The Kansas City Chiefs made Jawaan Taylor one of the highest-paid tackles in all of the NFL just two years ago. Two years later, the contract still ranks as one of the 12 highest at either tackle position in terms of its $20 million per year APR. At the time of his signing, there was even some discussion about whether Taylor would move to left tackle with such a major price tag. Even though the Chiefs ultimately decided to keep Taylor at right tackle where he is more comfortable, his play has failed to live up to his massive contract and the expectations that came with it.

We could have a reasonable debate about how fairly Taylor has been treated, both by NFL officials and Chiefs fans. During his first season in Kansas City, the NFL clearly targeted Taylor to send a message about the officials trying to crack down on tackles timing the snap count, which had become common practice in the NFL before Taylor signed with the Chiefs. While it seemed unfair to single out Taylor in that way, it certainly was fair to criticize Taylor for not adapting to how they were calling false starts more often.

Once Taylor seemed to get the false start issues improved (though never completely fixed), the NFL moved on to calling more flags for tackles being lined up too far back in relation to the center. Once again, Taylor was one of the top targets and he took further time to adapt. While criticisms of both the bias penalties and Taylor’s slow reaction to them are warranted, they seem to have tainted many Chiefs fans’ view sof Taylor (especially when combined with his hefty contract).

Taylor is often talked about as a terrible player when he’s really more of an average one. His penalties drive Chiefs fans crazy and his run blocking leaves a lot to be desired, but his pass blocking is actually about average by right tackle standards. Taylor is a player that you can get by with at right tackle. However, he isn’t worth anything near what the Chiefs paid for him.

The financial conundrum with Jawaan Taylor

The above justifications are the primary reason many Chiefs fans would like to see Taylor replaced next season, especially after seeing him struggle against the Philadelphia Eagles pass rush in the Super Bowl. However, the Chiefs are still a year away from realistically being able to move on from Taylor. That is because, despite Taylor’s massive $27.4 million cap number next season, the Chiefs would still LOSE cap space by cutting him right now.

Due to the guaranteed money left on Taylor’s contract, the Chiefs would lose about $7.4 million in cap space if they cut him today. If they were to make him a post-June 1st cut they would still just break even. So short of a contract restructure that would likely make him MORE expensive to cut a year from now, the Chiefs are on the hook for his $27.4 million dollar cap hit this season either way. The Chiefs just don’t have enough cap space to move on from him now. They would be creating a new hole in their starting lineup without creating any more cap space to fill it.

The Chiefs already have to figure out what to do with pending free agents like Trey Smith, Nick Bolton, and Justin Reid with limited cap space to work with (although the rising NFL salary cap could help). If Smith leaves via free agency, they will already have two spots on the line to figure out with right guard and left tackle both being huge question marks. They simply can’t afford to add right tackle to that list as well.

The reality of employing Jawaan Taylor

Chiefs fans may be fed up with Jawaan Taylor’s penalty issues and upset that his play hasn’t come close to living up to his hefty price tag, but they are going to have to accept that he’s going to be back as the Chiefs starting right tackle for one more season. The Chiefs have bigger issues to deal with when it comes to rounding out their roster for one more season. A year from now they will be able to cut Taylor and save $20 million in cap space in 2026, but until then he isn’t going anywhere.

So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you agree that Taylor isn’t going anywhere this offseason? Despite his big price tag and frustrating play at times, the Chiefs have bigger issues to deal with and his contract just doesn’t make it a real possibility to move on yet. Like it or not, Jawaan Taylor is going to be your starting right tackle again in 2025.