KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Brett Veach dropped a particularly interesting five-word phrase at the front end of the combine Tuesday: $60 million in convertible contracts.
The NFL’s bean counters completed their homework on Friday morning, reaching agreement on the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million per team. That means Veach and the Chiefs officially the minimum surgery they need to perform on their own cap, $5.664 million according to Over the Cap.
That’s a $22 million increase from last year’s cap, great news for a Kansas City team that needs to find room to land at least one significant free agent when negotiations open March 9. Friday’s announcement might also seal the fate of right tackle Jawaan Taylor and linebacker Drue Tranquill. Veach said moves like that would be painful.
“And I think with guys like Jawaan and Drue Tranquill,” Veach said Tuesday, “these guys started for us, and they played a lot of football for us. And again, our cap situation, I don’t know if we’re $6 or $7 (million) over, but I think we have $60 million in convertible contracts, too.
“So, I mean, we have many different ways to attack this, and I think that’s the one thing that we’ve been good at. We don’t do a lot of money pushed down to future years, and I think we run a pretty tight ship there. So, this gives us flexibility to do different things. So again, that’s part of the process with all those guys, and we’ll see how the scenarios shake out.”
Here’s one scenario that would not only bring them in compliance with the cap but also open room to sign a free agent like Travis Etienne or Kenneth Walker.
Jawaan Taylor
Veach said something else of interest Tuesday, indicating the Chiefs are doing everything they can to hold onto right tackle Jawaan Taylor. The veteran’s penchant for penalties has muddied his reputation but Kansas City knows he’s one of their best pass protectors when officials don’t hit him with laundry. But Taylor’s $27.39 million cap number seems too insurmountable.
Drue Tranquill
Tranquill, who turns 31 in August, just completed his most productive season in three years, starting all 17 games. The Chiefs drafted Jeffrey Bassa in the fifth round last season to eventually replace Tranquill, but whether Bassa is ultimately ready is up for debate. Assuming the youngster is capable of starting full-time, releasing Tranquill would save the Chiefs $6 million against the cap.
Noah Gray
Another question Kansas City would want to answer as soon as possible is the status of Travis Kelce. That’s critical because Kelce’s return could allow the Chiefs to release Noah Gray, saving another $3 million.
And in addition to releasing defensive end Mike Danna last week, those three moves – releasing Taylor, Tranquill and Gray — would put the Chiefs on solid ground entering free agency. Per Over the Cap, those moves would leave the Chiefs’ $24,305,834 in cap space. That would be more than enough to allow the Chiefs to be Day 1 shoppers in free agency.
And all those moves don’t include a restructure of Chris Jones’ contract. The All-Pro defensive tackle currently owns the largest cap number on the team, $44.85 million. After Patrick Mahomes restructured his deal earlier in February, the quarterback lowered his cap number to $34.65 million. Incredibly, Mahomes accounts for just 11.5 percent of their total cap.
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