Mahomes restructures, opens up massive cap space for kc

[machine gun kelly]

Restructuring isn’t up to the player.  The team can restructure whenever they want converting salary to signing bonus and smoothing out the hit and even extend which would require approval from the okayed in that circumstance and agent.

 

Mahomes had nothing to do with it. I do expect us to do the same with the players we want to keep and are in the future.  Allen is definitely there.  If they restructure others, that means they are here for whatever years.  It’s been this way forever.

[BeyondTheProcess]

in the next CBA , the league and players should really fix this fiction of amortizing a "one time bonus" over the life of the contract.   The abuse created by this creates all the chaos you see today.   The cap should apply to the cash going out the door to the player during the league year.  Simple as that.   

 

This will have the effect of eliminating the conversion of 18 weekly paychecks into a single week 1 "bonus" (which has no financial impact, but significant cap impact).   

 

The whole thing needs to be re-thought during the negotiation around going to 18 games.   This shell game played each March is pretty ridiculous.   Probably cannot happen as all the best players contracts assume the current arrangement, but hey.   You would need a GM to explain how the league and players came out with this arrangement I guess.   Must have made sense at the time.  😐

Edited February 19 by BeyondTheProcess

[frostbitmic]

4 hours ago, Dillenger4 said:

Oh, me too! Do you think this is a real option?

He played under Leonhard at Wisconsin ... I like size at 6'3" 250 ... He always positively sticks out when I see a Chiefs game.

 

I'd say he's a really good option, what does Leonhard and Beane think ?.., guess we won't know until they can legally tamper 🙃

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

[DrDawkinstein]

11 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said:

in the next CBA , the league and players should really fix this fiction of amortizing a "one time bonus" over the life of the contract.   The abuse created by this creates all the chaos you see today.   The cap should apply to the cash going out the door to the player during the league year.  Simple as that.   

 

This will have the effect of eliminating the conversion of 18 weekly paychecks into a single week 1 "bonus" (which has no financial impact, but significant cap impact).   

 

The whole thing needs to be re-thought during the negotiation around going to 18 games.   This shell game played each March is pretty ridiculous.   

 

There is no reason the NFLPA or the NFL would want to do away with this. Doing so would only hurt the players and get them less money. There is nothing bad or wrong about this to fix.

 

There is no abuse or chaos.

 

Maybe you could explain your stance more? Im confused by anyone thinking any part of this is a bad thing.

 

11 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said:

Probably cannot happen as all the best players contracts assume the current arrangement, but hey.   You would need a GM to explain how the league and players came out with this arrangement I guess.   Must have made sense at the time.  😐

Its not something special that is put into just the best players contracts. ALL contracts are eligible for this. You mainly only see it with teh best players because they have the biggest contracts where restructures give the most money back.

 

 

On 2/18/2026 at 2:33 PM, Sierra Foothills said:

The topic title should read:

 

Mahomes restructures, KC now only $11 million over cap

 

Even more accurately: KC restructures Mahomes, now only $11M over the cap.

17 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

2026 should be a rebuild year for KC. Do not rush your generational QB back 

 

They need to replace Kelce

Rice is going to get a longer suspension 

They need 2 new wrs

They need a starting RB

They need another legitimate pass rusher 

They need depth at cb

 

 

 

They have a top 10 pick position. Bastards.

[3rdand12]

On 2/18/2026 at 9:57 AM, SoonerBillsFan said:

Before 4pm EST. March 9th

as of now , He is in a series of personal seminars with Buddy Nix

"The Art of the Nap"

5 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

Not really.  Owner says the roster wasn't the problem.  The GM sat there rubbing his hands together mumbling "yes....yessss".

Is this humor ? I think it might be Humor.

A  Hobbit's Golem reference even ?

if so ?

 Not Bad Weo 😉

[3rdand12]

1 hour ago, frostbitmic said:

He played under Leonhard at Wisconsin ... I like size at 6'3" 250 ... He always positively sticks out when I see a Chiefs game.

 

I'd say he's a really good option, what does Leonhard and Beane think ?.., guess we won't know until they can legally tamper 🙃

But is this doable ?

And at what cost ?

 Have read he fits DC needs. Looks like a good fit.

[billsfan89]

KC will have a lot of cap space to work with if they want to pull most of the levers they can. Mahomes is the first domino to fall but they will probably do conversions on Chris Jones/Humphries/Bolton/Karlftis/Smith as well as a release of Jawaan Taylor (which alone will save 20 million on the cap) and depending on who they restructure will probably have somewhere in the range of 55-70 million in space. However, KC has more glaring needs than the Bills so while they likely with reasonable levers to pull have 20-35 million more in space to work with they will also have a lot more to do with that space. 

[frostbitmic]

26 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

But is this doable ?

And at what cost ?

 Have read he fits DC needs. Looks like a good fit.

I guess anything is doable, that all depends on ...

 

Cost is the million or ten million dollar question, I've seen 4-5 million per year, I think that would be a steal and expect it'll be a lot more.

[Mike in Horseheads]

The Saints played this game with Drew Brees for years.  it works great until there are no more years and ya have $100m in dead cap

[Governor]

21 hours ago, Success said:

I bet it's us & them again in the AFCCG next year.

 

Which would feel kind of right.  It would be nice to finally beat them in the playoffs on the way to our 1st title.

 

They wont be making any deep runs until they establish a strong running game, and we know that’s nearly impossible with Andy as HC, knowing his bad habits and tendencies over the last 20 years.

[Thrivefourfive]

Good for them. Ya know what.. for some reason, I stumbled upon Stephen A Smith saying that Reid owes Bieniemy play calling duties AND the heir apparent ship. Please listen to this man, KC. Happy spending. 

[97bills]

On 2/18/2026 at 9:03 AM, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Who are the restructure candidates after Mahomes? I’ve seen Jones mentioned. He didn’t look like he was able to turn it on like he has in previous seasons. Let them restructure him, that just kicks the can down the road and makes it something they need to deal with eventually 

KC is trying to win the Super Bowl every year, they will worry about all that when Mahomes retires.. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

On 2/18/2026 at 9:55 AM, Big Turk said:

OK... lets be clear.  OP, this is a very misleading title.

 

"Mahomes" didn't restructure. The Chiefs restructured his contract to free up cap space.

 

This is not something they need his permission to do or to even ask him or get his approval to do. That's not how the contracts work. By definition, the team can restructure the contract anytime they want for any reason without getting any sort of approval from the player as long as the money doesn't change and it follows whatever guidance is in the CBA.

 

And why would any player object to getting all of their money up front in the form of signing bonus to lower their cap hit? It's literally the biggest win-win there is in sports in terms of helping both a team and a player.

 

This isn't Mahomes "doing them a favor", this is the Chiefs managing their cap by restructuring his contract, which was likely already built into the initial contract to give them this flexibility when they wanted to use it.

Might there not be some tax implications?

Restructuring to a one time payment made in New York state vs  17 game checks when some of those games are played in a state like Florida without a state Income tax might have some impacts. 

 

Are you sure about not needing their permission?  I've never heard that before. I agree with your assessment that the player mostly benefits getting the money upfront.  

 

[Lionel Hutz]

I wonder why big name guys like Mahomes and Allen don't take a much lower salary to free up cap room if they really want to win? They make so much from endorsement deals that they could still live very comfortably even if they were making half as much. Plus Allen's wife is a movie star so I'd say he's already set for life. 

Edited February 20 by Lionel Hutz

[BuffaloBillyG]

4 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

The Saints played this game with Drew Brees for years.  it works great until there are no more years and ya have $100m in dead cap

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30843678/source-new-orleans-saints-drew-brees-agrees-reduce-salary-sign-retirement

 

 

Drew Brees' retirement cost the New Orleans Saints a total of $22.65 million in dead money, split across the 2021 and 2022 salary caps. By designating him a post-June 1 cut, the team incurred a $11.15 million charge in 2021 and $11.5 million in 2022, rather than taking the full hit at once. 

 

Before retiring, Brees agreed to reduce his 2021 base salary to the veteran minimum, which saved the Saints approximately $24 million in immediate cap space.

[Scott7975]

On 2/18/2026 at 10:00 AM, Big Turk said:

 

Exactly. People seriously misunderstand the way this works. Many times players don't even know it happened until after it's happened and they are told.

 

This is a built in stipulation in the CBA and is essentially the biggest win-win between team and player in sports in regards to contracts. No team or player would ever object to doing this, so let's stop pretending the player somehow "did the team a favor". 

 

No, the player was not consulted, asked or many times even told. The team has the right to do this whenever they want and it's typically built into the contract as a plan for the future. Sometimes even several restructured are built in.

 

Because this isn't always true. If the pay is less, money is shifted into incentives, or the years change then it does need player approval. It doesn't say anything in the tweet what they did, so how would you know if they needed permission or not. If for instance they added a few years to the contract then they would need Mahomes approval. The tweet does not say whether they did or didn't.

On 2/18/2026 at 10:01 AM, Kirby Jackson said:

This is what I’m talking about upthread (not picking on you). The Chiefs can pull 3 more obvious levers and be $20M under. They can then decide on a few others that can open $44M more pretty easily putting them at like $64M under: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kansas-city-chiefs-roster/194135/how-chiefs-find-2026-salary-cap-space-before-march-11

 

The Chiefs are in fine cap shape (if they need to be). 

 

Sure they can do all that and everything you said earlier is true as well. What is neglected is eventually it has to be paid. It doesn't just miraculously disappear.  At some point he is going to start counting heavier on the cap or he gets injured or retires in which case they absorb the cap it in full in 1-2 years.

[Scott7975]

On 2/18/2026 at 10:13 AM, Big Turk said:

 

Yeah people have no idea how easy it is to keep kicking the can down the road and with the cap consistently going up by leaps and bounds every year that bill never really comes due.

 

The bill does eventually come due. Right about when the player is too old to be effective anymore. If it were just the case of... oh the cap keeps going up... then they wouldn't be needing to constantly kick cap down the road.

[Big Turk]

13 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

Because this isn't always true. If the pay is less, money is shifted into incentives, or the years change then it does need player approval. It doesn't say anything in the tweet what they did, so how would you know if they needed permission or not. If for instance they added a few years to the contract then they would need Mahomes approval. The tweet does not say whether they did or didn't.

 

Sure they can do all that and everything you said earlier is true as well. What is neglected is eventually it has to be paid. It doesn't just miraculously disappear.  At some point he is going to start counting heavier on the cap or he gets injured or retires in which case they absorb the cap it in full in 1-2 years.

 

That's not a restructure, it's an extension at that point.

 

A restructure based on how they worded it is almost always a simple restructure that doesn't require any approvals.

 

Also, because these were essentially built into how they created the contract in the first place.

[Chicken Boo]

I'd go into "cap hell" for 3 Lombardis and 5 appearances in 6 seasons any day.