KC Chiefs should benefit greatly from NFL’s salary cap jump

A rising tide raises all boats, goes the saying, but that doesn’t mean everyone is helped equally. The same is true of the news that leaked on Sunday saying the salary cap threshold for the National Football League would be rising by well over $25 million in 2022—while everyone benefits from more spending, the K.C. Chiefs, in particular, are going to benefit greatly.

According to a report from Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport, the league and its Players Association agreed to a maximum cap height of $208 million in the midst of COVID negotiations (to keep owners spending money in the midst of lowered revenue) to keep things moving forward. One year later, spending is “expected to reach the $208.2 million maximum.”

What does this mean for the Chiefs? Think for a second about just how big of a leap that represents. The Chiefs are facing a looming decision of what to do with Frank Clark‘s monstrous cap hit of just over $26 million next season (and beyond) and now the NFL announces a leap in spending by nearly that exact same size. That’s not to say that Clark will stay at that price and it’s over and done. Rather, it puts the leap in perspective—that each team is getting to add a Frank Clark-sized cap hit on the books.

The NFL’s salary cap is going to leap by $25 million-plus which means the K.C. Chiefs should benefit greatly.

Every team will get this sort of boost, which means that spending on free agency will reach new heights. That might not help the Chiefs so much, but they have their own matters to attend to. Suddenly, extensions for safety Tyrann Mathieu and Orlando Brown Jr. are easier to achieve (not that they were going to be a massive stretch as it was). There’s now some wiggle room with Clark in terms of a potential renegotiation (if parties are amenable).

Beyond being able to lock up the team’s best players, there are also might be some money for a middle class in K.C. Without a significant leap, it was likely that the Chiefs would be forced to watch non-elite players in contract seasons leave at year’s end. Now it’s possible they could re-sign the likes of Derrick Nnadi and/or Charvarius Ward instead of watching them head for greener pastures. It’s also true that spending, in general, will go up, and perhaps the bidding will be too high for guys like Nnadi or Ward because teams are flush with cash to spend.

But here’s the primary thing: if the cap were lower, then a winning team like the Chiefs would be forced to make tough decisions about who to let go and how best to move forward. With a higher cap ceiling at this very point, especially with this kind of leap, the Chiefs’ competitive edge is maintained as they can control and keep their own.

Yes everyone is helped but the Chiefs can operate with more freedom than before, which is not how their rivals wanted things to work out.