Insider Explains How Chiefs Transformed NFL’s Toughest Cap Situation

Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones needed only a few seconds to approve paperwork that allowed important additions and retentions for Kansas City Chiefs.

Feb 14, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) addresses the crowd on stage with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVIII. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Patrick Mahomes moved some money from his left pocket to his right. Chris Jones took a few bucks from his wallet and put it in his cookie jar. And the Kansas City Chiefs are once again serious Super Bowl contenders.

This is nothing new for Chris Shea, the Chiefs’ SVP of football operations and strategy, who negotiates contracts and runs the salary cap for Brett Veach and Andy Reid. Moving money from one place to another didn’t cost Mahomes and Jones anything other than the few seconds needed to approve the paperwork.

But that paperwork allowed the Chiefs to re-sign wide receivers Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back Kareem Hunt, sign unrestricted free agents Jaylon Moore and Elijah Mitchell, and add insurance quarterbacks Gardner Minshew and Bailey Zappe. Sports Illustrated senior writer Albert Breer on Monday explained what Shea did to Mahomes’ contract.

“The Chiefs took Mahomes’s $32.35 million roster bonus for this year,” Breer wrote, “and converted it into a signing bonus (moving nearly $26 million of it into the next four years), and did the same with $15.395 million of his base (clearing more than $12 million). That generated a total of $38.196 million in room.”

Breer said the Chiefs’ then turned their attention to Jones, converting his $15 million roster bonus due this month into a signing bonus, which opened up another $11.25 million in space.

“The math if your eyes haven’t glazed over yet … Mahomes has more than five years left on his deal, so the new signing bonus money gets divided by five, with 20 percent dropped into each of the next five years, including this year. Jones has four years left (with two void years included), so his is divided by four, with 25 percent dropped in each year.”

Those drops created important flexibility to offer Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith, who signed his franchise-tag tender, while Shea negotiates a long-term contract. The Chiefs made all of those moves while welcoming back Travis Kelce -- thanks to his No. 1 recruiter, Rashee Rice.

And that’s just on offense. On Steve Spagnuolo’s side of the ball, the flexibility provided by Mahomes and Jones allowed Kansas City to keep the quarterback of the defense, linebacker Nick Bolton. It also allowed for a critical unrestricted free agent, cornerback Kristian Fulton, and veteran size next to Jones on the line, Jerry Tillery.

Breer said restructuring the Mahomes and Jones contracts took the Chiefs from $14.7 million over the cap last Monday to $34.7 million under. 

So, obviously, Mahomes and Jones could care less that some call them losers after what the Chiefs did in free agency. And those who schedule events at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium can pencil in another AFC Championship Game for Jan. 25, 2026.

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