There were two truly obvious moves for the Kansas City Chiefs coming into the dawn of a new league year in the National Football League. And neither one of them had to do with left tackle or any other potential roster addition.
While the Chiefs undoubtedly needed to address certain positions this offseason in free agency and the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, the Chiefs couldn't afford to do anything at all until they addressed their finances—or at least the amount of requisite salary cap space to conduct such business.
Fortunately, the Chiefs had some very good options when it came to freeing up the cap space required to bolster the roster. That led to the decision to restructure the long-term contracts of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and pass rusher Chris Jones.
Both players are on lengthy contracts for the Chiefs and are playing in their prime seasons, which made it clear to everyone in and around Arrowhead Stadium that the pair of contracts were easy targets for a restructure.
There are in-depth volumes written on the way the salary cap works, but a team is allowed to restructure a deal by converting salary or roster bonuses that goes against the cap in a given year into a signing bonus. A signing bonus is prorated over the life of a contract, so a team can basically kick the can down the road, financially speaking. The player will still receive all of that money over time, so these are generally no-fuss moves by front offices.
For the Chiefs, NFL reporter Field Yates says the level of restructures involved have freed up just shy of $50 million for the Chiefs going into the official start of free agency. That will allow agreed-upon deals with running back Elijah Mitchell, cornerback Kristian Fulton, and offensive tackle Jaylon Moore to become official.