make difficult decisions, including the Kansas City Chiefs, and some veterans have been forced to either take pay cuts. Others have been released to save money and, subsequently, have had a hard time finding work.
For the Chiefs, the potential increase of up to nearly $25 million comes at an ideal time in which salary cap hits are going to seriously escalate for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is only going to get much more expensive as the years go on, but he’s hardly the only big ticket item in town. In fact, his contract is rather palatable knowing the team can kick some of that money down the road through signing bonuses.
The KC Chiefs will greatly benefit from a salary cap increase.
Defensive tackle Chris Jones will see his cap hit escalate by more than a whopping $20 million alone—from over $8M in ’21 to over $29M in ’22. Speaking of defensive linemen, Frank Clark will see his cap hit rise from over $19M this season to over $25M in ’22—an increase of $6.5M. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill will see an increase of $5 million next season in terms of cap hit, and Joe Thuney’s deal will hit the big money after postponing it a bit in ’21 at more than $17M in ’22.
That’s not to say the Chiefs can’t make room. The additional cap space is enough to handle Frank Clark on its own, and the Chiefs will likely want to extend Hill for a few more years, which will lessen the immediate financial impact. In addition, if the team wants to part ways with linebacker Anthony Hitchens, it would free up significant space as well.
However the Chiefs will likely need to pony up for a Tyrann Mathieu extension and Orlando Brown is also in line for a big pay raise. Travis Kelce is also around and in need of enough space himself, which means the Chiefs are going to significant appreciate that extra $24-25M to work with next season.