Kansas City Chiefs road back to Super Bowl begins with cap situation
The Kansas City Chiefs are favorites to win the Super Bowl in the 2021 season, but they must figure out some key roster issues first.
Nobody said it was going to be easy. For the Kansas City Chiefs, winning a third consecutive AFC title and then a second Super Bowl in three years will require a deft touch.
General manager Brett Veach is starting from a good place. He has Andy Reid as a head coach and a trio of superstars on offense in quarterback Patrick Mahomes, receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce. He also has probable Hall-of-Fame safety in Tyrann Mathieu and star defensive tackle Chris Jones.
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However, those men weren’t enough this year in a Super Bowl blowout defeat. The Chiefs must add to the nucleus. It won’t be a simple chore.
Looking at Over The Cap, Kansas City is approximately $23 million over the threshold going into the offseason. Only the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles are in worse binds.
However, Veach can make room with a few moves. The Chiefs can save $12 million by releasing left tackle Eric Fisher, who tore his Achilles in the AFC title game. A brutally cold decision if made, but certainly in play. If right tackle Mitchell Schwartz retires, that’s another $6 million. Finally, an extension for Mathieu — who is in the last year of his deal next season — would likely lower his cap hit by roughly $13 million or so.
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Those three maneuvers alone bring Kansas City to under the cap with room to sign its draft class and a few small-time free agents. This is why the draft will be pivotal for the Chiefs, who need to rebuild their offensive line, especially if Fisher and Schwartz aren’t retained.
Kansas City will welcome guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and tackle Lucas Niang back from the COVID-19 opt-out list, but further investments will be needed. Also, can the Chiefs find enough money to make a play to replace free-agent receivers Sammy Watkins and Demarcus Robinson? Maybe a name such as T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green or even a younger talent in JuJu Smith-Schuster makes sense.
The Chiefs don’t have many holes compared to most teams in the NFL, but the offensive line and a need for another outside playmaker are there, and both must be shored up for Kansas City to continue its dominance of the AFC … and beyond.
