{"id":136949,"date":"2026-01-09T09:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T09:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=136949"},"modified":"2026-01-09T09:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T09:06:28","slug":"%f0%9f%92%a5-cap-bombshell-kansas-city-chiefs-predicted-to-cut-a-27m-starter-in-a-ruthless-cost-saving-move-hard-choices-are-coming-a-brutal-cap-casualty-could-reshape-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=136949","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udca5 CAP BOMBSHELL: Kansas City Chiefs Predicted to Cut a $27M Starter in a Ruthless Cost-Saving Move\u2014\u201cHard Choices Are Coming.\u201d A Brutal Cap Casualty Could Reshape the Roster Overnight."},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0are headed into the offseason after their worst campaign in 14 years, and they are doing so with some serious disadvantages.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Superstar quarterback\u00a0Patrick Mahomes\u00a0is recovering from ACL and LCL tears, and his status for the beginning of the season is uncertain. Tight end\u00a0Travis Kelce\u00a0might be retiring, which would leave Mahomes without the most frequent and reliable target of his career whenever he does return.<\/p>\n

And on top of all that, Kansas City has several positions of need to fill over the offseason (running back, defensive line, secondary, etc.) and is currently staring down the barrel of a\u00a0$58.3 million\u00a0salary cap deficit.<\/p>\n

That debt is going to require significant cuts to personnel and\/or contract restructures, which means some good players walking out the door long before the Chiefs can bring any talent into the fold. One of the no-brainer players on the chopping block is offensive tackle\u00a0Jawaan Taylor, who will count\u00a0$27 million-plus\u00a0against the cap on the final year of his\u00a0$80 million contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chiefs will cut Taylor, which would save them $20 million on the cap even if Taylor is cut before the June 1 mark,\u201d\u00a0Brian Schatz of ESPN predicted\u00a0Wednesday, January 7. \u201cHe was in the top 10 of pass block win rate for tackles through Week 17 this season, but the Chiefs can\u2019t live with his expensive contract or his predilection for earning penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Chiefs Can Rebuild Offense Around Patrick Mahomes After Travis Kelce Retirement, Jawaan Taylor Cut<\/h2>\n
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GettyQuarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Brook Pryor of ESPN suggested in late December that the Chiefs move on from Taylor this offseason, particularly if Kelce retires \u2014 using the circumstances to institute a short-term rebuild geared toward protecting Mahomes and supplying him with better offensive weapons as he heads into the second half of what is already a surefire Hall of Fame career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can also move on from Jawaan Taylor in the offseason and save $20 million,\u201d\u00a0Pryor said. \u201cI think this gives them an opportunity to start fresh and really take a serious look at how they can better support Patrick Mahomes rather than just giving him a future Hall of Fame tight end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that strategy includes hitting on three high draft picks, the benefits of which Kansas City has essentially never had access to since Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback in 2018.\u00a0The Chiefs will pick three times in the top 75 of the draft this April:\u00a0Nos. 9, 40 and 74.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0are headed into the offseason after their worst campaign in 14 years, and they are doing so with some serious disadvantages. Superstar quarterback\u00a0Patrick Mahomes\u00a0is recovering… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n\ud83d\udca5 CAP BOMBSHELL: Kansas City Chiefs Predicted to Cut a $27M Starter in a Ruthless Cost-Saving Move\u2014\u201cHard Choices Are Coming.\u201d A Brutal Cap Casualty Could Reshape the Roster Overnight. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=136949\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udca5 CAP BOMBSHELL: Kansas City Chiefs Predicted to Cut a $27M Starter in a Ruthless Cost-Saving Move\u2014\u201cHard Choices Are Coming.\u201d A Brutal Cap Casualty Could Reshape the Roster Overnight. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0are headed into the offseason after their worst campaign in 14 years, and they are doing so with some serious disadvantages. 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